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Gen Z founders chasing their big break are facing a modern-day Catch-22: protect their mental health or sacrifice work-life balance in pursuit of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shark Tank investor and millionaire Kevin O\u2019Leary has clear advice for Gen Z founders weighing how to spend their time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe worst advice I hear young founders talk about all the time is that they want to work 18 hours a day. How stupid is that?\u201d O\u2019Leary said in a video on Instagram, sporting a red, cheetah-print top and floral pants.<\/p>\n
The admonishment comes as everyday workers are increasingly expected to work longer hours. The 996 \u2014 a 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six-day-a-week work schedule that was outlawed in China in 2021 \u2014 has been newly glorified in Silicon Valley. AI startup Rilla told candidates not to bother applying unless they\u2019re excited to work more than 70 hours a week. <\/p>\n
But contrary to popular belief, working hard does not mean neglecting to take care of yourself, O\u2019Leary said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis idea that you don\u2019t get any sleep, as if it\u2019s good for investors, is sheer stupidity,\u201d he said. Eating well, getting sleep, and exercising are \u201chow you optimize,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Leary\u2019s advice is a notable shift for the serial investor, who in the past encouraged founders to work as much as possible to get ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou either make money or you lose it,\u201d he wrote in an X post in 2024. \u201cIf you want to succeed in business you have to work 25hrs a day because there\u2019s someone across the world who will kick your a** if you don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u2019Leary previously told Fortune<\/em> that he looks for a \u201cfounder\u2019s mindset,\u201d which focuses on what has to get done in the next 18 hours, while drowning out the \u201cnoise\u201d of everyday life. He added that he looks for a 1:2 talking-to-listening ratio and a leader\u2019s executional prowess when investing.<\/p>\n More business leaders are changing their tune and encouraging more balance. Even CEOs, who can rarely fully unplug, are finding time to rest. Insomnia Cookies founder and CEO Seth Berkowitz told Fortune <\/em>he takes two-hour phone breaks every day. Sami Inkinen, the CEO and cofounder of Virta Health Group, takes a week off to travel to remote locations like the Himalayas, where he can\u2019t be reached.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While CEOs and employees feel pressure to always be \u201con\u201d and available for work,\u00a0 \u201ctoxic productivity\u201d can cause chronic stress, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and risk physical health, according to Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you show up looking half-dead, I\u2019m not investing. You\u2019re not a hero, you\u2019re a liability,\u201d O\u2019Leary wrote in the video caption.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Shark #Tanks #Kevin #OLeary #warns #Gen #founders #stop #glorifying #hustle #culture<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gen Z founders chasing their b… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[4975,666,304,300,11442,11443,3564,7545,7543,7542,4603,42,7544,613,1982,7281],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}