I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that AI will be the answer to our long working days — that it will automate annoying administrative tasks, leaving us more time to spend time on family, friends and hobbies.
This argument is often made by founders of AI startups when asked about the risk of AI replacing people at work. And yet, within many AI startups, nobody seems to be clocking off at 3pm; instead, people are being asked to work even harder and longer hours to beat the competition.
Last month, Sana AI’s founder Joel Hellermark sent out an internal memo to staff saying “a 60-hour workweek is the sweet spot” to compete with other AI startups. “If you can deliver more with less, great. It’s not about the hours. Not putting in the effort is, however, not only unproductive but also demoralising to everyone else.”
Sana isn’t using AI to trim down the hours its employees are working — because the companies it’s competing with are other AI companies that are also working crazy hours. Nor does it want to use the capital it has raised to hire more people and give its employees the work-life balance an ordinary 40-hour workweek in Sweden gives.
Sana is by no means the only startup glorifying long hours and bragging about working at all times — nor the first. I remember reading about Elon Musk sleeping on the floor at Tesla in the early days — and it seems to be back in fashion.
Last week Creandum partner Jakob Stein shared a job ad for portfolio AI startup Sereact: “Sereact has the hardest-working team out there (when I slept in their office two weeks ago, I was by far not the only one).”
Stein also describes the founders as “constantly sleep-deprived” — supposedly a selling point for the person he’s trying to recruit to work with them.
Then there’s Norwegian startup advisor Kyle McClenahan, who last week encouraged people to follow Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma’s example of getting ahead in business — and says an 8–5 lifestyle will “never win.” Instead, he says, you need to sacrifice three to five years of your life to get ahead. That’s the culture and mindset McClenahan wants for people in Norway.
Work is my life
Sounds like fun — and it probably is, if you’re a 20-something without much of a life outside work. I’ve been there myself: I was a “work is my life” kind of person, putting everything into my job. The only difference was that my employers didn’t expect it of me — I gave them my time voluntarily.
A decade later, I realise I get more done now, in less time, than I did back then. I work shorter hours but with more focus. I also have far fewer work-related mental breakdowns at the weekend — and a life outside work.
I would probably work more hours if I had a company of my own — but I would never apply for a job that expects me to work 60-hour weeks. Not just because my husband and kids would kill me — I just don’t believe I could get that much more done.
It’s been shown that people aren’t able to focus for more than five hours a day. There are even books written on the topic.
Thankfully, this mentality has also annoyed startup founders such as Emelie Olsson who rightly points out that this management style doesn’t work in a country like Sweden where people aren’t driven by fear of being laid off.
“This is not Silicon Valley. That American style of leadership where you try to whip up performance works there for a reason – because people are terrified of losing their jobs. In Sweden, where people have security and options, that kind of communication has the opposite effect,” she writes on LinkedIn.
But this is the issue that cannot be ignored — not because I give a shit about how many hours people work — but because companies with this kind of work culture inevitably end up lacking the diversity needed to create great AI.
We already know that a large majority of AI startups are founded by young men. At those companies, a large majority of employees are also men. Based on data released six months ago, Mistral’s team is made up of 22% women and 78% men. At the hyped AI startup Lovable only 2 out of 17 of its employees are women. UK-based Synthesia stands out in comparison where 40% of its team are female.
When the same group defines the problems and builds the solutions, the fix won’t work for everyone.
Also, as has been shown over and over again, DEI at companies is not just good for company culture, it’s also good for the bottom line. But expecting employees to work from 8–8, Monday to Friday, drastically reduces your appeal to anyone who has dependents or caring responsibilities. Or, hey, hobbies.
I don’t expect young, first-time founders to realise the importance of workforce diversity or rest — but I do expect it from those who’ve been around for a while. And I definitely expect it from VCs.
#saves #time #startup #employees #losing