My first startup, EVALS, took everything from me.
If you're celebrating 80-hour weeks as a flex, I was you. I missed everything and got nothing in return besides regret. Sure, our exit was great, but the hours missed, wouldn't have changed the outcome, nor can I get it back. The only blankets of memory I sewed were of working and being unavailable. And that in-office mandate? It's not about productivity. It's about control. Funny thing is, give people autonomy and more of them choose to pull up. I'm over 15+ years remote/hybrid and won't give it up for anything.
I spent all waking hours working.
I spent my 10-year wedding anniversary in a hotel room working.
I missed time with my mom before she died from cancer because I was working.
I missed my daughter's first steps. My wife texted me a video.
I missed my son's baseball game. I was on a call that "couldn't wait."
And Guess what...
The customer would have still stayed.
The sale would have still closed.
The platform wasn't going to explode.
The meeting could have waited until Monday.
The feature needed wasn't going to make or break a sale.
The "emergency" wasn't one.
The company would have survived without me that day.
Stop reshaping your life to meet the demands of a business that will replace you in two weeks if you drop dead.
Life.
At GETOUT, we celebrate life because that's our work.
❤️
Jake