A founder argues that staying late together at a small startup compounds progress day after day. He acknowledges 996-hour criticism but says the productivity gains are real, and dismisses prioritizing personal activities like tennis as undermining team commitment.
Everybody in the company stays in the office till 10 o' clock and works together, you can actually solve problems and make progress. And that compounds day after day after day. Which means if you'd rather go play tennis at 6pm or whatever time I forget, or time you said you wanted to go play tennis, that's going to be an affront to the people who are like, don't you understand that our big advantage is that we are small and tight knit and that if we all make the commitment to be here together. As much as I have criticisms over some of the 996 stuff, and there's a practical reality to it, which is if you're a small team and everybody shows up and works, you can actually move the ball after dinner time, before bedtime every day in a way you cannot at a big company.
