Tom KrieglsteinFounder, Global Keynote Speaker, Swift Kick Leadership · Founder and Award-Winning Keynote Speaker at Swift Kick Leadership

Reid Hoffman (famous investor). #worklifebalance #startup #entrepreneur

Name: Reid Hoffman (famous investor). #worklifebalance #startup #entrepreneur
Uploaded: 2023-11-08T22:39:44+00:00
Duration: 40 s
Channel: Tom Krieglstein
Description: In this brief monologue, Reid Hoffman argues that true founders do not maintain a balanced lifestyle; instead, they pour all of their energy into…

8 Nov 2023 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, Reid Hoffman argues that true founders do not maintain a balanced lifestyle; instead, they pour all of their energy into building their startup, often for a limited period of years. He contends that any claim of balance signals a lack of commitment to winning. While founders can still take breaks and have personal moments, their focus must be intense because the venture is extremely hard and fraught with failure. Hoffman illustrates this mindset with his favorite “jumping off the cliff” metaphor, emphasizing the deliberate, high‑risk plunge required to launch a company.

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One of the classic questions is balance. And I actually think founders have no balance. Like, one of the funniest conversations I ever had was with a governor of Colorado. It was like, we're going to attract really great entrepreneurs here because we have this balanced lifestyle. Literally, if I ever hear a founder talking about, oh, this is how I have a balanced life, and so forth, they're not committed to winning. And so the only really great founders are like, I am going to literally pour everything into doing this. Now, it only may be for a couple of years. I may do this for a while, then go do all things. But while I'm doing this, I am unbalanced at this thing. It's not to say you don't take breaks, not to say you don't go dates or whatever else, but you're super focused on this because it's really hard and there's lots of ways to die. And that's the reason why the jumping off the cliff metaphor is one of the ones that I classically use.