Let’s be honest — if you want a job where work/life balance is consistent and ideal, chances are that you won’t find that at a startup. I’m sure they exist & I tip my hat to those who have achieved it, but I’ve yet to see one. Especially during covid, there’s been a big push for this concept of being able to…actually have a life… on top of pushing towards achieving really ambitious goals in a short amount of time with virtually no capital and a tiny team. This may ruffle some feathers, and I’m completely open to discussion on this / welcome conflicting opinions & experience, but I just don’t think it’s realistic! I mean, maybe for a startup with lots of capital to spend, but even then I’m not so sure. There seems to be this (so far, false) assumption that being able to throw a ton of money at a problem can somehow generate a solution, but ultimately the only thing that is going to get a project from point A to point B is everyone just rolling up their sleeves and doing what they know they have to do. (and granted, Surmount doesn’t have the luxury of having a bunch of capital to even consider trying to just toss money at a problem in hopes that a solution arises — so what do I know? But we’ve been able to achieve a lot with a little, and there are tons of other companies that could say the same thing, if not more!) At the end of the day, the only thing that really keeps the lights on is effort. Unfortunately, this means that sacrifices will inevitably need to be made, but when it really comes down to it — at what actual cost? Best case scenario: your startup successfully finds product market fit, people love it, and it scales into what everyone on your team has dreamed of and been working towards in the first place. You win! Or Worst case scenario: your team worked extremely hard towards something that you genuinely believed was worthwhile, and for whatever reason it just didn’t work out. Is it the end of the world? No! Chances are, you can take that newfound experience literally anywhere, reiterate, or just start something new with a ton of new experience and knowledge of what does and doesn’t actually work. You win! It’s not a matter of win vs lose or succeed vs fail — it’s a matter of how big the win is. And you really never know what’s actually going on behind the scenes of the “successful” companies. That company that just closed a trillion dollar seed round could be absolute chaos behind closed doors. Be grateful for what you have, work your ass off, and make the most of it. What else is there to do, right?