Silicon Valley is in the grip of AI panic. Companies are speeding towards AI at breakneck pace, boards are urgent for sooner outcomes, traders are asking startups “Where’s the AI?” if they haven’t jumped on the bandwagon already.
As a consequence, CEOs are arriving at conferences with pressing realizations about falling behind, founders are working excessive schedules, and entrepreneurs are sacrificing journey, trip, and personal relationships for the cause. An all-nighter before a main launch has been a staple of the tech industry, making for a good story to inform afterward, but this is something completely different. The depth is palpable; the AI revolution is creating both ecstasy and agony in equal measure, with the growing quantity of self-reported 100-hour workweeks or open-letter requests for the workers to work long-term 80-hour schedule.
But observing this depth firsthand, I believe there’s another perspective price contemplating about building enduring companies in occasions of disruption.
Having constructed and offered a company for $2.25 billion, I’ve discovered that the entrepreneurs who create lasting worth—and the exits that matter—aren’t the ones burning themselves out in hundred-hour weeks. They’re the ones who perceive that “overnight success takes seven years to build” and that working a 100-hour week over a extended period of time is unsustainable.
Building a business isn’t a dash—it’s a marathon of sprints. In many crew sports activities, such as hockey, the “repeat sprints” metric is a higher predictor of efficiency than a straight-line sprint. Business is the same approach – you have to know when to push, but you also have to study to recuperate shortly, and most importantly, how to keep going, over and over again. The actual worth doesn’t come from working nonstop for a quarter. It comes from compounding: compounding expertise, compounding experience in your industry, compounding model recognition and buyer trust, and compounding product capabilities.
This compounding only occurs when you’re in the recreation long enough to see it through. And you can only keep in the recreation if you’re working at a sustainable tempo.
Part of what makes a mature entrepreneur or govt is understanding where your limits are—both for long-term sustainability and short-term bursts—and mixing these modes of work strategically. There are occasions to dash and occasions to tempo yourself. The knowledge is in understanding which is which.
When I began my first business at 18, I was concurrently holding down a full-time job and pursuing my school degree. That tempo would be unsustainable for me now, in my 40s with youngsters. But here’s what the 100-hour evangelists miss: I more than compensate for any slight distinction in hours with many years of sensible expertise, connections, and sample recognition.
Let’s be sincere: many claims of 100-hour workweeks are either exaggerations or unsustainable anomalies. While there might be distinctive people who can genuinely maintain this tempo, both personal expertise and medical analysis constantly show that sleep-deprived people are less productive.
More importantly, business and product development is a high-stakes recreation. We’re paid to make essential choices under uncertainty, typically without full data, and then reside with the penalties. The high quality of these choices deteriorates quickly with exhaustion. Would you need your surgeon working on hour 95 of their workweek?
Here’s a inform: when founders claim they’re drained of working too much, something is basically mistaken. When founders genuinely work long hours sustainably, it’s usually a labor of love — they’re energized by the work, not exhausted by it.
The present AI panic is producing a completely different dynamic. Founders describe working from profound paranoia, treating every fifteen minutes as having a price tag, feeling that everything is pressing and essential. This isn’t ardour; it’s panic. And panic not often produces good long-term choices.
It’s a mental recreation, and if you’re in the mistaken mental mode, you won’t maintain long enough to see the advantages of compounding. You’ll burn out before your business model proves itself, before your crew gels, before your product finds market match.
I want HR insurance policies, both in Europe and the U.S., allowed firms and people to be more clear about work expectations. It’s completely tremendous for some founders and firms to push laborious—innovation typically requires depth. The drawback arises when there’s a disconnect in expectations.
Some startups need people keen to work startup hours. Some people thrive in that setting. The challenge is when firms faux they offer work-life steadiness while secretly anticipating 80-hour weeks, or when candidates overestimate their work ethic during interviews. This disconnect hurts everyone.
Yes, AI represents a important technological shift. Yes, firms need to adapt. The urgency is actual and well-documented. However, the legal guidelines of human physiology and psychology stay unchanged. Sustainable success still comes from building robust groups, making good choices, and staying in the recreation long enough for your benefits to compound.
My own expertise validates this: the company I constructed to a $2.25 billion exit wasn’t the consequence of grinding 100-hour weeks. There was a lot of grind to go around. Still, more than that, it was the consequence of good teamwork and constant, strategic decision-making over the years, building systems that could scale, and sustaining the mental readability needed to navigate complicated market dynamics. The founders who burned out early never got to see their compounding results.
The irony is that in speeding not to be left behind by AI, many are adopting work patterns that just about guarantee their companies won’t be around long enough to benefit from whatever AI revolution emerges.
Build for the long time period. Know your limits, and be prepared for the truth that there are people who can’t match them. Create sustainable excellence across the crew. The compounding will take care of the relaxation.
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