"You see so many companies that keep changing direction because they don't know what their business model is," says Sunny Bates, 44, founder and CEO of Sunny Bates Associates, a New York-based executive-search firm that specializes in Net companies. "They don't know where the external revenue is going to come from, and that's where the internal chaos comes from."
Of course, even with a clear perspective on the future, it isn't easy to stay sane when you're being second-guessed by nervous investors. Many company founders, including Next Jump's Charlie Kim, face skepticism when they tell venture capitalists about their commitment to a healthier company culture. Spooked by the volatility of the stock market and consumed by the need for quick returns, few investors are thrilled to learn that a company's CEO leaves the office every day at 7 PM, encourages employees to do the same, and has virtually outlawed all-nighters.
"When they hear that I get eight hours of sleep every night, they say, 'Oh my God, this company is going to fail!' " Kim says. He reminds investors that it's the results that matter. "You don't have to work the longest hours," he says, "just the smartest ones."
Pamela Kruger (pkruger@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company contributing editor. She is one of the sanest people we know.
Dion Lim, a self-confessed startup junkie, learned the consequences of being married to your work the hard way. His wife, Amy, left home for a night, without leaving a note, to show him what it felt like to live with his crazy schedule. The couple's next move? Dion and Amy started an Internet incubator together.
Paul Entin and his wife, Shannon, made a similar decision. Frustrated by how little time he got to spend with his family, Paul, 31, quit his job at an advertising agency last fall and began working with Shannon, also 31, on her now 4-year-old health-care Web site, FitnessLink. Since then, the Entins have been working split shifts, so that one of them can take care of their young son, Logan, while the other is working. (They use a baby-sitter about 15 hours a week.) "Most men don't get to see their kids much," says Paul. "They're missing out on the joys of raising their children. I really feel lucky."
He isn't alone. According to Paul and Sarah Edwards, who have written 12 books on entrepreneurship together, a growing number of couples are joining forces to launch companies so that they can spend more time together. "It gives people more time and gives them much more control of their priorities," says Paul Edwards, who has been working with his wife since 1980.
When Paul Entin worked at the ad agency, for instance, he often didn't get home until 9 PM or 10 PM, long after Logan was asleep. And he barely ever saw Shannon, who worked (or slept) whenever the baby was asleep. These days, while Paul still works about 70 hours a week and often on weekends, he and Shannon carve out family time every day. They always have lunch and dinner together, and sometimes they take a midday stroll through the park. And when there's work to do at night, it isn't so much a hardship as a night out together as a couple. "One bonus of working together is that you develop a real synergy between your personal and professional lives," says Paul.
Just ask Dion and Amy Lim. Since working together on their Internet incubator, Simians.com, their marriage has never been better. "We used to spend just 15 minutes a day talking, and I was so caught up in what I was doing that I wasn't really mentally there," says Dion. "Work used to be something that pulled us apart. Now it's drawing us closer together."
One way to work at a saner startup is to start one yourself. But most of us choose to work for Internet companies, rather than launch them on our own. Which raises a related set of questions: How do you know a saner startup when you see one? How do you differentiate between companies that talk a good game when it comes to building organizations that work for the people in them and those that actually get the job done? Here are some suggestions.
When Jody Kramer, 31, director of communications at Homestead.com, began job-hunting soon after she gave birth to her son, she told interviewers that she had a new baby and that work-life balance was important to her. If an interviewer reacted coldly or uncomfortably, Kramer considered it a warning sign. If an interviewer asked her what it was like to be a new mom, she was impressed. "I wanted a company that would consider a baby a wonderful thing, not a liability," says Kramer, who met with about 15 startups before joining Homestead.com.
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