This past holiday season a debate about work ethic brewed on Twitter with people claiming that long hours of work are necessary to be successful.
Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke added his perspective to the tantalizing conversation.
“I’ve never worked through a night,” Lutke tweeted. “The only times I worked more than 40 hours in a week was when I had the burning desire to do so. I need 8ish hours of sleep a night. Same with everybody else, whether we admit it or not.”
For so long, entrepreneurs and CEOs have made it a running theme that success requires sleepless nights and nonstop grind.
Media, including shows like ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ and ‘I Want To Work For Diddy’, has drilled the theory Of workaholism into the narrative of American culture.
Some CEOs have boasted about their ability to work countless hours, sacrificing work-life balance for the sake of the almighty dollar.
But, Lutke not only believes that working 80 hours a week is unnecessary, he also thinks that people have a limited amount of time before their creativity waivers off.
“For creative work, you can’t cheat. My [belief] is that there are five creative hours in everyone’s day,” Lutke tweeted. “All I ask of people at Shopify is that four of those are channeled into the company.”
Founded in 2004 by Lutke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake, the e-commerce platform grew into a success by providing a way for merchants to develop online stores on Shopify.
Today, Shopify has a market capitalization of $48 billion and has reportedly made $1.5 billion in revenue for 2019. Lutke’s net worth is about $3.6 billion, yet he strives for life outside of work.
“I’m home at 5:30 pm every evening,” he tweeted. “My job is incredible, but it’s also just a job. Family and personal health rank higher in my priority list.”
Quotes on Work Ethic from CEOs:
Caterina Fake, Founder of Flickr
“So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.”
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
“I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.”
Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft
“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.”
Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Chuck-E-Cheese’s
“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”
