The nature of a startup is long hours and a lot of work, chaos, unpredictability and some reward (a lot more of all these than in other places). A successful startup is not immune to these.
So one dark side is looking back years later and realizing that all those long hours and reward (money) were probably not worth as much as lost relationships and time outside of work.
I don’t like the term “work life balance”, but the lack of it can immensely cause long term issues...many irreversible because there’s no time machine.
Basically, if your work is taking your attention or keeping you away for more than 8 hours a day and also adding continuous stress for a long enough time, then some other things in life have to give...those things usually cannot be replaced effectively at a later time.
So one dark side is looking back years later and realizing that all those long hours and reward (money) were probably not worth as much as lost relationships and time outside of work.
I don’t like the term “work life balance”, but the lack of it can immensely cause long term issues...many irreversible because there’s no time machine.
Basically, if your work is taking your attention or keeping you away for more than 8 hours a day and also adding continuous stress for a long enough time, then some other things in life have to give...those things usually cannot be replaced effectively at a later time.