I Scaled a 500-Person Company on Hustle — But Wellness Made It Sustainable (and More Profitable)

I just lately got here throughout a job advert from a boutique U.S. company that learn:

“In case you favor a clock-in, clock-out mentality, we’re not an excellent match,” and”Particular work hours do not matter once you’re hungry to develop.”

I have been across the block sufficient to know what that actually means: lengthy hours, weekend emails and a blurred line between work and every little thing else.

We prefer to imagine we have moved previous hustle tradition and into the period of office wellness. However job postings like this show many employers are nonetheless promoting burnout, simply wrapped within the language of “ambition.”

I’ve lived each variations of the founder journey: the always-on grind and the wellness-first rebuild. I do know precisely what the hustle takes from you — and the way small, intentional adjustments may help you are feeling higher, lead higher and construct a enterprise that does not burn you out.

Associated: Do not Underestimate The Significance of Worker Effectively-being. Your Enterprise Will Undergo The Most

When hustle turns into your identification

And why is that an issue?

Startup tradition glorifies the concept extra hours equals extra achievement. And positive, early wins really feel good — that dopamine hit retains us grinding. Till sooner or later, the hustle is your identification.

Within the early days of my firm, I lived by this mantra: “In case you’re heading residence and your competitor’s lights are nonetheless on — flip round.” It labored. We scaled from three scrappy founders to a world workforce of 500. However ultimately, I noticed: if I did not put my workforce’s wellbeing first, we would not final. Enjoying the lengthy recreation takes greater than stamina — it takes sustainability.

The info backs this up. In a latest survey of 138 startup founders, over half reported experiencing burnout prior to now 12 months. Two-thirds had severely thought of strolling away from the very firms they constructed. That is not grit — it is a system failure.

Even high-profile success tales aren’t immune. Take Loom co-founder Vinay Hiremath. After serving to scale the corporate to a near-billion-dollar exit, he admitted: “I’m wealthy and I don’t know what to do with my life.” His resolution? Leap again into hustle tradition — as a result of it is the one factor he is aware of.

Burnout is a silent epidemic. The World Well being Group formally acknowledged it as an “occupational phenomenon” in 2019. It not often makes headlines, but it surely robs us of focus, clear choices, and, in the end, the longevity of the companies we’re constructing.

Associated: 5 Management Methods That Truly Stop Worker Burnout

What I did to interrupt the cycle

Well being fuels efficiency — and it begins with you.

When leaders are well-rested and engaged, every little thing works higher: decision-making, workforce morale, product velocity. And it is not only a feel-good concept. A 2024 Gallup examine of 183,000 companies throughout 90 nations discovered that prioritizing worker wellbeing is a enterprise benefit. Here is what they discovered:

78% much less absenteeismUp to 51% decrease worker turnover32% fewer errors and defectsUp to twenty% greater productivity23% higher profitability

These outcomes aren’t magic — they’re the compounding impact of cultural decisions. And people decisions begin on the high.

For me, the turning level was easy: I received uninterested in being drained. I shifted from obsessing over hustle to constructing a rhythm that supported efficiency and wellbeing.

Here is how that regarded:

I set onerous boundaries on work hours. I used to put on 14–16 hour days like a badge of honor. However after 8 p.m., I would spend twice as lengthy on fundamental duties. Now, I goal to wrap by 6:30 p.m., which forces higher focus— and leaves vitality for all times exterior work.I prioritized consistency over hacks. No detoxes or chilly plunges. Only a regular rhythm of brief breaks between conferences to stretch, breathe, and reset. It retains psychological fatigue from constructing.I moved my physique as an alternative of chugging espresso. Quick exercises changed infinite caffeine. Even a five-minute break helps reset my vitality and cognition. Making an attempt new sports activities additionally improved my psychological flexibility in stunning methods.I let my thoughts wander on goal. A few of my greatest concepts present up after I’m doing nothing—strolling, meditating, or scribbling ideas in a pocket book.I protected my consideration prefer it was my most precious useful resource. Two hours of deep focus daily—no conferences, no multitasking — lets me discover concepts, form technique, and assume long-term with out working late.

And it wasn’t nearly me. I introduced wellness into our workforce tradition with strolling conferences, breathwork breaks and light-hearted wellness challenges. As a result of a enterprise is barely as wholesome because the folks constructing it — not simply the founder.

Associated: Why Being ‘At all times On’ Is Killing Your Innovation, and Learn how to Really Disconnect

In case you do only one factor — do that

Give your self permission to completely disconnect. Once you sign off, actually sign off.

No weekend emails. No late-night Slack messages. Do not say you’ve got “restricted entry” in your out-of-office message. Say you are offline — and imply it. That is the way you construct a tradition the place relaxation is revered, not resented.

The reality is, I nonetheless battle to completely clock out typically. Once you’re constructing one thing you care about, it is onerous to let go. However if you need what you are constructing to final, you must defend the particular person constructing it — you. Wellness is not a retreat. It isn’t a reward. It is your basis.

And if we wish a brand new period of labor, it begins with constructing firms the place folks thrive, not simply survive.