Reid Hoffman's LinkedIn rule: Dinner at home with family, then open the laptop again
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman maintains that extreme work hours and a lack of work-life balance are necessary for startup success. His long-standing philosophy, which prioritizes total commitment to a company, continues to spark debate regarding toxic work culture.
Why it matters
Hoffman's views highlight the ongoing tension between high-growth startup culture and the modern push for employee well-being.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has never been shy about how much a startup should take out of the people building it. In a clip that has resurfaced on social media, Hoffman describes the deal LinkedIn offered its earliest employees: go home, have dinner with your family, then open your laptop and get back to work. About a third of the company's early team had children, and that dinner break was close to the only time off the schedule allowed.The remarks come from Hoffman's 2014 talk at Stanford University's "How to Start a Startup" class, where he told aspiring founders that anyone chasing a balanced life is not serious about winning.
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