Founders With Hobbies Slow Company Growth 20%
This episode might reference ProfitWell and ProfitWell Recur, which following the acquisition by Paddle is now Paddle Studios. Some information may be out of date.
Originally published: February 6, 2019
Work life balance is both a controversial and exceptionally in vogue topic to discuss with some founders saying you need to hustle your face off and give up everything to succeed. Others tell you that you should have hobbies, you shouldn’t give your life up to your work, and you need to pace yourself.
While both may be true or false, what bothers me about this debate is the lack of any real data.
But first, if you like this kind of content and want to learn more, subscribe to get in the know when we release new episodes.
Let’s first come at this from the angle of hobbies, which are a pretty good proxy for the approach to work life balance. Turns out those companies who have a founder who has a hobby that takes up more than 10 hours of their week are growing at roughly a 20% slower rate than those who don’t have a significant hobby.
There are a lot of lurking variables here, so we also codified the founder’s approach to work life balance through a number of questions around tradeoffs, hours spent working per week, and the like.
Those who scored highly on our index have a doctrine of work life balance at their companies, compared to those who scored low who are all-in. The all-in folks are growing at nearly double the rate as those who are more conscious to work-life balance. Perhaps most telling, this relationship has remained fairly consistent over the past six years.
So what does this mean for your business? Well, it’s easy to look at this and say work life balance founders are wrong, but keep in mind there’s a price to being all-in, especially when it comes to your health.
Yet, maybe that’s the cost of doing something great, you have to tradeoff something to dedicate all that time and effort to growth.
Time will tell and more research absolutely needs to be done here, but I find respite in this debate being less about growth and more out of what you want out of your adventures in growth. Knowing that allows you to understand and commit to the tradeoffs.
That's all for this week. Want to learn more? Check out our latest episode on Annual Plans Reduce Churn Dramatically, Data Finds and subscribe to the show to get new episodes.
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You've got the questions,
and we have the data.
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This is the ProfitWell Report.
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This is Max with ThriveHive, and
my question for you today is,
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how do you think work life
balance affects a company's
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performance and growth?
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00:00:16,700 --> 00:00:19,900
Work life balance is both a
controversial and exceptionally
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invoked topic to discuss.
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00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:24,220
With some founders saying that
you need to hustle your face
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off and give up
everything to succeed.
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00:00:26,885 --> 00:00:28,565
Others saying that you
should have hobbies,
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00:00:28,565 --> 00:00:30,565
that you shouldn't give
your life up to your work,
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and that you need
to pace yourself.
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While both may be true or false,
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what bothers me most about this
debate is the lack of any real data.
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To answer this question,
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we're gonna look at the growth
rates of just under four
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hundred companies across a
myriad of spaces in the context
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of how their founders approach
work life balance and hobbies.
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Let's first come at this
from the angle of hobbies,
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which are pretty good proxy for
the approach to work life balance.
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Turns out, those companies who
have a founder who has a hobby that
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takes up more than ten hours
of their week are growing at
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roughly a twenty percent slower
rate than those who don't have
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a significant hobby.
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That's crazy.
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There are a lot of
lurking variables here,
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so we've codified the founder's
approach to work life balance
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00:01:09,290 --> 00:01:11,770
through a number of
questions around trade offs,
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hours spent working
per week, and the like.
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00:01:14,170 --> 00:01:17,255
Those who scored highly on our
index have a doctrine of work
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life balance at their companies
compared to those who scored
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low who are all in.
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The all in folks are growing
at nearly double the rate at those
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who are more conscious
to work life balance.
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Perhaps most telling,
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this relationship has remained fairly
consistent over the past six years.
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So what does this mean
for your business?
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Well, it's easy to look at this and say
work life balance founders are wrong.
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00:01:37,475 --> 00:01:40,195
But keep in mind, there's
a price to being all in,
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00:01:40,195 --> 00:01:41,880
especially when it
comes to your health.
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00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,520
Yet, maybe that's just the
cost of doing something great.
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You have to trade off something
to dedicate all that time and
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effort to growth.
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00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,625
Time will tell and more research
absolutely needs to be done here,
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00:01:51,625 --> 00:01:54,985
But I find respite in this
debate being less about growth
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00:01:54,985 --> 00:01:57,945
and more about what you want out
of your adventures in growth.
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00:01:57,945 --> 00:02:00,320
Knowing that allows you to
understand and commit to the
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00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:01,520
trade offs required.
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00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:03,120
Well, that's all for now.
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If you have a question,
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send me an email or video
to neil at profit well dot com.
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And if you got value from today's
episode or any other report,
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we appreciate any and all
shares on Twitter and LinkedIn
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because that's how we
know to keep doing these.
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We'll see you next
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week.
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