Right. I'm upvoting you because I agree with you, however there's a BUT coming...
Buuuuut I think this is one of those situations where cause/effect is a little muddied. As a founder you push yourself to an extreme.
However when there's a world where the investors can place their money where they like
...and they fetishize and laud the founders who work to extremes
...where the stories of success involve near bankruptcies, second mortgages, maxed out credit cards, relationship difficulties and these things are seen as a mark of effort
...and where they pattern match to rather crazy degrees to cut through the stupid numbers of pitches they have to mine through to find a winner...
then what seems to happen is that founders internalize that if you aren't making those huge sacricfices you just cannot compete.
It'd be like the Tour De France, or steroids-era baseball. So long as the rewards are going to those who cheat and risk their lives with dangerous drugs, there's a perverse incentive for even elite athletes to cheat and take the same risks. Is it a choice? Sure. But it's sort of the only choice.
The founders I worked with were already successful and moderately rich from working at or starting previous startups, so I didn't experience anything like what you are describing.
Buuuuut I think this is one of those situations where cause/effect is a little muddied. As a founder you push yourself to an extreme.
However when there's a world where the investors can place their money where they like
...and they fetishize and laud the founders who work to extremes
...where the stories of success involve near bankruptcies, second mortgages, maxed out credit cards, relationship difficulties and these things are seen as a mark of effort
...and where they pattern match to rather crazy degrees to cut through the stupid numbers of pitches they have to mine through to find a winner...
then what seems to happen is that founders internalize that if you aren't making those huge sacricfices you just cannot compete.
It'd be like the Tour De France, or steroids-era baseball. So long as the rewards are going to those who cheat and risk their lives with dangerous drugs, there's a perverse incentive for even elite athletes to cheat and take the same risks. Is it a choice? Sure. But it's sort of the only choice.