Hacker Life
Perhaps the most noticeable difference in lifestyle after setting out to do a startup is your sleep schedule. While this certainly varies from person to person, it’s not uncommon for founders to endure the hacker life. Coding sprints and endless desire to do “one more thing” tend to push your working hours farther and farther into the night. Before you know it you become nocturnal.
The founders of Stripe first dropped out of Harvard to start their payments company, and can you guess their first stop? Silicon Valley? Nope. They moved to Buenos Aires. The cafe’s in Buenos Aires are world-famous for opening up around 1pm and closing around 5am. In essence, this is the best fit for the hacker life… Nightly hacking and breakfast after noon.
I’ve noticed a similar pattern in my working schedule. The work at night is of course supplemented by various caffeinated beverages and an endless supply of salty snacks or pizza. I like to joke that I’ll be going to the gym at the end of my work day, and this just happens to be when the gym opens at 5am. This is the hacker life.
