09-22-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

How I learned to build a thriving culture, not a surviving one

The trick is not letting a work sprint become your company culture.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of top leaders and experts who pay dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership, and more.

An exhausted founder is a committed one. That’s one of the non-negotiable rules of startup culture. Elon Musk slept on the Tesla factory floor. Marissa Mayer pulled 130-hour weeks during her time at Google. I worked 18 hours a day, skipping meals and sleep to squeeze in a few more “productive” hours. So if you’re getting eight hours of sleep, eating lunch away from your laptop, and your company still hasn’t made the unicorn list…well, you’re clearly the problem.

Hustle culture didn’t start with Silicon Valley. Thomas Edison called sleep a “criminal waste of time.” Maybe the light bulb was his contribution to crime prevention.

You can launch a company on fumes and get it surprisingly far. Thousands of founders do it. I did it. The trouble starts when you try to stretch that temporary sprint across years.

Today, my company, BetterMe, has grown into an all-in-one well-being ecosystem with 800 people on our team. I’m still ambitious. I still believe there are moments when building a company requires working hard. But I no longer believe commitment has to go hand-in-hand with exhaustion. There’s a way to build a successful business without keeping everyone permanently in survival mode.

When well-being becomes a business issue

Workplace wellness is nothing new under the energy-efficient LED office light.........

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