By: John S. Morlu II, CPA
Let’s rewind to 2002.
Blockbuster still believed in itself. Facebook hadn’t even poked the world yet. And somewhere in Silicon Valley, Reid Hoffman was co-founding a little site called LinkedIn, where professionals could connect, humblebrag, and update their job titles every time they took a webinar.
But here’s the kicker. In a podcast years later, Hoffman revealed his unique approach to work-life balance during LinkedIn’s early days: “We told people: go home, eat dinner with your family… then open your laptop and get back to work.”
Yes, you heard that right.
Dinner was the halftime show.
The real game resumed once the dishwasher started.
The LinkedIn Lifestyle: Dinner. Hustle. Repeat.
In Reid’s world, you didn’t need to live at the office. Why bother? You could suffer—ahem, work—right from your couch. All you needed was Wi-Fi, willpower, and the ability to pretend you weren’t ignoring your spouse.
Here’s what your daily schedule looked like:
- 5:30 PM – “Family time” begins. Microwave a hot pocket, act like everything’s fine.
- 6:15 PM – Baby spills juice. You smile. Internally, you’re thinking about the server outage.
- 7:00 PM – Kiss your kid goodnight. Then pull out your laptop like a digital Batman.
- 7:01 PM–2:00 AM – Slack messages. Debugging. Crying. More debugging.
- 2:01 AM – “Is this burnout, or am I just dehydrated?”
- 2:30 AM – Sleep? Only if the database doesn’t crash.
He Wasn’t Alone—Startup Legends Are Built on Insomnia
Reid Hoffman wasn’t the only tech titan to embrace the “Work now, sleep later” philosophy. Let’s look at the Hall of Hustle Fame:
Elon Musk – Lord of the Mattress in the Factory
Elon didn’t just stay late. He literally slept on the factory floor of Tesla when production was lagging. No hotel. No Airbnb. Just cold hard concrete—and dreams of electric cars.
“Why didn’t you go home?” people asked.
“Because I didn’t have time,” Musk replied, probably while holding a wrench and a Mountain Dew.
Jeff Bezos – “Day 1” Forever
Amazon’s first desks were made out of doors to save money. Not symbolic doors—actual wooden doors.
Why? Because who needs comfort when you’ve got 2-day shipping and world domination?
Steve Jobs – “Say No to Everything but Sleep”
Steve once said, “Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” Sleep was likely #1 on that list.
During the launch of the iPhone, some Apple employees didn’t see sunlight for weeks. Rumor has it Siri was born from sheer exhaustion.
Mark Zuckerberg – Hoodie, Red Bull, World Domination
Zuck famously coded Facebook while eating junk food in his Harvard dorm.
“Move fast and break things,” he said.
He didn’t mention what would break was your sleep schedule.
Reid’s Work-Life Math (Now with More Eye Bags)
- Family Time: 1 hour
- Startup Work: 14 hours
- Sleep: 3–5 hours, max
- Balance: Only if you don’t pass out on the kitchen floor
- Relationship with Reality: Complicated
Fun Fact Interlude: “The Grind Never Ends” Edition
- Howard Schultz (Starbucks CEO) was rejected over 200 times trying to raise money. Probably lost count because he never stopped moving.
- Jack Ma (Alibaba) was rejected from KFC. Yes, chicken said no. He then built the world’s largest e-commerce empire.
- Oprah was told she was “unfit for TV.” Now she owns TV. And magazines. And your emotions.
Would This Work Today? LOL, No.
Try saying this to a Gen Z software engineer with a straight face:
“Hey, have dinner with your family, then log back on and finish those sprints.”
Brace yourself. Because here’s what you’re about to receive:
- 📝 A resignation letter designed in Canva, complete with pastel gradients, calligraphy font, and a quote from Brené Brown. Bonus points if it ends with, “I no longer align with the hustle vibration of this organization.”
- 📱 A viral TikTok where they dramatically reenact your request using trending audio and the caption: “When your boss thinks ‘after dinner’ means ‘your soul belongs to Jira.’”
- 😂 A meme of your face photoshopped onto Gollum holding a laptop, captioned:
“My precious… deliverables.”
(It gets 50K shares and a comment from your own niece: “Isn’t this your boss??”)
Welcome to the Era of Boundaries™
Today’s workplace has a new rulebook:
- Burnout? Not a badge of honor—it’s a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
- Therapy? Encouraged. Covered. And scheduled during work hours.
- Reusables? If your office hands out plastic water bottles, someone’s starting a Slack thread about it.
- Sleep? Non-negotiable. Eight hours. With a white noise machine and a crystal on the nightstand.
- Remote work? They’re not just working from home—they’re working from Bali, in hammocks, on a 4-hour workday with a productivity coach.
And if you dare suggest “logging back in after dinner,” be ready for:
- A LinkedIn think-piece titled “Why My Inner Child Deserves to Log Off.”
- An HR complaint filed under “Spiritual Interference.”
- A team-wide Zoom intervention titled “Let’s Talk About Boundaries, Greg.”
Back Then vs. Now: The Workplace Glow-Up
| Then (2002) | Now (2025) |
| “Sleep is for the weak.” | “Sleep is part of my self-care stack.” |
| “We work until it ships.” | “I stop work at 4 for breathwork.” |
| “We need to push a hotfix.” | “I need to push my nervous system into regulation.” |
| “This is the grind.” | “This is a trauma response.” |
| “Let’s log back on after dinner.” | “Let’s never speak of that again.” |
Reid Hoffman’s Medal of Burnout
Reid said: “Go home, eat, then keep working.”
Modern employees say: “Go home, eat, and then vibe check your chakras.”
He wore burnout like a badge of honor. Today’s workplace wears boundaries like couture. It’s not cool to be overworked anymore. It’s cool to have a therapist, a cold plunge routine, and a Notion board tracking your inner peace.
Final Warning
So unless you want your company featured in a “Toxic Work Culture Bingo” on Instagram, don’t even think about suggesting post-dinner deliverables. You might just find your Slack profile replaced by a candle emoji and a note that says:
“Greg has been muted. For spiritual reasons.”
Moral of the Story:
Yes, Reid Hoffman’s approach sounds bonkers. But guess what? It worked.
LinkedIn became the world’s biggest professional network.
Now you can humblebrag about certifications, message strangers with “Happy to connect!” and get endorsed for skills like “Teamwork” by someone you met once in 2013.
So maybe, just maybe, there’s something to the madness.
You can tuck your kids in. Just don’t forget to tuck in those spreadsheets too.
Final Thought:
Startup life isn’t cute.
It’s not yoga, kombucha, and beanbags.
It’s midnight bug fixes, cold pizza, and prayers to the Wi-Fi gods.
And if you ever doubt that…
Just remember: somewhere in the early 2000s, a tired LinkedIn engineer was typing with one hand—while holding a baby bottle in the other.
Now that’s what you call “multi-tasking for equity.”
About the Author
John is an entrepreneur, strategist, and founder of JS Morlu, LLC, a Virginia based CPA firm with multiple software ventures including www.FinovatePro.com, www.Recksoft.com and www.Fixaars.com . With operations spanning multiple countries, John is on a mission to build global infrastructure that empowers small businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals to thrive in an increasingly competitive world. He believes in hard truths, smart execution, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. When he’s not writing or building, he’s challenging someone to a productivity contest—or inventing software that automates it.