Sitemaps
Does Startup Success Validate Us Personally?
How We Secretly Lose Control of Our Startups
Should Kids Follow in Our Founder Footsteps?
The Evolution of Entry Level Workers
Assume Everyone Will Leave in Year One
Stop Listening to Investors
Was Mortgaging My Life Worth it?
What's My Startup Worth in an Acquisition?
When Our Ambition is Our Enemy
Are Startups in a "Silent Recession"?
The 5 Types of Startup Funding
What Is Startup Funding?
Do Founders Deserve Their Profit?
Michelle Glauser on Diversity and Inclusion
The Utter STUPIDITY of "Risking it All"
Committees Are Where Progress Goes to Die
More Money (Really Means) More Problems
Why Most Founders Don't Get Rich
Investors will be Obsolete
Why is a Founder so Hard to Replace?
We Can't Grow by Saying "No"
Do People Really Want Me to Succeed?
Is the Problem the Player or the Coach?
Will Investors Bail Me Out?
The Value of Actually Getting Paid
Why do Founders Suck at Asking for Help?
Wait a Minute before Giving Away Equity
You Only Think You Work Hard
SMALL is the New Big — Embracing Efficiency in the Age of AI
The 9 Best Growth Agencies for Startups
This is BOOTSTRAPPED — 3 Strategies to Build Your Startup Without Funding
Never Share Your Net Worth
A Steady Hand in the Middle of the Storm
Risk it All vs Steady Paycheck
How About a Startup that Just Makes Money?
How to Recruit a Rockstar Advisor
Why Having Zero Experience is a Huge Asset
My Competitor Got Funded — Am I Screwed?
The Hidden Treasure of Failed Startups
If It Makes Money, It Makes Sense
Why do VCs Keep Giving Failed Founders Money?
$10K Per Month isn't Just Revenue — It's Life Support
The Ridiculous Spectrum of Investor Feedback
Startup CEOs Aren't Really CEOs
Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works
Best Pitch Decks Ever: The Most Successful Fundraising Pitches You Need to Know
When to Raise Funds
Why Aren't Investors Responding to Me?
Should I Regret Not Raising Capital?
Unemployment Cases — Why I LOOOOOVE To Win Them So Much.
How Much to Pay Yourself
Heat-Seeking Missile: WePay’s Journey to Product-Market Fit — Interview with Rich Aberman, Co-Founder of Wepay
The R&D technique for startups: Rip off & Duplicate
Why Some Startups Win.
Chapter #1: First Steps To Validate Your Business Idea
Product Users, Not Ideas, Will Determine Your Startup’s Fate
Drop Your Free Tier
Your Advisors Are Probably Wrong
Growth Isn't Always Good
How to Shut Down Gracefully
How Does My Startup Get Acquired?
Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?
How to Pick the Wrong Co-Founder
Staying Small While Going Big
Investors are NOT on Our Side of the Table
Who am I Really Competing Against?
Why Can't Founders Replace Themselves?
Actually, We Have Plenty of Time
Quitting vs Letting Go
How Startups Actually Get Bought
What if I'm Building the Wrong Product?
Are Founders Driven by Fear or Greed?
Why I'm Either Working or Feeling Guilty
Startup Financial Assumptions
Why Every Kid Should be a Startup Founder
We Only Have to be Right Once
If a Startup Sinks, Founders Go Down With it
Founder Success: We Need a Strict Definition of Personal Success
Is Quiet Quitting a Problem at Startup Companies?
Founder Exits are Hard Work and Good Fortune, Not "Good Luck"
Finalizing Startup Projections
All Founders are Beloved In Good Times
Our Startup Culture of Entitlement
The Bullshit Case for Raising Capital
How do We Manage Our Founder Flaws?
What If my plan for retirement is "never retire"?
Startup Failure is just One Chapter in Founder Life
6 Similarities between Startup Founders and Pro Athletes
All Founders Make Bad Decisions — and That's OK
Startup Board Negotiations: How do I tell the board I need a new deal?
Founder Sacrifice — At What Point Have I Gone Too Far?
Youth Entrepreneurship: Can Middle Schoolers be Founders?
Living the Founder Legend Isn't so Fun
Why Do VC Funded Startups Love "Fake Growth?"
How Should I Share My Wealth with Family?
How Many Deaths Can a Startup Survive?
This is Probably Your Last Success
Why Do We Still Have Full-Time Employees?
The Case Against Full Transparency
Should I Feel Guilty for Failing?

Forget Compensation, let's talk "Quality of Life"

Wil Schroter

Forget Compensation, let's talk "Quality of Life"

Would you rather make $200K with a shitty quality of life or $100K with an awesome quality of life?

In the startup world we all seem to understand that $200K is better than $100K, but we do a really lousy job of qualifying that difference based on what actually matters — our quality of life.

When we step back for a second, we may come to find out that "compensation" in strictly monetary terms, is a broken metric. We're all really trying to translate those dollar signs into how it will impact our quality of life.

So why don't we just start with what improves our quality of life and then figure out where money comes in?

What we really want is time.

Years ago at Startups.com, we instituted a work from home policy. At the time we were all still office-bound (spoiler alert: we're mostly remote now) so having an extra day to work in our Snuggies (still a thing) was a huge benefit.

The day off wasn't the benefit — it's what it gave us the freedom to do.

We made breakfast for our kids. We took time to go on a hike. We slept in for the hour we were otherwise going to be getting ready and commuted. We took calls in our pajamas. It felt like a "snow day" every single week.

Incidentally, it cost us nothing as a company, but opened our eyes to what we were really looking for — a quality of life "promotion."

In Case You Missed It

I’m Killing Myself. How Is Everyone Else Finding Work/Life Balance. Work/Life balance isn't about working less, it's about adjusting our approach to work.

Is Doing Non-Startup Stuff Good For My Startup? (podcast). Join Wil and Ryan as they discuss how doing stuff that's NOT Startup related is important not only for your own sanity, but for the growth of your company.

I’m Burnt Out. What Do I Do? When we hit a point of burn out it's important that we understand what to do about it. If we ignore it, the problem only gets much worse. So let's take a look at what Founders do to deal with burnout head on.

Find this article helpful?

This is just a small sample! Register to unlock our in-depth courses, hundreds of video courses, and a library of playbooks and articles to grow your startup fast. Let us Let us show you!

Submission confirms agreement to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Already a member? Login

Agostinho Domingos

I once heard a story that goes something like this...

A very busy and successful business man that lived in the city once visited a friend from childhood who preferred to live at the country-side where everyday he would enjoy his farm, and take it easy eating nice and fresh foods from his farm along with his family aside.

For the sake of the story let's name the city man John and the farm man as Adam.

John: Adam, ever since childhood, you never moved out from here. Why don't you get a job in the city?

Adam: Why would I need a job when I already have my farm?
John: So that you can make more money!

Adam: Why would I want to make more money than what I already do?
John: So that you can buy anything and have a good life.

Adam: I do buy what I need and my life is good out here, and I am able to travel anywhere should I decide to do so.
John: stays silent and thinks

Adam: Let me ask you a question John, what are you going to do when you retire from your job?
John: I will most probably move down to the country side and a live a restfull and relaxed life.

Adam: I am having a restful and relaxed life right now.

The moral of this story somewhat reflects the article above. For example, making $200K and having a very busy life suffocates the time spent for yourself and loved ones. While on the other hand, you can make $100K and have a more relaxed life without the rush of the corporate world.

When I used to work on the corporate world, I remember my boss saying, "You spend at least 50% of your time with your colleagues at work".

That made me rethink my life. At least 50%? In my case was probably more like 60% or 70% because I was pounded with excess supervisory activities on my shoulders.

That just did not make sense to me because my family was a priority.

That is only possible with your own business. It's true that to get it up and running you might need to spend more time until the rewards starts coming, but once it does, you are left with your own pace to judge and decide.

The internet made all this possible, especially with the various tools out there to help you set up a website and go with it.

I choose quality over quantity of life anytime. Cheers!

Agostinho Domingos
Founder and CEO
http://www.ladilsa.com

Reply5 years ago

1 Replies

Register to join the discussion.

Already a member? Login

Create Free Account