The Secret VC: Why Hustle Culture Is Toxic AF

I’ve been in this industry long enough to develop some strong opinions, some of which you may agree with and others you may not. Maybe that’s why we’re keeping my identity secret? 

One viewpoint that I’ve seen validated time and again is also one that some of my fellow investors may agree with publicly but also do things in reality that tend to push it forward. And it is this: hustle culture is toxic as f**k. I don’t say that to be edgy. I say it because I’ve watched founders twist themselves into burnout pretzels chasing an idea of success that was never designed for them in the first place. Every few months some VC posts a thread lecturing the rest of us about ‘real’ commitment, but do so often from the comfort of a background that quietly cushions their own risks.

Look, I’ve been doing this for some time. I’ve been alongside startups that have gone the distance. I’ve seen others blow up on the runway. I’ve also seen perfectly good founders convince themselves they must run at a pace that breaks their brains and their souls. All because a handful of loud, privileged voices insist that suffering is the real proof of ambition.

Let me be real with you: suffering is not a strategy.

1. Hustle Culture Runs on Survivorship Bias and Privilege

Whenever someone declares that the only way to succeed is by grinding 90 hours a week, I want to ask them to produce a spreadsheet. Not a cherry-picked list of their winners, but the full dataset. Every founder who pulled the all-nighters. Every one of them who slept under their desk. And, most importantly, every single one that completely tanked.

You already know what that spreadsheet would show: for every freak success story of someone living out an investor's 996 fantasy, there are others - hundreds probably - who did the exact same thing and failed miserably. That’s survivorship bias and it’s not just misleading in my opinion; it’s damaging the chances of success.

Add to that privilege, real, structural privilege. Some people can survive 90-hour weeks because somebody else in their life is handling the childcare, the rent, the emotional load. Others may not have families to worry about. Some have safety nets that let them take ridiculous risks without any real consequences.

And then there’s the devaluation of their own labor. When you normalize working twice the hours for the same result, the ones who benefit are often not the business at all. In other words: the system that pushes hustle culture isn’t neutral. It’s self-serving and it would pay good founders to be cognisant of that fact.

Yes, I’m calling out my own industry. Remember what I said about anonymity? 

2. Your Brain Is Not a Machine. Hustle Culture Pretends It Is

One of the silliest myths in our industry is the idea that productivity is just a matter of stacking more hours. I’ve read enough research - and experienced enough 3 a.m. “why did I write this email?” moments - to know better.

Your brain does not get more efficient the longer you run it. It’s not designed for it. Cognitive performance drops. Decision quality drops. Creativity drops. And the irony is that founders make their worst decisions precisely when they’re overworked enough to believe they’re being ‘hardcore.’

I’ve always needed more sleep than most people, so maybe that colors my view. But even if I were a four-hours-a-night mutant, the science is still the science: diminishing returns are real.

And here’s the kicker: when founders overwork themselves, they often overwork everyone else around them. That’s how bad cultures metastasize. One exhausted person becomes a whole exhausted team.

3. There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Path to Success

Now, I’m fully aware of how this may be interpreted. That I’m saying you shouldn’t need to work hard, I’m not. I just don’t believe that work on its own is the thing that brings a result. As evidence, one of the strangest habits in tech - especially among the loudest investors - is insisting that ‘real’ founders all behave in the same way. You’ve heard the narrative: the only successful entrepreneurs are the ones who forsake sleep, hobbies, relationships, sanity.

It’s complete and utter bullsh!t, in my experience.

In my years of doing this, I’ve seen successful founders who have indeed thrived on the hustle ethos and others who are steady, methodical, almost boring in their discipline. I’ve watched both kinds build successful companies. I’ve also watched both kinds crash. That’s because the pattern isn’t the hours. It’s the fit.

People work differently. Their brains process differently. Their lives are structured differently. Pretending there’s a single blueprint for success is lazy thinking disguised as some kind of zen-like oracle-as-capital-allocator wisdom.

If your working style pushes you forward without wrecking you? Great.
If your working style turns you into a zombie with a pitch deck? Not great.

It isn’t that complicated.

4. Hustle Culture Is an Investor Power Tool: And maybe It’s Time to Call That Out

Let me tell you a secret about hustle culture from the investor side: it keeps the power imbalance intact. Because if I can convince you that you must grind to the bone to ‘earn’ my capital, I’ve already won.

That dynamic is real, and whether people admit it or not, it works in the investor’s favor. Some funds even embed it into their criteria: if you’re not willing to live the 996 life, you’re not ‘serious.’ 

What they’re actually saying is:
“I only want founders who will sacrifice everything for my potential return.”

I think that’s dumb. I also think it’s short-sighted. You know how many great founders you filter out by demanding that they contort their entire lives around your expectations?

A lot. Enough to shrink your own deal flow. Enough to make you miss durable, resilient, adaptable founders, including many of the ones who may actually survive the long haul.

Meanwhile, here in the Midwest, I see something very different. I talk to founders who build companies out of genuine community, balance, and, frankly, normal human decency. Their cultures aren’t about monomania. They’re about creating environments where people can sustain the work required without destroying themselves in the process. Because that makes them more productive and more useful as a result.

And guess what? Those companies often perform better.

One founder I know and value is obsessed with hiking and ensures they carve out time to spend with their family on a regular basis. They are also one of the most productive founders I’ve ever worked with. And not because they only grind. Because they think clearly.

5. It’s Not About Hours. It’s About Grit and Adaptability

When I look for founders to back, I’m not counting hours. I’m looking for something else entirely: the ability to take hits and keep solving problems.

I don’t mean stubbornness. I don’t mean delusion. I mean the quiet, steady resilience that lets someone absorb feedback, challenge assumptions, and keep going. I’ve seen founders who work around the clock but cannot take even minor negative feedback. I’ve also seen founders who work normal, humane weeks but can take a literal punch to the face and come back with a plan.

One company in our portfolio looked like the ideal hustle-culture poster child - always at the office, always grinding. But when real pressure hit, they just couldn’t adapt and they couldn’t handle being challenged. Ultimately, we stopped supporting them - not financially, because that’s not how it works but with our time - because grit isn’t measured in hours; it’s measured in how you respond when the world pushes back.

Real grit is quiet. Real grit is confident. Real grit doesn’t need performative exhaustion to prove anything. It seeks results.

So Why Do Founders Still Fall for it?

Partly because a lot of loud people act as though the only path to victory is by becoming a martyr. And it’s especially difficult for young founders. When someone with a giant reputation tells you that the ‘real’ players all live and behave a certain way, it’s tempting to accept it as gospel.

But that so called gospel should have any real evidence that I’m aware of.

In my experience, the Midwest just has a different ethos, and frankly, it is one of the region’s superpowers. Founders here don’t confuse burnout with brilliance. They value people. They value judgment. They value being able to still love your life while building something that matters.

The point isn’t that you’ll never work weekends. The point is that grinding yourself into dust is not a prerequisite for building something great.

And before anyone reads that and says “that’s why you don’t build unicorns”... firstly that isn’t true. And those that have stayed and done so all seem to have an ethos that validates what I’m saying. And secondly, long before this culture came to fore, we’ve building giant world-changing companies in this region. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

The Long Game

There’s an old line: Sometimes you’re ahead. Sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end… it’s only with yourself.

I think about that often, especially when the hustle-porn noise gets loud. Tech loves to glamorize the sprint, but company-building is a marathon. A long, unpredictable, sometimes brutal marathon. And if you burn all your fuel in the first mile because someone on a podcast told you that’s what champions do, you’re not being ambitious. You’re being reckless.

Work ethic matters.
Adaptability matters.
Resilience matters.
Confidence matters.

But none of those require you to sacrifice your entire identity on the altar of someone else’s expectations. In fact, I’d argue that recognizing when this is performative BS, and ignoring it by doing what you think is best to ensure the success of your business is actually what great founders do.

Ignore the hustle culture noise.Build the company in a way you can actually sustain and that gives you the best chance of success.And if an investor can’t respect that, then they shouldn’t be one of your investors.