Hey, fellow entrepreneurs – brace yourself for a potentially uncomfortable question. Have you ever stopped to consider if the whole concept of ‘hustle culture,’ where you grind 24/7 and sacrifice everything for success, is not far off from the deceptive promise of a pyramid scheme?
Think about it. Pyramid schemes thrive on the idea that if you just work hard enough and recruit sufficiently, you’ll reach the pinnacle of financial independence and luxury. Sounds familiar? The hustle culture narratives often parrot this same tune: Work around the clock, say goodbye to your social life, and you’ll be rewarded with entrepreneurial nirvana.
But here’s the controversial bit: Isn’t this promise equally misleading? We celebrate the few who make it, plastering their faces on Forbes and glorifying their bank accounts, but ignore the silent majority suffering from burnout, broken relationships, and spiraling mental health. The narrative dangerously implies that those who fail just ‘didn’t hustle hard enough.’
Are we simply perpetuating a toxic cycle that’s as risky and destructive as the schemes we publicly condemn?
Let’s have an honest conversation. Are we unfairly romanticizing overworking, or is this ‘extreme work ethic’ a necessary step on the ladder to success? Where do we draw the line, and how do we build sustainable, healthy entrepreneurial ventures without falling into this trap?
Ready for the heat
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in short, yes
You can work really hard trying to polish a turd but at the end of the day it’s still shit. Hustles work when you’re not doing a shit hustle.
It’s all a pyramid scheme.
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I love to hire people that post about hustle culture and sigma grindset. I can overwork them for the same pay.
If hard work was the only variable directly correlated with success and wealth, why are street cleaners, fisherman and other laborers not multi-millionaires; they can certainly outwork any of us.
So this alone disproves working hard as the only perimeter.
On the other hand the correlation between charisma, who you know, your family background and race all have far higher correlation to “success”
I used to be a COO, and if I saw ppl working late it would tell me they’re either over worked (and the system was assigning them too much work) or they were struggling (and were unable to meet the standard for the position), I would have estimates on the workloads in my financial operating model which would tell me things like the estimated targets and relative averages of how many clients and client hours per client manager for example.
I think unless you’re a shareholder in a business, it’s ultimately just a job, working harder doesn’t increase any reward for you, where as for a shareholder there is a correlation, but even then, some things just take time, you can’t make a baby in one month by getting 9 women pregnant.
I’m not sure I agree with “Working harder doesn’t increase any reward.” Hard work doesn’t guarantee success but almost nothing does when creating a business, service, etc. Hard work does tend to equal a personal investment in the matter which has other benefits. You have a higher chance to learn important lessons, seek out knowledge, continue persisting through the hard beginnings, keep going through growth challenges etc.
“Hard work” is just the buy-in.
I’ve considered this a lot considering I’ve lost the ability to relax for more than a day without being racked with guilt. The attitudes shoveled out by social media and influencers is not only toxic, it’s completely fake.
For every entrepreneur sweating at a shop late at night there’s a dozen influencers spreading lies about doing the same thing. A huge part of running a business is learning to work smarter with your model, not harder.
At the same time, you DO need to work harder than a 9-5 to succeed in most cases and success is unlikely to occur right away. So my perception is that “Grind culture” is a real and often necessary thing taken to extreme by people who don’t recognize the danger because they’ve never actually participated in it.
Coming here to share your struggle forcing myself to watch a movie on a Sunday afternoon. The feel of guilt I get from not working is insane.
Agreed, my father had to work at a job and then go work on his business after-work. He had to hustle, but he still was able to take a breather every now and then. He always had some sort of thing going on when I was growing up, bike racks, protable grill for jeeping/survival, a Handyman business, etc.
My FIL is a very good role model for me. He built a successful business over many years, and while he worked a lot, he made time to attend every family event, and every one of my husband’s sporting things. He wasn’t working while there either, he would volunteer at the events and help clean up afterward.
He worked long hours, but he also took long family vacations (like 2+ weeks) at least once a year, and smaller weekend trips besides. He’s semi-retired now (sold the business, but got bored eventually) and still does some deals here and there. BUT, he spends most of his time playing a sport with a rotating group of neighbors and is always meeting friends or family for a meal out somewhere. He seems prob 10-15 years younger than other men the same age just because he stays healthy and is nearly always in a good mood.
I don’t think I’ve met someone else like this. This guilt you describe - I haven’t thought of it as guilt, more like angst, but it might be a combination. It’s being about not being present, but filled with a mixture of guilt and angst for not investing for a potential, nonexistent future. What does this mean - is this intrinsic to being an entrepreneur? A wantrapreneur? I honestly just thought I was ADHD or something this whole time, but no, it’s guilt and angst
yes its the capitalist pyramid scheme
I work full time as an electrician. I make pretty good money, in fact my schedule is insane and i work a ton if overtime, way above the normal hours a 9-5 office worker would ever dream of. For that I make good money, but I don’t love this.
My dream has always been opening my own company.
Have a registered business, built my website in my own time, learned Figma/Illustrator, created my own logo, letterheads, business cards, site. Spent money above and beyond to outfit my truck with ladder racks and sliding storage under a canopy. Carry insurance.
On my brief time off, do side jobs (insured, with permits). Analyze each how they went. Did I sell well? Did I charge enough? Did I finish in the amount of hours I thought I would? If not, keep iterating.
I also workout 6 days a week and read books for leisure and want to run a marathon. This is probably “hustle culture” and I feel like anyone who uses the words toxic hustle culture will never start a business on top of their 9-5 without significant outside help like inheritance, partner bankrolling them etc.
In short if you have a job and want to run a business, there is a period of time where you need to do and juggle both. If you think that’s toxic hustle culture then… don’t?
Truth is … you have to have intestinal fortitude. Which means you gotta want it. But you must be correct in your assessment of yourself and your abilities. I give you the example of a singer (or an actor or a ball player). There are many examples of people in these genres who have “made it”. But unlike what you see and hear, it’s more than just being discovered. You have to assess your talents and abilities to see if you have the basics of what it will take. Of all the success stories there are ten million failure stories. Being untalented, unprepared, and unwilling will always seal your doom. It ain’t easy in the beginning and if you think the struggles aren’t fun, then you are not in the right place.
In short, yes.
Other have said it better than I could, so I’ll just add one thing. The hustle culture does not tend to address WHAT you’re doing or WHY you’re doing it. Financial independence, sure. But why and how are you getting there?
What I’m saying is that it is treating entrepreneurship and business like a numbers game, like the top comment’s good example about “turning $1000 dollars into $10000” posts. Very rarely do you talk about adding VALUE, helping people with what you’re doing, selling, etc. It is truly just a cash grab and “how much do you make a month” mindset.
When I’m considering a business pursuit or a job, one of the questions I ask myself is “how do this bless my neighbor?” Are you providing good jobs/work for people? Beneficial services? Valuable products? This is the type of thing I wish I saw more chatter about in these kinds of groups.
Hustle culture: buy my book/course on how to become a millionaire. How I became a millionaire is selling a million of these books.
I think the most successful people that made it sacrificed more than the average person is willing to.
For example, after he graduated college, Mark Cuban rented a house that he shared with like 20 other young dudes and only had a towel to sleep on.
His whole life revolved around software sales. He even drove his then girlfriend away and chose working on his business rather than making more time for her. Right or wrong he chose to make those kinds of sacrifices.
I don’t think hustle culture should be shunned or blamed for anything. Because for most people it’s not even in their control.
They are pulled towards their goals similar to a kid who plays video games all day.
Both are spending a disproportionate amount of time and energy on something not because they have a gun to their head but because they are enjoying every moment of the game they are playing.
The most successful get there through sheer obsession. The problem is finding something that motivates you deep enough to give up the average employee life(nothing wrong with that, it’s just not for everybody).
That could be becoming super rich like whoever. That could be buying a sports team like Gary Vee, or amassing the most followers on YouTube like Mr. Beast, or putting humans on Mars like Elon.
They don’t hustle like maniacs because it’s cool and hip. It’s how they’re wired, it’s all they want to do, and because the vision/goal is that big it will require every ounce of themselves to make it real.
But they aren’t complaining about it because they love the process and signed up for it gladly.
Win lose or draw more output brings more experience and knowledge and maybe more reward but the true reward is in knowing what you want out of life, why you want it, and knowing yourself enough to determine if you’re willing to make the sacrifices needed to achieve your goals.
A part of being American is having your life centered around work and productivity. Unless you have “f*ck you” money, then there’s really no escaping it. ~Everyone~ is living just to pay bills and money is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Not to mention your value as a man is largely placed on your financial status and success rather than your heart / character etc. Capitalism is a machine bigger than us all.