Are builders so busy building businesses that starting a family isn’t a priority?
Most of my classmates from elementary school, high school, and university have been married for a long time and have had kids for at least 4 – 5 years.
But none of them started a business. They got jobs, their shift ends at 5 on Friday, and then they go enjoy their free time.
And then there are founders trying to build a business.
About 70% of the people I know from this environment don’t have a family, even though at their age, someone might normally already have a teenager at home.
Which kind of makes sense if you're a founder:
– you’re trying to grow the company even in your “free” time
– you have fewer opportunities and less time to meet people
– if you’re a solo founder, you have to do everything yourself
[I’m not even talking about women who want to become founders; there’s also a biological time limit.]
Is it just my impression that this group of people has their life mission and priorities somewhere else?
Or am I just in a bubble?
Replies
Murror
I think the loneliness part of building doesn't get talked about enough. It's not just "no time for family" but more that the founder identity kind of swallows everything. You stop being a full person and just become the thing you're building.
I work on Murror, an app specifically around loneliness and isolation in young people, and honestly a lot of what I see there echoes what founders go through too. The feeling that the people around you don't really get your life. That you're in this parallel world.
Family or no family, I think the real question is whether builders are letting themselves stay connected to people at all. That part is easy to lose without noticing.