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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Entrepreneurship is good for society, but statistically bad for the entrepreneur.
The vast majority of small businesses fail. The risk is very great to the individual entrepreneur, kind of like playing the lottery. However small businesses drive roughly 50% of the US’s economy, employe roughly half of the workers in the US, and have come up with the majority of innovations over the last century. So it is good for society if entrepreneurs keep taking risks, even if statistically speaking, the entrepreneur is far more likely to fail than succeed.
No, its not.
In all honesty I’ve been working since I was a young child and I sincerely believe it’s something that is just in some people. I think there is too much emphasis on being successful RIGHT NOW and that if you fail your failures somehow make you a failure forever. Fail, take a break, try again has been my motto for awhile now. You don’t need to burn yourself out, ruin your social life, or go bankrupt that’s a choice. If I succeed then I reap the rewards of being on the winning side of capitalism and I believe in capitalism. If I fail then I guess I’m no better or worse off than I was before.
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?
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.
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.
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.
I got into entrepreneurship so I don’t have to answer to a boss, and so I can eventually get less hands on, with the business.
It’s a lot of work, but I’m not gonna kill myself doing it. If I have to hustle that hard, I’m not pricing adequately.
I am releasing a prototype of my application early next week and need people to try it out. Would love for anyone willing to help to respond and I’ll send you the link when its up
It’s about sending personalized gifts to your loved ones
I’m new to Reddit. Want to get people to test out my prototype. Would appreciate any uparrows so I can post a bigger announcement
Idk about you guys, but I hate to admit I’m lazy AF. I don’t like hustling hard. I like to chill and do things I’m passionate about.
So when I’m busy AF, I’m busy because I need to clear things as minimally and as efficiently as possible - without compromising standards, yet delivering up to the best standards that I can.
I’m also not in business to impress people (not 100% LOL, let’s be real). I just want to earn my living, living my life based on my own standards, and ironically even though I value freedom, I’m also mature enough to understand that the more I dive deeper, the more things I need to oversee and do with my own hands at least for the start.
Is this vanity or toxicity? Am I doing something incorrect?
Most people I know that buy into the hustle culture aren’t actually really hustling. They are the ones that makes hustle culture seems so toxic. They spend more time talking about the hustling than actually doing the hustling and fabricating everything to make it seem like they are hustling.
IMO, anyone running approximately 24/7, sacrificing a social life, family, their health ( not eating right, sleeping enough, exercising) and is operating as a solo-preneur, you’re most likely on a collision course with failure.
When you finally collide, it’s gonna be a mess.