![\"Concentrated](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769442277_246_0x0.jpg\")
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A businesswoman staying late hours in the office concentrating on her work sitting with a laptop and typing.<\/p>\n
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A recent job posting on LinkedIn reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hiring our first BDRs.<\/p>\n
Since launch last week, we\u2019ve been lucky enough to see our pipeline grow faster than we can handle\u2014and we need help.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be a great fit if you:<\/p>\n
The company is Corgi<\/a>, a Y Combinator-backed startup that recently raised $108 million <\/strong>to build insurance for startups. And while a seven-day workweek might have once raised eyebrows, in San Francisco today, it barely registers as surprising.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t care about your background or years of experience,\u201d the posting continues. \u201cJust that you have the drive to execute and get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked why, Corgi Co-founder and COO Emily Yuan<\/a> is blunt: \u201cIt\u2019s all about solving a big, important problem.\u201d<\/p>\n ForbesHow AI Is Reshaping Healthcare\u2014And Where VC Is Placing Its BetsBy Dasha Shunina<\/a>How Has Startup Culture Changed? <\/p>\n Ten years ago, startup culture looked very different.<\/p>\n Offices were designed to feel like playgrounds. Foosball tables, nightly happy hours and weekend parties were part of the pitch. Shared workspaces blurred into social scenes. Hookup culture was common. Burnout was romanticized, and ambition was wrapped in excess.<\/p>\n If you weren\u2019t there, Netflix\u2019s WeCrashed offers a time capsule of that era\u2014recounting WeWork\u2019s rise and fall, fueled by charisma, capital and an unapologetic party culture.<\/p>\n Those days appear to be over.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of work hard, play hard, now it\u2019s just work hard,\u201d says Kulveer Taggar<\/a>, a two-time founder and venture capitalist, and the founder of Phosphor Capital<\/a>.<\/p>\n Taggar, who has deep ties to the Y Combinator ecosystem, says today\u2019s founders are fundamentally different. They don\u2019t drink. They don\u2019t party. Many don\u2019t date. They optimize. They work. And they do so with an intensity that feels closer to 996\u2014or even 997\u2014than the Silicon Valley myth of balance.<\/p>\n Recently, Taggar hosted a private founder dinner and offered an array of expensive wines. No one touched them.<\/p>\n \u201cI visited one portfolio company where the founder proudly showed me mattresses on the floor in every office,\u201d Taggar says. \u201cDuring interviews, they ask candidates if they\u2019re willing to sleep at work\u2014and people line up for jobs there.\u201d<\/p>\n 996 By Choice, Not Pressure<\/p>\n For One Chowdhury<\/a>, the 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of Octolane<\/a>, the 996 schedule isn\u2019t a badge of suffering\u2014it\u2019s a deliberate strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do I work 996?\u201d Chowdhury asks. \u201cIt\u2019s not about chasing burnout. It\u2019s about chasing escape velocity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt this stage, the startup doesn\u2019t just need speed\u2014it needs obsession,\u201d he says. \u201cI work like this because I choose to, not because someone forces me to. It\u2019s ambition, not pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n To Chowdhury, 996 is no longer exceptional\u2014it\u2019s table stakes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt used to be a flex. Now it\u2019s the baseline,\u201d he says. \u201cThe top one percent of founders design lives where the work is the reward. What looks intense from the outside is just flow state from the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n The sacrifices, however, are real.<\/p>\n \u201cMy calendar is intentional. My sacrifices are not,\u201d he says. \u201cI say no to parties, weekends and sleep\u2014not because I love pain, but because I love progress. The chaos isn\u2019t glamorous, but the purpose is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing worse than 996,\u201d he adds, \u201cis regret.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Younger Founders Are Optimizes Everything<\/p>\n This new cohort doesn\u2019t just work longer hours\u2014they optimize their lives with scientific precision.<\/p>\n Chowdhury doesn\u2019t drink alcohol\u2014not out of discipline theater, but efficiency.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m chasing momentum,\u201d he says. \u201cI want clarity. I\u2019d rather remember my twenties than drink them away.\u201d<\/p>\n He closely follows longevity researcher Bryan Johnson and treats his life as a continuous experiment. Inputs are measured. Outputs are refined. Even rest is reframed.<\/p>\n \u201cRest isn\u2019t always sleep,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s staring at the ceiling after shipping something you didn\u2019t think was possible. Sometimes it\u2019s texting your co-founder at 2 a.m. just to say, \u2018We\u2019re really doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n Relationships aren\u2019t excluded\u2014but they must align.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t a job,\u201d Chowdhury says. \u201cIt\u2019s war. There\u2019s no balance. There\u2019s alignment.\u201d<\/p>\n The New Founder Profile Is Younger\u2014And Higher Agency<\/p>\n Cyril Gorlla<\/a>, the 23-year-old co-founder and CEO of AI startup CTGT<\/a>, embodies this emerging founder profile.<\/p>\n Gorlla left Stanford to start the company. CTGT has raised a $7.5 million seed round <\/strong>backed by Google and General Catalyst. The team occupies nearly 6,000 square feet in San Francisco and regularly hosts executives from Fortune 500 companies.<\/p>\n His schedule is relentless.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m in the office, I leave around 3 or 4 a.m.,\u201d Gorlla says. \u201cThen I\u2019m back the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t drive. He takes Waymo\u2014because it gives him 20 more minutes of work.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t drink alcohol. He goes to the gym to disconnect. Slack is always on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like work,\u201d Gorlla says. \u201cWhen you\u2019re building something meaningful, it takes on a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked to describe the modern founder archetype, Gorlla doesn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n \u201cYounger. Higher agency,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the shift.\u201d<\/p>\n He points to resumes from teenagers who have already published research papers\u2014and to a widening gap between high-agency and low-agency builders.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the real divide now,\u201d he says. \u201cNot age. Not privilege. Agency.\u201d<\/p>\n Not Burnout\u2014But Control<\/p>\n Unlike founders who have just dropped out of college, Upeka Bee<\/a> brings years of experience building engineering teams at Gusto.<\/p>\n Not all founders in this era subscribe to maximalist schedules\u2014but even those who prioritize health still reject the old party culture.<\/p>\n