I guess what I was trying to say is, male founders have a few biological choices that female founders don't, and I'm suggesting that it should be considered unethical to set industry work-hour standards to a level that only males can achieve because males are able to de-prioritize biology.
An article about one of the most widely acclaimed male founders today:
"As an Apple employee in the early 1990s, he almost walked out of the delivery room when the impending birth of his first child threatened to disrupt a presentation he was scheduled to give. As president of Google China from 2005 to 2009, he had a special table installed on his bed so that he could sit directly up from sleep and immediately begin responding to emails, without having to waste time standing up or reaching for a laptop."
I'm hypothesizing that behavior like this, at different scales, is quickly becoming both romanticized and expected of founders, and that is marginalizing all groups except single males.
I personally don't believe, at least at the founder/executive level, that this is a standard that has been set. Rather, there is a degree of self-organization here. Individuals are making decisions that they believe will help them compete better. I doubt there is a practical route toward lessening this effect, short of detonating the whole concept of the startup and possibly the entire economic system. There is zero chance that you're going to convince individual founders to take steps that they believe will make them less competitive in the name of "ethics."
Personally I don't find it romantic at all, and therefore I am not a startup founder. I love my 9-5.
Males can more easily wait till 40+ to have children.
Males don't have periods. If work hours are kept to a healthy level, both males and females can achieve those work hours averaged over a long time because there is sufficient time for rest. If sufficient rest isn't planned into the schedule, there isn't time for periods, and that culture unfairly favors males.
Males don't get pregnant, and are often looked down upon, or lose promotion and investment opportunities, for working less hours to help their pregnant or child-rearing partners. The males who set aside time for family are out-competed by males who either (a) don't value having a partner or children or (b) treat their family like crap by not being there for them. (I'm saying this from direct observations of acquaintances and friends.)
I guess what I was trying to say is, male founders have a few biological choices that female founders don't, and I'm suggesting that it should be considered unethical to set industry work-hour standards to a level that only males can achieve because males are able to de-prioritize biology.
An article about one of the most widely acclaimed male founders today:
"As an Apple employee in the early 1990s, he almost walked out of the delivery room when the impending birth of his first child threatened to disrupt a presentation he was scheduled to give. As president of Google China from 2005 to 2009, he had a special table installed on his bed so that he could sit directly up from sleep and immediately begin responding to emails, without having to waste time standing up or reaching for a laptop."
I'm hypothesizing that behavior like this, at different scales, is quickly becoming both romanticized and expected of founders, and that is marginalizing all groups except single males.
https://qz.com/work/1488217/a-former-symbol-of-silicon-valle...