Running a startup across time zones—Melbourne, Singapore, Chicago, Amsterdam—with data centers that never sleep, how do you personally switch off?
Honestly, “always on” is part of the deal, and anyone who tells you otherwise while running a global startup is probably fibbing a little. But I’ve learned that being reachable and being consumed are two different things. As a former Marine, I’m good at compartmentalizing in my head—for me, working hard and relaxing hard go hand in hand. Work and private life run into each other, and that’s not a problem. The key is that you consciously make time to switch off, even if that sometimes means taking it on a Friday at two in the afternoon.
Sport is a big part of that—golf and padel in particular. There’s something about golf especially: Four hours where the only thing you can control is your next shot is oddly clarifying. Then there’s watching my two sons play their own sport on the weekend. Standing on the sideline at their matches, I’m just their dad for a couple of hours—the company doesn’t exist there, and that’s exactly what I need. The truth is the business never fully sleeps, so the discipline isn’t switching off completely—it’s making sure the moments that matter get the real me, not the distracted, half-there version.
