996: accept or reject?
should you take 996 seriously?
Cameron Murray
September 19, 2025
open role: founding account executive
seed stage kleiner perkins backed startup
ai tool built to help marketing teams with ad spend
technical founding team, this is the first gtm hire
$1m+ in arr already and they’re less than 1 year old
mostly mid market deals, no enterprise yet
$125/250k with some flex for the right fit
interested? apply here
996: accept or reject?
a lot of noise lately about 996 and cRaCkeD founders working crazy hours.
9am to 9pm 6 days a week.
there was a wsj article released about it and the TLDR was this:
founders that want to win with any significance, should prioritize work and eliminate distractions. no vacations. no free time. limited social life. and certainly no booze.
while i don’t subscribe to 996, i generally agree with the premise above.
however, if you’re not a founder, and you’re anything but a founding team, 996 will kill your momentum and your team.
hiring managers:
996 is killing your talent pool, company culture and business potential.
a sales rep working 996 is not effective, efficient or real.
no one is taking a cold call at 9pm.
“what about the different time zones” lol go to bed.
if you’re bragging about your insane hours hoping it’ll attract the right talent and repel “lazy” candidates, you’re just going to attract someone without a social life or the financial stability to recognize that what you’re asking for is a b.o.g.o hire.
if your company needs 996 to survive, you’ve built an unprofitable house of cards.
while it may seem that you’re building a lean and profitable team, your foundation is unstable. you can’t afford the headcount fallout of a 996 culture. if you could, you’d hire enough employees so that 995 is the best way to win (because it is).
the best candidates want to work hard, produce great results and do so within a reasonable work week. and the best candidates, want to work together.
will the best candidates work overtime? totally.
will they push on big weeks, product launches and for key clients/wins? absolutely.
will they live life for the sole purpose of your business? not for long.
candidates:
if a company is suggesting, hinting at or bragging about 996; run.
if you have a social life, a healthy mind, or want either of those things; run.
if you want to join a company that will still be around in 2 years; run.
if you have a spouse or kids; run.
TLDR:
996: for founders and founding team.
955: everyone else.
ps - a founder from that article fired a parent that was a top performer because they wouldn’t work after 5pm.
what a dweeb. don’t work for that guy.
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