That is not the case at all startups. We make a huge effort to foster a solid work-life balance at Weebly.
Yes, the founders do usually work quite a bit. But most everyone else works as much or as little as they want during the week, as long as they are being productive and get everything done they set out to at the beginning of the week.
Ditto for vacation time. Take as much or as little as you need as long as we're not in an emergency-mode (which rarely happens).
More than larger companies, I'd guess that startups have a much larger variance in culture -- there are those that require you to commit your life, and there are those that are able to foster a great work-life balance, it's just a matter of choosing the right one.
Interesting! Sounds like a nice culture. The key to it is maybe (?) this part: "as long as we're not in an emergency-mode (which rarely happens)". My impression is that the "which rarely happens" part varies quite a lot; some places are in emergency mode every other week. Though to be fair, that's true of some large companies too (EA has a reputation for being crunch time all the time).
About once every 6 months for us. To be fair, a major release might require a tad more work than usual once every 2 months (think 1-2 extra hours per day that week).
I think the key to making it work is keeping it small. If there were too many people, nobody would feel individual responsibility and it would devolve into a nobody comes into work culture.
As it is, some people come in to work at 9 and leave at 4:30, some 9-6, some 11-8, some 2-2 (whoops, that's just me :) -- depends on when you like to work.
Also, everybody has easy weeks and hard weeks, and there's no point sticking around work if you've got nothing to do. Much better to work hard for 4 hours a day on the easy weeks than stick around for an extra 4 hours depressed.
Yes, the founders do usually work quite a bit. But most everyone else works as much or as little as they want during the week, as long as they are being productive and get everything done they set out to at the beginning of the week.
Ditto for vacation time. Take as much or as little as you need as long as we're not in an emergency-mode (which rarely happens).
More than larger companies, I'd guess that startups have a much larger variance in culture -- there are those that require you to commit your life, and there are those that are able to foster a great work-life balance, it's just a matter of choosing the right one.