What part of "start a company" requires "grinding 80h weeks"?

Sounds to me as inability to delegate. Or implicit in the [acquire VC, aim for high growth] mindset as if that were the only path to success.

Companies can grow organically. With a positive cash-flow early on & reasonable work/life balance for founders & employees alike. Heck, there's even non-profits.

> Companies can grow organically.

Yes they can, but unless you strike luck, they take many years, often decades of work to grow to a level where you can retire and enjoy the money.

With FIRE and similar concepts being pushed around everywhere, and the plight of the masses to keep their jobs and homes, I see where that desire for "make money fast" comes from. And from a game theory mindset - it's not wrong. (That is also a bit related to the explosion of gambling and gambling-alike stuff such as "prediction markets"...)

> Heck, there's even non-profits.

Non-profits often enough run on conditions bordering on (self-)exploitation.