American hustle culture has been traditionally linked to success when it comes to the American Dream, but for most younger people especially, the truth is that devoting yourself entirely to work gets you nothing but burned out. The curtain has been pulled back, so to speak, and the value of living an overworked life is quickly losing its appeal. That doesn’t mean everyone is on board, however.

Where workers strive for a healthy work-life balance, corporate higher-ups don’t want the status quo to change. Case in point: a company founder who bragged about his life on LinkedIn and included a pretty sad fact — he only devotes one hour of time each day to his family.

A company founder shared that he spends almost his entire day-to-day life focused on himself and his business.

Being a CEO is no easy feat, and it takes a lot of hard work to build a business from the ground up. It’s understandable that a business owner would have to put in some long nights and early mornings to make it work. However, one founder did that at the expense of his family and seemed to be proud of it.

Vitalii Dodonov is the co-founder of Stana platform that allows content creators to market and sell their services, like coaching calls and courses. In a recent LinkedIn postDodonov shared what his daily routine looks like.

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“A day in my life running a $30M ARR startup,” he began. “I get up at 5 a.m. Not because I like it, but because I need it. Running a startup takes a lot out of you. And I treasure those quiet morning hours for myself.” Dodonov went on to explain that he eats breakfast at 5:15, then hits the gym at 6:00. By 7:00, he’s in the office.

After arriving, he spends an hour reading. He calls this “how I invest in myself — my 1% improvement every day.” In 2024, Dodonov read a total of 52 books, or one book a week, an accomplishment he is “proud of.”

At 8:00, Dodonov spends an hour on LinkedIn, which is his “way of giving back.” Then he heads into several hours of “deep focus time” where he really puts his head down and gets to work until having lunch with his team at noon.

From 1:00 to 5:00, Dodonov can be found in meetings. “Everyone needs me for something — so I make myself available,” he explained. At 5:00, he has a “hard stop on meetings,” and spends the next two hours catching up on email and Slack messages.

That’s where his schedule got a bit controversial. He listed 8:00 as his “home” time. “The last hour is for family. Uninterrupted,” he insisted. He then goes to bed at 9:00.

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The founder received a variety of responses to his one-hour allotment for family time.

While one hour doesn’t sound like a lot for family, many of Dodonov’s fellow LinkedIn users seemed to have no problem with it.

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“Respect the grind, love the structure,” one person commented. “Thanks for sharing, it’s very helpful! Been working on a more solid routine to maximize the day!” another said.

However, the post received a very different reception from Reddit’s “LinkedIn Lunatics” forumwhere it was shared. “They’re lucky because they only have to spend an hour with him and that’s probably more than enough,” one person argued. “Gotta have that work-life balance. 12 hours for work, one hour for the fam,” another user said.

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Experts say that work-life balance is essential for us all.

Abbey Sangmeister, MS.Ed, LPC, ACS, explained“With a good work-life balance, a person is less likely to be rigid with their schedule. Instead, they are able to be flexible and can adapt to include demands that may come up professionally or personally without disrupting the feeling of balance.”

On the surface, one could easily think this description of work-life balance spells trouble for Dodonov. However, Kendra Cherry, MS.Ed, shared that work-life balance will be different for everyone because no two people have the same professional and personal lives.

Before we judge Dodonov too harshly, it may be good to consider all of the work it takes to build a startup. However, his family would likely appreciate some more time with him.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.