Is It Possible to Be Both a Founder and a Daddy?
Tom Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. Now running Bubble Motion, a Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO backed social media startup that is one of the largest VC–backed startups in Southeast Asia having raised over $60M+ in funding.
Over a year ago, Kiip CEO Brian Wong made a rather definitive comment at a tech conference in Singapore: “You can’t have kids and run a startup.” He went on to give examples of former employees with kids who didn’t last at his company because they couldn’t balance their work and family life.
Tom Clayton氏はシリコンバレーで数多くのハイテクスタートアップを起業、経営してきた。現在6000万ドル以上の投資を獲得し、Sequoia Capital、SingTel Innov8、およびJAFCOといったベンチャーキャピタルに支えられたスタートアップとしては、東南アジアで最大のソーシャルメディアスタートアップの一つである、Bubble Motion社を経営している。
一年以上前、KiipのCEOであるBrian Wong氏はシンガポールのあるテックカンファレンスで、ある意味決定的なコメントを述べた:「スタートアップを経営しながら子供を持つなんて無理です。」 そして彼は仕事と家族の時間のバランスが取れずに彼の会社を辞めていった、過去の従業員の例を挙げていった。
Tom Clayton氏はSilicon Valleyで多くのハイテク関連の新規事業を立ち上げて経営し、今はBubble Motion、Sequoia Capital、Sing Tel Innov8を経営し、東南アジア最大級のベンチャーキャピタルでありソーシャルメディアに支援されたJAFCOの6,000万ドル以上の資金を集めた。
1年以上前、KiipのCEO Brian Wong氏はシンガポールのある技術協議会で「子供がいたら新規事業の経営はできません」と、かなりな決定的なコメントをし、以前いた子供がいた従業員は仕事と家庭の両立ができないため、彼の会社で長く働く事が出来なかった幾つかの例を挙げた。
Hmmm… That made me do some deep introspection. Was I doing a disservice to my startup since I was now a father? After all, I was single during my previous six startups and only had kids in the past few years. Moreover, was it a problem that 34 of our 60 employees have kids? It was easy to blow off the flippant comment by the 20-something-year-old founder who did not have kids, but it did cause me to reflect nonetheless.
For me, being a dad and running a startup seemed to be working fine. In fact, I don’t think I am slacking at either job and I often get asked how I balance both tasks. After significant reflection and a great conversation with my three-year-old daughter on the topic, I think I started to understand what it takes to manage both lives in parallel.
First of all, I disagree with Brian’s comment. It is possible to be a parent and an entrepreneur – and I think there are thousands of role models out there who prove this. However, in order to do so, you must be absolutely ruthless with your schedule. This means giving your personal life the same dedication that you give your startup. I have always had an extremely busy work schedule – logging 90-hour work weeks and 350,000 plus air miles a year; I am currently the CEO of Bubble Motion, a Sequoia-backed startup based in Singapore, but I have also founded and worked at six different Silicon Valley startups before this.
Even with the hectic work demands that I face on a daily basis, I’m still able to be very involved in the lives of my wife and two young daughters. Before having a family, I had a “work hard, play hard” mentality and the “play hard” was my free time to let loose. Now I’ve just replaced the “play hard” with intense family time; thus, whether you’re 25 or 35 or 45, it’s no different. This balance hasn’t always been the case, and certainly doesn’t come easily – it takes a lot of effort and perseverance to achieve an equilibrium.
4 lessons for a good work-family balance
Here are some of the lessons I have learned that may help aspiring entrepreneurs maintain a strong work-family balance:
良い仕事と家庭のバランスのための4つのレッスン
大志を抱く起業家が、強固な仕事と家庭のバランスを維持するのに役立つ、私が学んだレッスンをここに紹介する。
仕事と家庭の両立のための4つのレッスン
ここで私が学んだ、意欲的な企業家向けの、仕事と家庭の両立を成功させるためのいくつかのレッスンを紹介しよう。
1. Managing time effectively is a must – When everyone wants your time, everything must be scheduled. Rather than attempting to multitask with the deluge of daily requests and to-do’s, creating 15- to 30-minute increments per task helps me hone my focus. Most tasks and meetings can be completed in less than 30 minutes and by keeping to a rigid schedule I can turn my focus on and off. With this comes the ability to prioritize more easily. It’s also important to have one central means for communication and staying on top of things. For me, it’s my email Inbox.
誰かがあなたの時間を使う時には、全ての事がスケジューリングされていなければならない。毎日上ってくる要求とやらなければいけないタスクの洪水の中で幾つかの仕事を同時進行しようとするよりも、15-30分の時間を作り1つのタスクに集中した方が良い。殆どのタスクやミーティングは30分以内に終わるし、スケジュールを厳格に管理することで集中度をコントロールすることできる。また、仕事の優先順位を付けることで、より簡単に対応することができるようになる。全てに優先してコミュニケーションを集中管理する手段を1つ持つことも重要で、私にとってその手段とはEmailの受信箱だった。
Everyone knows to get something on my list, email me. I read every email and reply to most of them. I religiously empty my inbox at least once a week. This allows me to focus all of my communications and ‘to do’ items in one place and ensure I’m not missing something.
2. Maximizing off time at home – When you do get to be home, it’s important to make the most of it. For me, this means setting aside time to relax with my family and give them my full, undivided attention. Each week, my daughters and I have a “daddy-daughter” night where the three of us go to dinner.
2. 自由時間を最大限に有効活用
あながた家にいるときには自由時間の有効活用は何より重要だ。私にとって、それは家族とリラックスする時間を作ることであり、私の分つことのできない心の全てを家族に奉げることだ。毎週2人の娘と私は「パパと娘の夜」の時間を設け3人で食事に出かけている。
2.家庭での自由時間を最大にする － 家にいるとき、これを最優先することが重要である。私の場合、家族とくつろぐ時間はとっておいて、私のすべての注意を逃さず彼らに向ける。毎週、私の娘たちと私は3人で夕食に行き、「父子」の夜を過ごす。
Both my daughters and I live for these nights out – they keep me grounded, and I’m sure my children love to see a distraction-free dad. In addition, having a supportive spouse who understands your lifestyle and is able to pick up your slack when you need it helps tremendously and is basically a necessity to finding simultaneous success in both the startup world and the daddy world.
3. Making sure work trips aren’t all work – For founders with children, why not bring them with you when you travel for work? This is something that I try to do whenever possible. My three-year-old has already been to 23 countries across four continents!
3. 出張でするのは仕事だけではない
子供のいる設立者は出張するときに子供も連れて行ってはどうだろうか?これは私が可能な限り実践していることで、私の3歳の娘は既に4つの大陸の23の国を訪れている!
3.すべての仕事がうまくいくわけではないことを理解する － 子供を持つ創業者として、出張に行くときになぜ子供たちを一緒に連れて行かないのか？これは私ができる限りやろうとしていることだ。私の3歳の娘はすでに4大陸の23か国に行ったことがある！
Hotels can always get a sitter to watch children during meetings and then once work is out of the way, the evenings can be dedicated to them. Not to mention the fact that children often love the opportunity to get on a plane and go on an adventure with their parents. Everything is new and exciting for them; even the most mundane places you have seen a hundred times. Some of my best one-to-one time with one of my daughters is sitting in the airport lounge together – time that would otherwise be wasted. I’m not exaggerating when I say that bringing my daughters along makes business travel ten times better – not to mention how much they learn and see the world in the process!
4. Be available when out of the office – Ignoring email when you get home is not the answer. It’s important to be available to your employees during off hours at home. Getting online and staying responsive some mornings, nights, and weekends will help to keep productivity flowing when you’re out of the office and save you the stress of being bombarded with emails when you walk in on Monday morning, which can be paralyzing to productivity. I’m online 24/7 and always checking email. My most productive times of the day are often at night, after I put my daughters to bed, or early in the morning before they wake up.
家でメールを見ないというのは良い方法ではない。家にいて仕事をしていなくても従業員とコンタクトが取れる状態であることは重要なことだ。オフィスの外でも、朝や晩、週末にオンラインで早く回答することで生産性が上がるし、月曜日の朝にオフィスに行った時メール爆弾のような大量のメールに悩まされ、生産性が落ちることもない。私は週7日24時間いつでもオンラインでメールをチェックしている。また、私がもっとも効率的に仕事ができるのは大抵、夜娘たちを寝かしつけた後か、朝、彼女たちが起きる前だ。
タイトルは「設立者と父親の両立は可能？」でした、すみません。