For Netflix co-founder Mark Randolph, success has never been about working 24/7. His rule was simple: every Tuesday at 5 p.m. he stopped working without exception.In an old LinkedIn post resurfaced on social media, Randolph reflected on his years-long ritual of leaving the office at the same time every week to spend an evening with his best friend. Whether that meant watching a movie, having dinner, or just walking around town, those hours were non-negotiable.“I have worked hard throughout my career to maintain a balance between my life and work,” he wrote. “For over thirty years on Tuesdays, I had severe blackouts. Come rain or shine, I would leave at exactly 5pm and spend the evening with my best friend.”Even as the chief executive of Netflix, which today has a market value of more than $467 billion, Randolph said nothing gets in the way of that commitment. “No meeting, no conference call, no last questions or requests,” he noted. “If there was a crisis, we’d be done with it by 5:00.”The philosophy of this ritual, he says, was what “kept me sane” and helped him maintain perspective in an industry defined by relentless speed.
The Myth of Equilibrium in the Age of Grinding
Randolph’s philosophy stands in stark contrast to the Silicon Valley belief that extraordinary success requires extraordinary sacrifice. Many of today’s technology leaders openly reject the concept of balance.Lucy Guo, co-founder of artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, said Fortune that she usually begins her day before dawn and continues until midnight. “I probably don’t have a work-life balance,” she said, arguing that those who crave it may simply be in the wrong job.Similarly, Andrew Feldman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cerebras Systems, said 20 VC podcast about the pursuit of greatness being incompatible with standard work hours. “The way to build something new from nothing and make it great is not a part-time job,” he said. “It’s every waking minute. And of course there are costs.”For some, such intensity is the price of innovation. For others, it’s the beginning of burnout.
The case is beyond the borders
A growing number of senior executives are challenging the “always on” culture that has long defined corporate ambition. JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon urged aspiring leaders to protect their personal well-being alongside their professional growth.“You have to have a work-life balance,” Dimon said during a speech at Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy last year. He added that maintaining health – mental, physical and social – is fundamental to long-term performance.Whole Foods CEO Jason Buchel has taken similar steps. Talking to Fortune, he said he uses all of his paid vacation time each year and has implemented a policy for employees to do the same. He argued that by putting a limit on how many hours can be banked, the company encourages employees to actually disconnect and reboot.“It really forces people to make sure they take time off,” he said. “I think it’s important for me to help set that example.”
Redefining success
Randolph’s “5 PM Rule” offers the opposite of the common narrative that endless work is the only path to achievement. His example shows that discipline is not only about working harder, but also about knowing when to stop.In a world that equates busyness with value, his approach emphasizes that creativity and endurance depend on pause as much as effort. For the generation of founders now defining the next wave of innovation, this may be the hardest lesson to learn.
