Founders of European startups are forced to embrace China’s toxic “996” work culture on LinkedIn, and they are pushing back.
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European startups have been recently LinkedIn Debate As some venture capitalists put pressure on founders to embrace an overworked culture in order to compete on the global stage.
The “996” work culture occupies supreme rule in China and has been included Jackma’s Alibaba and Bontedance’s titlelokbut the system is A lot of protests In recent years. Tech workers in Europe told CNBC in 2021 that they rejected job opportunities, refused interviews and even quit roles after learning about Tiktok’s 996 job cultures.
Sebastian Becker, general partner of Swiss VC firm Redalpine, added the debate on LinkedIn by addressing the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Becker explain Merz’s proposal is not far enough because “40 hours a week won’t cut it.”
“In Silicon Valley, 60-70 hours a week is no exception – they even have a semester: 996-9am-9pm, six days a week…we can have the same number of smart, ambitious people, but if we keep working hard we won’t win, we won’t win.”
Martin Mignot, an Index Ventures partner in London Explained On LinkedIn, 996 originated in China and “quietly became norm” in international startups.
Part of the reason behind this latest thrust is the ongoing view that European tech and startups are Lag Behind the United States and China, both produced tech giants and were known for their strong work culture.
“What Europe really needs is not more noise, but more aggressive funds.”
Sarah Wernér
Husmus Co-founder
However, Suranga Chandratillake, general partner of Balderton Capital, told CNBC that these views proved to be outdated, as Europe has produced DECA-CORN in recent years, a company worth more than $10 billion, including Klarna, Revolut, Wise and Checkout.com. The continent has not yet produced a trillion-dollar technology company Nvidia.
“European tech markets and ecosystems are now in sync with the United States and Asia today… As early as the 1980s, the European tech community was behind the tech community on the west coast of the United States, but it is not the case now.”
Calls on Europe to adopt 996 working cultures sparked Strong wave. CNBC talks with seven European startup founders and venture capitalists about why they disagree.
“Overworked Fetish”
Founders and venture capitalists say the obsession with China’s 996 or 24/7 work culture in Silicon Valley stems from the glory of the noisy culture in the entrepreneurial landscape.
“It’s about fetishism about overworking rather than clever work…it’s a myth,” Chandratillake said. “California is very good at telling stories, and there are a lot of myths about the concept of what a startup looks like… it involves hard work, but if you really spend time in this ecosystem, you’ll find a lot of people working very hard, but there are also some periods that don’t work.”
Nina Mohanty, a Silicon Valley native, founder of London Spend moneysaying that adopting a positive culture of overwork actually has “lasting effects and unexpected consequences”,
“You just have to think about the revolver and the culture they have, which is probably the closest culture we’ve seen in Europe to the 996 culture, and they struggled,” Mohanty told CNBC. “Their stirring rate is very high in their teams, even Efforts to obtain a bank licenseactually consider their culture as one of them. ”
Revolut told CNBC that it operates in a “high-growth, high-performance environment.”
“In line with this, we have evolved our people: through value-based behavior, structured development, and a collaborative, challenging and scale-based culture.”
Noa Khamallah, general partner who does not withdraw from Ventures, noted that “996 is not needed” and that these values often contradict European mindsets and regulations.
“From Spotify to SAP to ASML, Europe’s most successful companies are not dominating through overwork, but through a sustainable culture of innovation,” Hamara said.
He provides examples from Silicon Valley Uber and Yuanboth companies have expanded to Europe and face a massive regulatory push.
“These examples reveal that Silicon Valley’s spirit of “moving quickly and destroying things” often breaks Europe’s values of workers’ rights, privacy and sustainable business practices,” Hamara said.
“I want my competitors to do 996”
Luna founder Jas Schembri-Stothart said Gen Z and millennials are “less tolerant” to the toxic hustle and bustle.
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Husmus co-founder Sarah Wernér told CNBC that an always-on culture reduces retention and creates a revolving door to talent.
“Overwork today is tomorrow’s productivity crisis,” Wennar said. “Personally, I want my competitors to do 996. This makes poachers much easier when they decide they’ve had enough.”
Dama Sathianathan, senior partner at Bethnal Green Ventures, said “prescription” hours are not helpful, especially if it means putting workers’ health at risk.
“Optimizing the workforce doesn’t always improve productivity gains, or you can be distinguished from other companies over the long term if you don’t have a meaningful job,” Sathianathan explained.
Meanwhile, the youngest generation at work is unlikely to overexert and often Prioritize work-life balance.
Luna founder Jas Schembri-Stothart, a health and wellness app for teen girls, said 996 will drive young talent away from European startups.
“People may endure a period of overwork, but it can ultimately lead to churning and even dissatisfaction, especially resentment towards Gen Z and young millennials, with much less tolerance for the toxic hustle and bustle culture,” Schembri-Stothart said.
Europe’s entrepreneurial ecosystem needs to be stronger
The founders insist that instead of increasing working hours, startups need more capital and resources to position themselves as key players in the global startup scene.
“What Europe really needs is not more hustle and bustle, but more aggressive funding,” Vaughnell said. “With the right level of capital, our startups can hire enough talent to work strongly without destroying themselves. If a team of 10 people is burning to keep up with 50 American VCs or Chinese government-backed startups, the problem is not their endurance, that’s their hat table.”
In fact, European technology startups have missed nearly $375 billion in growth phase funds since 2015, with the founders losing $300 billion in losses in European investments. Atomico’s European technology status The report was published in 2024. In addition, raising funds raises funds instead of half of Europe’s companies turn to the United States.
“What European startups really need is to get the right resources – funding, talent and support – to grow rapidly, innovate effectively, and expand effectively,” Schembri-Stothart said. “In the risk landscape in the United States is a completely different course, and it’s hard to compete with it without a stronger ecosystem here.
“There is a season”
The founders acknowledge that the entrepreneurial life requires intense hustle and grind, but it’s not just adopting 996, it’s a more nuanced picture.
His co-founder and former CEO Timothy Armoo, an influential marketing company, Eight digits for sale In 2022, he told CNBC that he was a “huge supporter” of the new 996 push, but acknowledging timing is key.
“I think there are seasons, but I also think if you’re the first time founder, or your main goal is basically wealth creation, then I’d be frank, if this is your season and you’re taking a step back, you’re not taking it seriously.”
Armoo said there is no excuse because AI allows entrepreneurs to maximize their effectiveness because it reduces certain time-consuming manual tasks.
Meanwhile, Mohanty of Bloom Money said she was working when she wasn’t sleeping. “I think early stage teams are almost inclined to live 996 without realizing it or not actually saying that because when you’re early stage you just have to work harder, especially when you’re the founder, you’re always going and working all the time and it can be very, very hard to close.”
Schembri-Stothart draws on the boundaries of using her team to do more work. “This is my choice for work on the weekends, but I never thought that it would be not a privilege to push your team to a breakthrough point in my team.
Silicon Valley technology executive Dion McKenzie warned that expectations for 996 culture could make venture capital more out of reach, and early-stage startups even more out of reach.
“What I worry about is that because these new norms and trends become the status quo and benchmark for funding, many excellent founders who value their mental health and/or are unable to commit to it because of nursing responsibilities or parents,” Mackenzie said.
