Hot take: I saw a 'hustle culture' meetup in Austin and it looked miserable

I was at a coffee shop on South Congress last week, and a group of about 15 people had a 'networking brunch' at the big table. For two hours, they just passed around business cards and talked about their side gigs and 5 AM routines. Nobody was laughing or having a real conversation. It felt like a competition to see who was the most exhausted. Everyone says you need to grind non-stop to get ahead, but that scene made me think we're glorifying burnout. Has anyone found a good career path that doesn't require this kind of performative hustle?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.xena2mo ago

That "competition to see who was the most exhausted" part really hit me... what do you think people are actually trying to win with that?

ryanhayes12d ago

Take the grand prize in the "I'm Too Important To Sleep" Olympics, @carr.xena. Seriously though, it's like they're all trying to land a spot on the "Busy Brochure" cover where the prize is a pat on the back and maybe a slightly fancier coffee cup. The real win seems to be convincing yourself that your misery is a badge of honor instead of just, you know, misery. It's the adult version of bragging about how little you slept at summer camp, but with worse snacks and no cool campfire stories.

blake_lewis2mo ago

Ugh, that sounds awful. But I gotta push back a little on the idea that all hustle is performative. For some people, those meetups are genuinely helpful for finding clients when you're starting out. The misery comes when it's your only social life and you forget how to talk about anything else.