Inside 30-year-old billionaire Lucy Guo’s intense day by day routine

Lucy Guo could be a billionaire, however as an alternative of a lifetime of luxurious and luxury, she swears by a relentless work ethic and strict day by day routine.

At simply 30 years previous, the California-born-and-raised entrepreneur has achieved what many will spend their lifetimes chasing. In April, Guo’s internet value soared to $1.3 billion after her first enterprise, Scale AI, wrapped up a cope with tech large Meta that valued the corporate at $25 billion. She was named the youngest self-made girl billionaire, a title beforehand held by pop star Taylor Swift.

“Truthfully, I nonetheless really feel the identical as that little woman, like my life pre-money and post-money, it hasn’t actually modified that a lot,” Guo advised CNBC Make It in an interview.

Guo co-founded Scale AI, an AI knowledge labeling firm, alongside Alexander Wang in 2016. Guo, who headed up the operations and product design groups on the Silicon Valley startup, left the corporate in 2018.

“We had disagreements round merchandise and gross sales,” Guo defined. “The place Alex was very sales-driven on bringing in additional clients, I used to be very targeted on like ‘hey, we have to prioritize the merchandise or serving to ensure that scalers [employees] receives a commission on time, their hours are being counted accurately, however that wasn’t the place the sources have been being poured in.”

Nonetheless, Guo held on to her stake, which is value slightly below 5%. When Meta agreed to amass 49% of Scale AI, the deal pushed Guo’s stake to a skyrocketing $1.25 billion.

A serial entrepreneur and a graduate of the Thiel Fellowship program, Guo wasn’t out of the sport for lengthy and based Backend Capital, a enterprise capital agency investing in early-stage tech startups in 2019. Her most up-to-date firm, Passes, a content material creator monetization platform based in 2022, has raised over $65 million in funding.  

Since changing into a billionaire, Guo hasn’t taken her foot off the work pedal. “I’m nonetheless working very lengthy work days,” she mentioned.

Guo belongs to a class of founders who optimize their days to be as productive as attainable, and her newfound billionaire standing is not an excuse to decelerate.

A median day for Guo consists of waking up at 5:30 a.m. and going to Barry’s Bootcamp for 2 exercise periods back-to-back. Lunches are a luxurious for the startup founder, and she or he usually eats throughout conferences as her schedule does not at all times permit for a break, she mentioned.

“I believe most individuals may have work-life steadiness in the event that they minimize out what most individuals waste their time on once they get again dwelling, which is, lots of people doom scroll on TikTok, lots of people simply sit and watch TV mindlessly,” she mentioned.

Within the curiosity of work-life steadiness, Guo provides herself at some point off on the weekends, the place from midday to six p.m., she’s completely targeted on spending time together with her mates, after which it is again to work straight after.

“I believe I’ve extra hours in a day as a result of I am gonna be trustworthy, I am completely blessed. I do not want that a lot sleep…although I am working these lengthy hours, I really feel like I’ve work-life steadiness.

“I may theoretically work till midnight, after which I may exit to the membership till 2 a.m., after which I may fall asleep, after which get up at like 6 a.m. and do Barry’s.”

The younger founder embodies the Silicon Valley mantra of working 24 hours a day, seven days every week, much like China’s notorious 996 work tradition, which incorporates working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days every week.

“9 a.m. to 9 p.m., to me that is nonetheless work-life steadiness,” Guo commented. “At 9 p.m., you may go to dinner with your pals. You may invite them to a potluck. You need not sleep from 9 to 9. That is a ridiculous quantity of sleep.”

“If anybody thinks that is not work-life steadiness, I do not know what to say since you actually have 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. to hang around with your pals, and then you definitely sleep from 2 a.m. to 9. That is seven hours of sleep, which is greater than sufficient.”

However not everybody agrees with the pursuit of a 996 work schedule. Some founders beforehand pushed again towards the development, telling CNBC that the views are outdated and pointless to attain success.

An always-on tradition decreases retention and creates a revolving door of expertise, Sarah Wernér, co-founder of Husmus, advised CNBC.”

Suranga Chandratillake, basic associate at Balderton Capital, added that 996 is about “a fetishization of overwork quite than sensible work…it is a fantasy.”

Startup founders’ working hours are a much-contested situation. Just lately, some enterprise capitalists have been even pushing European founders to step up the work tempo to maintain up with their counterparts within the U.S. and China.

“Usually, once you’re first beginning your organization, it is close to not possible to do it with out doing that [996], like you are going to have to work like 90-hour work weeks to get issues off the bottom,” Guo mentioned.

As an organization grows, hires extra expertise, and finds stability, Guo says it’s attainable to work much less in a while.

She famous that changing into a billionaire is not about intense working hours. If you happen to constantly make investments lots of of 1000’s into the S&P 500, it may develop to billions by the top of your lifetime, in line with Guo.

“I do not suppose it’s essential work these hours to turn out to be a billionaire, per se. It is how you choose to do it. If you happen to decide to begin a tech firm, you are gonna be working these hours at first. If you happen to’re like, important methodology is doing it by way of investing, you are not gonna be working these hours,” she mentioned.

Guo’s newest startup, Passes, turned embroiled in controversy in February after a class motion lawsuit was filed towards her and the corporate, alleging that she distributed youngster sexual abuse materials on the platform to paying subscribers.

“I believe it is a whole shakedown. I by no means met this particular person, by no means talked to this particular person,” Guo mentioned concerning the lawsuit.

A spokesperson from Passes advised CNBC Make It by way of e mail: “As defined within the movement to dismiss filed on April 28, Ms. Guo and Passes categorically reject the baseless allegations made towards them within the lawsuit, which was solely filed towards them after they rejected a $15 million fee demand.”

Clark Smith Villazor, the New York-based litigation agency that introduced the lawsuit towards Passes, has but to reply to CNBC’s request for remark.