Venture capitalist Harry Stebbings faced a wave of backlash in June after urging European startup founders to increase their work hours — but he now admits there’s some room for nuance when applying his mantra.
Stebbings, founder of 20VC, a firm managing $650 million in funds, advised founders on LinkedIn last month that “7 days a week is the required velocity to win right now,” to compete with startups in Silicon Valley and China.
The post went viral, to Stebbings’ surprise, and sparked a debate on whether China’s brutal “996” work culture — which means working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week — is needed in Europe.
The conversation is rooted in a persistent stereotype that Europe’s tech and startup scene is lagging behind the U.S. and China, which have produced trillion-dollar tech giants and are known for implementing long working hours.
The U.S. is home to the biggest tech firms in the world, such as Meta, Google, Amazon, and Apple. China meanwhile houses giants like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.
