For years, business leaders from Jamie Dimon to Elon Musk have predicted that AI could usher in shorter workweeks—or even a future where people don’t need to work at all. But one prominent tech entrepreneur believes the opposite is true for teams that want to win.
As AI allows startups to accomplish more with fewer people, Jason Lemkin, founder of the SaaS community SaaStr, said the companies that come out on top won’t be collaborating on Zoom—they’ll be in the office on Saturdays.
“I want small, high-paid teams that work in the office over six days a week,” Lemkin said last month on the 20VC podcast’s weekly news episode. “I’m not interested in investing in anything else—I’m just not interested. And it’s not because I don’t have empathy, it’s because they’re going to fail.”
Lemkin’s comments came during a discussion about the future of work, sparked by a viral moment from Ryan Petersen, CEO of supply chain management company Flexport, who argued that remote work amounts to “white-collar fraud” because employees simply aren’t as productive at home as they are in the office.
Petersen pointed to his own experience, saying workdays are routinely interrupted once children come home from school.
