The 30-year-old entrepreneur Lucy Guo has been shaking up Silicon Valley. Her record-setting accomplishments and her grueling schedule have attracted a lot of attention. Guo co-founded Scale AI, an AI data labeling company, in 2016. Her net worth ballooned to $1.3 billion after tacking on a huge deal with Meta that put a $25 billion valuation on her company. This incredible achievement resulted in her becoming the youngest self-made woman billionaire.
Challenging path to success
Despite her success, Guo’s journey has not been without hurdles. She ended up leaving Scale AI in 2018. Since then, she moved on to found a new venture, Passes, a content creator monetization platform established in 2022. Despite raising over $65 million in funding, Passes recently faced controversy after a class action lawsuit was filed against Guo and her company.
Guo’s entrepreneurial spirit is not limited to her current pursuits. In 2019, she founded Backend Capital, a venture capital firm designed to invest in underrepresented founders building early-stage tech startups. As a result of her experiences, she has a clear vision of what a work-life balance looks like—one that she illustrates by her grueling daily commute.
Guo begins her day at 5:30 a.m., immediately heading to Barry’s Bootcamp for two back-to-back workout sessions. Personally, this commitment to fitness is a huge pillar of her life. She uses weekends for recreational activities, setting aside time from noon to 6 p.m. to see friends the weekend before an audit or focus group. Her work schedule extends from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. In her opinion, this makes for the ideal work-life blend.
“9 a.m. to 9 p.m., to me that’s still work-life balance,” – Lucy Guo
Guo takes special care to note that you shouldn’t believe the hype that becoming a billionaire requires you to work unlimited hours. She is an advocate for working smart, not just hard. To her, the concept of hustle culture is a joke.
“I don’t think you need to work those hours to become a billionaire, per se. It’s how you opt to do it,” – Lucy Guo
In reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Guo is honest about the pitfalls she encountered in the early days of launching a company. She knows that the early days require fierce commitment and a lot of hours. She argues that this is the wrong, unsustainable approach for everybody.
“In general, when you’re first starting your company, it’s near impossible to do it without doing that [996]. You’re going to need to work like 90-hour work weeks to get things off the ground,” – Lucy Guo
Though her schedule is no doubt intense, Guo feels that too many Americans squander time on counterproductive pursuits in the hours after work. She is passionate about rallying around making the best possible use of time. By removing external pressures and distractions, she believes that nearly everyone can find a new work-life equilibrium.
“I think most people could have work-life balance if they cut out what most people waste their time on when they get back home,” – Lucy Guo
The young entrepreneur’s grit, vision and fierce dedication have quickly made her a major force within the technology space. Her story, from co-founding Scale AI to becoming a billionaire, is a testament to her grit and aspiration. With successes come controversies, especially when it comes to her newest startup, Passes.
In mid-February, Passes sunk into legal turmoil with the introduction of a class action lawsuit against Guo and the company. While the specifics of the lawsuit are still unknown, Guo has publicly stated that she is confident that her actions weren’t corrupt.
“I think it’s a total shakedown. I never met this person, never talked to this person,” – Lucy Guo
Guo’s departure from Scale AI, she says, stemmed from diverging visions for the company’s product development. There he also clashed with co-founder Alexander Wang on sales tactics. Regardless of these conflicting opinions, Guo has remained undeterred in her quest to succeed as an entrepreneur.
“We had disagreements around products and sales,” – Lucy Guo
As she continues to establish her career, Guo does not lose sight of the bigger picture regarding wealth and prosperity. She reflects upon her life before and after achieving financial independence. She is very clear that her happiness and who she is isn’t determined by money.
“Honestly, I still feel the same as that little girl,” – Lucy Guo
Guo’s refreshing outlook on achieving balance and maximizing productivity hit home with each aspiring entrepreneur in attendance. She makes the case that we don’t have to give up our health and lives to be successful or buy into the hustle and grind culture.
“It’s a myth,” – Suranga Chandratillake