{"id":3298,"date":"2026-08-13T08:05:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T08:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanhomejournals.com\/?p=3298"},"modified":"2026-08-13T08:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T08:05:33","slug":"paul-grahams-advice-to-founders-struggling-to-make-time-for-family-you-cant-get-those-years-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanhomejournals.com\/?p=3298","title":{"rendered":"Paul Graham’s advice to founders struggling to make time for family: ‘You can’t get those years back’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham is back at the startup accelerator this week, talking with founders about the challenges they’re facing \u2014 including how to make time for family.<\/p>\n

Read more Tesla reveals solar plans that could advance Elon Musk\u2019s push to outpace US panel capacity<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham said on X on Wednesday that it’s one of the most common questions he gets from founders of “big, established YC companies.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a hard problem,” Graham wrote. “But worth solving; arguably no problem is more worth solving.”<\/p>\n

When an X user asked what advice he gives founders who raise the issue, Graham’s answer was simple: “The most important thing is not to ignore the question. You can’t get those years back.”<\/p>\n

Graham also responded to another X user who asked whether juggling responsibilities at work and home was one reason young, single people are “better at founding startups.”<\/p>\n

“For sure. I don’t think anyone doubts that,” Graham responded.<\/p>\n

It’s not the first time Graham has spoken publicly about the trade-off between building a career and raising a family.<\/p>\n

In December 2019, Graham published an essay on his blog titled “Having Kids,” where he wrote about how he’s managed his work schedule to make time for childcare.<\/p>\n

Read more Garry Tan says founders who tokenmaxx on AI agents will be 2 years ahead<\/a><\/p>\n

“I’ve been able to adapt to working this way. Work, like love, finds a way. If there are only certain times it can happen, it happens at those times. So while I don’t get as much done as before I had kids, I get enough done,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

Graham, who is married to fellow Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston and shares two children with her, also wrote that while it made him uncomfortable to admit it, “having kids may make one less ambitious.”<\/p>\n

He wrote that children can become a parent’s top priority, pushing projects and work further down the list.
<\/s>
“I have some hacks for sailing close to this wind. For example, when I write essays, I think about what I’d want my kids to know. That drives me to get things right,” Graham wrote.<\/p>\n

He also questioned whether parenthood has to diminish someone’s drive.<\/p>\n

“On the other hand, what kind of wimpy ambition do you have if it won’t survive having kids? Do you have so little to spare?” he added.<\/p>\n

Graham’s latest comments come as he’s spending time with a new generation of YC founders. He said on X on Wednesday that he’s speaking with founders from Y Combinator’s 47th batch.<\/p>\n

Y Combinator was founded in 2005 by Graham, Livingston, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell.<\/p>\n

Read more Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says there\u2019s one thing Silicon Valley needs to do to change Americans\u2019 minds on AI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Graham says making time for family is a major topic in his conversations with established YC founders. 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