Most large mammals other than humans sleep or relax a large portion of the day and are only active a relatively short time for hunting (work) and eating. So one could interpret his statement as saying that they work short, focused hours and then go home to relax.

My info is anecdotal from my wife, who has spent a significant portion of her life working with bears. But from the zoo keepers I've met, that mammal breakdown is true for most of the felines and primates as well.

My anecdotal evidence from the startup world, though, says that most people in a "startup" like Facebook work very hard and very long hours at the same time. I think your description is a very good way to work, but I sort of doubt that this is an accurate description of life at Facebook :P

Because I find it fun. If you don't, that's perfectly cool, too.

That is totally cool, however - just for perspective, other people are not in their early 20s, fresh from college with no experience in other large silicon valey companies for the past 20 years.

Others: they ave 2+ kids, have been through many IPO/M&A debacles and may have gone through ridiculous divorces, major swings in their marketability or simply been screwed over by certain companies...

They hype around making tons of money can be subdued by the realities of life in between these relatively rare miollionairing events.

Thus, qualities of work other than "working myself to the bone because this company will be the next google IPO" become a big factor. This is why HP, Yahoo, MS, and others continue to attact talent - although it might represent an aging trend.

There will always be more wily generations in the tech industry. Learn, earn and avoid smugness.

I am 35 and have a wife and family. And it is not my first time at the tech company rodeo either.

Avoid smugness indeed.

it's either evidence they're passionate or they're forced to work long hours. given the context i'm assuming the former. which is certainly a good thing...

"Passionate" does not necessarily mean you work long hours "like animals". Obsessive usually does.

Working pass the normal cut-off is a lose-lose proposition for anyone that puts in honest levels of work during the day. You burn yourself out, diminish your capacity, make mistakes, and most of the time don't even realize it. This can go on for years, sometimes even decades.

Most of the referenced-here "passionate" behavior is probably a combination of unhealthy focus (the obsessive type or the type you use to forget about your issues), self-image, having-to-prove-something, and outside-pressure (expectations for you, matching your co-workers, etc).

The better option is to work intelligently and maintain a healthy amount of self-awareness at all times. Then leave it, shut-off, or go enjoy something that matters.

You'll produce 200% the results of your "passionate" co-workers.