@dquail - understood. I certainly did not mean to suggest that every startup or most startups operate like this. Only that I have personally seen at least one whose founders seemed to be out of town more often than in the office - especially over the summer. Of course, under the pretense of 'business' it's all well and good. For example, they simply had to attend a conference at SXSW but I'm sure enjoyed some of the extracurricular activities during their week-long stay. 1 week trip - for one conference.