'No Lunch Break, 90-Hour Work Week': World's Youngest Self-Made Woman Billionaire Shares Her Routine
Despite her wealth, Guo lives by a strict routine. She wakes at 5:30 a.m. and works long hours.
California-based entrepreneur Lucy Guo, the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire, follows a strict daily routine and works for long hours.
The 30-year-old co-founder and CEO of Scale AI became the youngest self-made woman billionaire, replacing singer Taylor Swift, in April, as her net worth surged to $1.3 billion. Her company was recently valued at $25 billion after a deal with Meta.
Despite her wealth, Guo lives by a strict daily routine. She wakes at 5:30 a.m. and works long hours. She also has some advice for people who share an entrepreneurial dream as hers: “work 90 hours a week”.
Speaking to CNBC during an interview, Guo reflected, “Honestly, I still feel the same as that little girl, like my life pre-money and post-money, it hasn’t really changed that much.”
She founded Scale AI in 2016 alongside her partner Alexander Wang but exited the firm two years later. This was due to her disagreements with Wang over the company’s direction. But she held onto her less than 5% stake in the company and turned into a billionaire in April after Meta agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI.
Even after leaving her first company, Guo still works for hours. Her most recent startup, Passes, is a content creator monetisation platform founded in 2022 and has raised over $65 million in funding.
“I am still working very long days,” she said. To be able to manage her time, Guo tries to optimise her day to be as productive as possible.
“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, which is, a lot of people doom scroll on TikTok, a lot of people just sit and watch TV mindlessly,” she added.
Guo starts her day at 5:30 a.m. with two back-to-back workout sessions. As a busy startup founder, she often skips lunch and eats during meetings due to her packed schedule. To maintain some work-life balance, she takes one afternoon off each weekend. On this off day, she spends time with her friends from noon to 6 p.m. Following this, she goes back to her work.
“9 a.m. to 9 p.m., to me, that’s still work-life balance. At 9 p.m., you can go to dinner with your friends. You don’t need to sleep from nine to nine. That's ridiculous…,” she remarked.
According to Guo, a 90-hour work week is "important" if someone wants to get their company "off the ground". But she also noted that becoming a billionaire is not about working intense hours.
“I don’t think you need to work those hours to become a billionaire, per se. It’s how you opt to do it. If you opt to start a tech company, you’re gonna be working those hours in the beginning. If you’re like, the main method is doing it via investing, you’re not gonna be working those hours,” she told CNBC.
