Jason Grad
- Jason Grad, CEO of a startup called Massive, said the pace of life in Prague helps him avoid FOMO.
- He used to live in NY and SF, where he said he constantly socialized and networked.
- It's easier to stay focused on work in a smaller city, since there are fewer distractions, said Grad.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jason Grad, the CEO of remote startup Massive. He is based in Prague. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm the cofounder and CEO of Massive, a 20-person startup that provides web access infrastructure for AI agents, LLMs, and data pipelines to reach the public web in real time, at scale.
We've always been remote, and it's a recruiting superpower. We can hire the best people from all over the world without geographic bias. The sheer number of people in our talent pool is much greater than that of any city. We can access people who don't want to be in those cities and who would never want to work in person.
I live in Prague, but I'm in New York and San Francisco roughly one out of every three months. Lately, it's been more San Francisco. I lived in big cities for many years, but they can be a huge distraction. There's so much going on that it's really hard to separate signal from noise.
I socialize a lot when I go to big cities every two to three months, but it's definitely less than when I lived in New York or San Francisco. In those cities, it feels like I'm constantly socializing because there's always so much to do.
When you live in a smaller city, it's much easier to focus on what matters.
We work hard. We've grown by over 4X this past year. That requires a lot of focus, and being in a major hub is a huge distraction. There's so much going on. There's so much FOMO. It's a lot easier for me to say "no" if I don't have the distractions around me.
The "996" debate feels irrelevant to me
If you're a cofounder of a fast-growing company, that means you have a lot of conviction in what you do, and you do whatever it takes to support your team, the company, and its goals.
I wake up at around 5:30 a.m., and I go for a run as my first workout. I work during the day. When I want to take a break, I make and play music, or I go to the sauna and cold plunge. Whenever I'm not doing those things, I'm spending time with my partner.
Being a founder, depending on what you're building, takes a considerable amount of work hours. I wish I could do what I do in fewer hours.
I don't want to glorify how many hours I work, but I'll put it this way: The "996" debate feels irrelevant to me. Everyone has different thresholds and working styles, and I've found the one that works for me.
I see the value of working in a big city
Everyone has different thresholds and working styles. Each story is different.
Big cities are amazing because of this kind of serendipity you come across — from a random coffee meeting to a founder dinner or event that you happen to be close in proximity to.
There are many amazing events and dinners in New York. While living in New York, I hosted around 350 events, from 15-person dinner parties to 100+ person startup conferences. I understand the appeal. I grew a huge network from hosting dinners. That's why I did it.
I still go to a lot of events, but nowhere near as much as when I lived there. From January to June, I'm at peace in Prague.
Going to those kinds of events all the time is time away from focusing on what really matters when you're a fast-growing company, which requires laser focus to do the right things. I describe it as the difference between working in a quiet, private office versus working in an open, coworking space.
Once the company reached a certain point, it made more sense to focus than to continue building my network that way.
If it serves you to do that in person, as it did for me earlier in my career, then do so. If it is more beneficial for you, as it is for us, to be focused and not in a major hub most of the time, then you do that.