Ask a founder how they balance work and life and many will laugh. Akash Gehani, co-founder and COO of Instamojo, jokes that he does everything except work, and after about ten years of building the company he has a few honest answers.
In this episode of The Builders Club Startup Founders Podcast, Akash talks about founder work-life balance: how to prioritise ruthlessly, cut the busywork, cope with failure and make time for the people and habits that keep you going.
What is founder work-life balance? Akash Gehani’s core thesis
Akash does not claim that a founder can have a perfect balance. He says that at some level there is sacrifice, especially early on, and that you have to put in real passion for anything to work.
What he has learned is that you cannot sustain extreme hours forever. The goal is to keep working hard while protecting your physical and mental fitness, and to be deliberate about where your time actually goes.
- Set a limit on working hours. Beyond a point the extra hours are not productive, and a limit forces you to prioritise and delegate.
- Count your decisions. If you are making too many small decisions a day, you are probably doing work someone else should own.
- Cut allied busywork. Time spent scrolling social media or checking every notification adds up.
- Keep a few anchors. Regular exercise, a hobby and a routine give you something to come back to.
How did Instamojo start and where does it fit in Indian payments?
Akash describes Instamojo as part of a later wave of payments companies in India, after the older gateways and a second wave of players. He says it was among the first to bring payments to smaller businesses and make them simple enough for anyone to use.
He was also part of the 500 Startups accelerator in 2012, which he says made Instamojo the first company from India in the programme. He never expected to still be working on the same company ten years later. You can see the company’s current products on the Instamojo website.
How should a founder prioritise when there is never enough time?
Akash says time is always a challenge, and the first question is how many hours you really need to work. He found that beyond a certain point the work stops being productive, so he puts an upper limit on it and decides what to focus on and what to hand off.
He also borrows an idea from a fellow founder, Sampad, about counting how many decisions you make each day. In the early days a founder may need to make a handful, but later it should be only a couple, and more means you are stuck in the details.
- Prioritise ruthlessly: decide what you will work on and what you will ignore.
- Delegate: let your team own the operational detail.
- Trim allied activities: he rarely opens Twitter now, which he calls a big win.
- Turn off notifications: he muted WhatsApp and email alerts and found it decluttered his day.
Which habits keep a founder going over the long run?
Akash says he plays football several times a week and also goes to the gym, walks and plays badminton. For him, physical activity has become a self-reinforcing habit, and he gets uneasy when a day passes without it.
He shares these as personal practices, not prescriptions, and encourages founders to find a mix that works for them.
- Keep a regular daily routine, including a consistent sleep schedule that suits you.
- Make time for some physical activity several times a week.
- Have a hobby that takes your attention away from screens and work.
What about the start and end of the day?
He tries not to look at his phone for the first half hour after waking and for the last stretch before bed. He says it matters more to have a regular rhythm than to wake up very early.
How can founders support mental well-being in their teams?
Akash says stress is rising for everyone, from founders to employees. At Instamojo, some younger team members said they were struggling to cope, so the company arranged for counsellors to help, which he says has paid dividends.
He sees well-being as connected to how much you work, how you rest and what you do outside work, not as one isolated fix. The host added that emotional strength often matters more than raw intellect once you have to get work done through others.
How do you cope with failure and rejection as a founder?
A member asked how to handle small failures when you wear many hats, such as missing a deadline as a techie or a sales target. Akash says it is frustrating, but you must learn to move on, since dwelling on one miss can affect the rest of the game.
He also suggests looking at the situation from the other person’s side. If a colleague or investor is upset or says no, understanding their incentives and pressures can help you respond better next time.
- Take the learning, then move on. Do not let one failure hurt the rest of the day.
- Expect rejection. He tells his sales team that most conversations will end in a no.
- Reflect on your reaction. The host stressed that what matters is whether you respond differently next time.
Further reading and sources
Frequently asked questions
Is work-life balance realistic for startup founders?
Akash Gehani says a perfect balance is unlikely, especially in the short run, because building a company takes sacrifice. His advice is to keep working hard but protect your health, relationships and time for yourself so that you can keep going for years.
How can a founder find more time in the day?
Akash suggests setting an upper limit on working hours, which forces you to prioritise and delegate. He also recommends trimming allied busywork such as constant social media checking and turning off non-urgent notifications.
How should a founder handle failure and rejection?
According to Akash, you learn from the miss, try to see the situation from the other person’s point of view and then move on. He notes that sales teams in particular must expect more rejections than wins.
Conclusion
Akash Gehani’s message is practical: you will not get a perfect balance, but you can be intentional about it. Limit your hours, cut the low-value busywork and keep a few habits and relationships that you refuse to neglect.
This week, count how many decisions you make and how many notifications you answer, and hand off the ones that do not need you.
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