Moving Beyond the Hustle as a Female Founder with Valerie Hirschhauser | Ep. 135

2026-01-15

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In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, Valerie Hirschhauser explains why following the startup playbook often leads to founder burnout, hustle culture as a system glitch, and how founders can build a sustainable business without sacrificing their well-being.We talk about hustle as a coping mechanism, why being busy often replaces making real progress, and how profit can act as oxygen for impact instead of undermining it. This conversation is for founders who wonder whether working harder is really the path to success, and who are...

We talk about hustle as a coping mechanism, why being busy often replaces making real progress, and how profit can act as oxygen for impact instead of undermining it.

This conversation is for founders who wonder whether working harder is really the path to success, and who are looking for a more sustainable way to build.

Inside this conversation:

- Why hustle is often a system glitch, not a lack of ambition

- How burnout shows up long before founders stop functioning

- Why intuition belongs in leadership and boardroom decisions

- How energy management beats time management

- Why profit can act as oxygen for impact, not a compromise

- What changes when founders reclaim agency over their choices

Chapters:

02:20 Valerie Hirschhauser's journey and the search for freedom in tech

05:11 Debunking the illusion of hustle culture for founders

08:07 The invisible impact of burnout on tech founders

11:10 Strategies for navigating the modern startup landscape