Reddit founder warns 'hustle porn' is 'most toxic, dangerous thing in tech'

'Unless you are suffering, unless you are grinding... you're not working hard enough,' Alexis Ohanian said at Web Summit

A sign hangs on the door of an office at Reddit headquarters in San Francisco, California April 15, 2014 (REUTERS)

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has warned that the glorification of long working hours, or "hustle porn", has become a dangerous trend among tech workers that is putting people's mental and physical health at risk.

Speaking at the annual Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Mr Ohanian criticised the spread of a working culture that he said stems from tech startups and companies in Silicon Valley.

The 35-year-old entrepreneur, who now heads the early stage venture capital firm Initialized Capital, said it was common practice among tech workers to fetishise long working hours – something he admits to doing in the early days of Reddit.

"Believe me I know, the to-do list is long. There are so many things that you want to be doing, that you can be doing, there's another event to go to, there's a meetup, there's a client to talk to, there's an engineer you have to close. There's so much happening that you need to become ruthless at prioritising your schedule," Mr Ohanian told the tech entrepreneurs and startup founders in the audience.

"I see so many founders who don't appreciate and properly value their time, and that is to say there are infinite things you could be doing... the more successful you are, the more things you will have nipping for your attention."

He continued: "This one is personal, health not hustle. I don't know how much of a problem you all have with hustle porn here in Europe, is that a thing in the European startup community: hustle porn? Or is that a uniquely American phenomenon?

"Hustle porn is one of the most toxic, dangerous things in the tech industry right now. And I know so much of it comes from the States. It is this idea that unless you are suffering, unless you are grinding, unless you are working every hour of every day and posting about it on Instagram, you're not working hard enough. It's such bullsh*t, such utter bullsh*t."

He went on to explain how this type of work ethic is damaging for both the company the person works for and the person's general wellbeing.

Earlier this year, Mr Ohanian explained how he had become a workaholic after founding Reddit in 2005 as a way of coping with his depression.

"As entrepreneurs, we are all so busy 'crushing it' that physical, let alone mental health, is an afterthought for most founders," he wrote.

"Take care of yourself because you're not getting uploaded to the cloud anytime soon. And when things do get hard, which they will, you especially need to prioritise your well-being."