Teju: What's your view on how work-life balance affects your performance? I seek balance, but I'm concerned that it's going to negatively affect my ability to achieve my goals.

Jane: In my experience, balance is the thing that will actually make you more successful in your work-life and keep you going longer. A career is not a sprint, it's a marathon. But especially when you're young in your career and you love what you're doing, your work can become a cycle of 24 hours a day, every day. I know because at one time in my career I was a workaholic. I spent so much time at my job that I actually ended up getting divorced because I had totally lost the perspective that life isn't just about work. So, I think if you try to get the right balance it actually feeds your work life versus taking away from it.

Teju: Thanks for the personal story. That makes a lot of sense. But, how do we know balance matters when it comes to productivity? That it not only will help your personal life, but that it will help you get a company off the ground or raise needed investment?

Jane: It's not a quantifiable thing, it comes down to each individual person. It comes down to you. If you love working 24 hours a day and it fuels you, there's nothing wrong with that. But that may change in five years. You may say, you know what, I only want to spend half of my time doing this and the other half with family, or friends, or even on my self. That's the thing about balance: it's very much an individual thing, and it changes over time. Again, my priorities shifted from a time where I was only about work, to now where I've worked for a really good personal balance between friends, family, and my work situation.