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Toronto to San Francisco, every week
Monday flights
Nilam Ganenthiran helped build Instacart while continuing to live in Toronto. He and his wife wanted to stay in Canada, raise their kids there, and stay close to extended family, so he got on a plane every Monday and took the red-eye home on Thursday night.
Home as recovery
The arrangement helped in ways he didn't realize at the time. At dinner in Canada, people aren't talking about what you do, and conversations don't start with your last round of funding or a fancy hire. That let him be super stressed from Monday to Thursday in what he calls the battle dome, then come home refreshed and do it all again.
Canadian culture
He also credits something in the culture. Canadians have a way of interacting with each other that believes in long-term relationships, and while Canada doesn't have a monopoly on it, he thinks some characteristics of the culture make for good entrepreneurs.
Why does leaving work behind help recovery?
Psychologist Sabine Sonnentag has studied psychological detachment, meaning mentally switching off from work during time off. In her research, people who detach in the evenings report better mood and energy the next day. Physical distance can make that easier because the reminders of work are absent. Sonnentag, a professor at the University of Mannheim, has published this research since the early 2000s.
How does a red-eye flight work?
San Francisco is on Pacific time and Toronto is on Eastern time, a three-hour difference. The flight takes roughly five hours, so a plane leaving San Francisco at 11 p.m. lands in Toronto around 7 a.m. The nickname red-eye refers to the bloodshot eyes of passengers who sleep little on board. Overnight departures like this let travelers arrive before the working day starts.
How have Canadian founders built big companies?
Shopify was founded in Ottawa in 2004 and began as an online snowboard shop whose founders built their own e-commerce software. It went public in 2015 on both the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.
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