Martin Ott joined Facebook in 2012 and took on the role of General Manager for Northern and Central European Business (MD). At that time, the company was not yet listed and was transitioning from a desktop-based to a mobile-based platform, with only a few thousand employees worldwide.
He is one of the few executives who have personally witnessed Meta growing from its inception under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg in his twenties to become one of the most powerful platforms in the world.
But the biggest lesson he learned from that experience was not about scale, speed, or working tirelessly day and night for success. Ott indicates that Zuckerberg taught him just the opposite: to maximize one's influence during working hours.
"What I'm also trying to convey is that there are only so many hours in a day," Ott said to Fortune. He is now the CEO of Taxfix, a tax application company based in Berlin with a valuation of over $1 billion.
Ask yourself, what is the most important thing you can really do today that will have a real impact and bring about change? Then ask yourself again, do you really need to attend that meeting?
Tech billionaires say that to succeed, one must work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but Ott believes that this will only exhaust people.
Against the backdrop of many tech leaders emphasizing the necessity to always be online, Ott's stance appears quite sober.
Scale AI, co-founder and the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, Lucy Guo gets up at 5:30 every morning and doesn't stop working until midnight. She previously told Fortune that those who seek balance are not suited for this job.
Meanwhile, Twilio CEO Khozema Shipchandler previously stated to Fortune that the only time he allows himself to "not think about work" is for six to eight hours on Saturdays.
The promoter behind LinkedIn Reid Hoffman once stated that in the world of startups, it is simply impossible to achieve a balance between work and life, especially for founders. He even admitted that aside from having dinner with his family, he expects his employees to continue working.
“This 24/7 mode can only last for so long,” said Ott. He added that taking breaks and shutting down is important not only for leaders but also for their subordinates. “It’s also about protecting team members from being overwhelmed. You definitely don’t want to reach that point.”
The key is to ensure that one is not constantly online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but to make conscious arrangements instead.
The Boundary Between Email and Meetings
In addition to only attending meetings where he can truly make an impact, Ott has also established a conscious practice to protect the boundaries of himself and his team.
“So the most important thing is, I will arrange my own schedule,” he said. Ott gets up around 5:30 in the morning most days, reads for half an hour first, and then goes for exercise.
“I exercise in the morning, I go for runs by the lake,” he said, and added that he also tries to stay connected with support networks and maintains mental health through meditation. “Sometimes I meditate every day, and then I stop. Right now, I’m in the phase after stopping and wanting to start again.”
Even though Ott starts his day very early, drafting emails before a meeting begins, he makes sure that these emails don’t appear in team members’ inboxes too prematurely: “I start writing the Slack messages and emails. Many times, they are sent only at 8 or 9 in the morning through a scheduled delivery function. This way, I don’t disturb people during their personal time when they need to recharge their energy, as this is a marathon.”
“Everyone will tell you that when you start or run a company, there will be ups and downs, constant crises, and a lot of pressure,” Ott added. “You need to treat it as a marathon, not a sprint. This also means that you have to maintain a high level of performance over a long period of time. And that can’t be achieved by just working 24/7 without stop.”
This article was originally published on Fortune.com on November 14, 2025.
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