The debate around 996 culture - 9am to 9pm, six days a week - is back. Some say Europe is falling behind because we won’t work like they do in Silicon Valley or Shanghai.

But let’s be honest: it’s not about hours for the sake of it. It’s about doing what the business needs.

At Copilot Capital, we’re not militant about hours. We take proper holidays where we actually switch off and recharge. We’re flexible around life. But, as a new fund with fewer than ten people, we are clear on a few things. We’re office-first. We work hard. And we do what it takes to succeed as a business.

That means staying late to close a deal. It means being available when a team member needs a sounding board. And, yes, it means being in the same room, to build our culture, processes, and playbooks in real time. We need rolling communication about deals, spur-of-the-moment coffees to address ad hoc questions, and the motivational buzz that you simply can’t get on Zoom or Teams.

It’s not about presenteeism. I don’t care how much holiday someone takes - so long as they deliver. But when we’re working, we’re really working. That’s what building trust and performance in a new business looks like. That’s what high standards look like.

996 isn’t the model. But neither is pretending you can build something ambitious without putting in the effort. AI might make some parts of the job easier, but success still comes down to human effort, judgement, and leadership.

That’s how we build a winning team.