Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on absorbing team and family’s stress: I don't want to unload that onto…

Evan Spiegel, the CEO at Snap, believes taking in stress is just part and parcel of his work as well as his life. He has come out and stated how he never transmits this stress to his staff or his family. Speaking at a podcast called “Grit,” Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel has stated how his work is based on being a buffer against the stress in his business. He stated how he is very devoted to shielding his inner circle from this stress, saying, "I've tried to find my own ways, whether that's exercising or going in the sauna or just taking time to meditate. But, in my family and in my job, I want to absorb that stress, right? I don't want to unload that onto people that I care about, whether that's our team or family or my wife."

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel sees stress as gift and opportunity

Spiegel, who rejected a 2013 acquisition offer from Meta and led Snap through its 2017 IPO, argued that the way an individual labels stress determines how they handle it. Rather than viewing it as an opposing force, he reframes it as a "gift" and a "learning opportunity." He noted that research supports this mindset shift, suggesting that viewing stress as a positive challenge can have a "huge impact on your ability to manage it."

"Do we call it out as stress and something that's bad, or do we say, 'Actually, this is a gift, this is a learning opportunity, this is a growth opportunity,'" Spiegel said, highlighting his belief that stress is a tool for personal and professional development. This approach allows him to navigate high-stakes business environments without letting the pressure negatively affect his team or his home life.

Stanford researcher Kelly McGonigal released her 2015 book "The Upside of Stress," which focuses on "getting good at" the condition. In September, Spiegel informed employees in a letter that the company would reorganise into smaller, startup-style "squads" while navigating a "crucible moment." According to Spiegel, his extended tenure as CEO helped him become "better at managing" the stress.

"Once you're just in a rhythm of dealing with stressful events all the time, it becomes very normal, and stress is about a response to something unusual," he noted.

Apart from Speigel, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described a different mental burden from the role: anxiety. During a recent appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience," Huang explained that he operates from a "fear of failure."

"I have a greater drive from not wanting to fail than the drive of wanting to succeed," Huang said, adding that he's "always in a state of anxiety."

Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook and previously served as Asana's CEO, shared with Stratechery that he found the chief executive position "exhausting."

“I had to just kind of put on this face day after day, and then in the beginning I was like, 'Oh, it's going to get easier, the company will get more mature,' Then the world just kept getting more chaotic,” Moskovitz said.