AI Startup Co-Founder Works On Laptop At His Own Wedding, Internet Calls It "Utterly Bizarre"

All of us have experienced pressure while working in a corporate set-up. Some jobs have high-pressure deadlines, requiring you to be alert at all times. Most of us have heard instances where people had to put their jobs ahead of everything else. They sometimes had to finish work while on vacation, while riding back in cabs or metros, take meetings while travelling, work overtime, at odd hours, and on weekends, just to meet certain targets and complete projects. Now, a picture going viral on LinkedIn has reignited discussion on work-life balance. 

The image, shared on LinkedIn by Torrey Leonard, co-founder and CEO of AI startup Thoughtly, shows his fellow co-founder Casey Mackrell working on his laptop during his own wedding. In the caption, Mr Leonard explained the circumstances, noting that the company had recently secured a new client with a two-week deadline for launching a project and Mr Mackrell's wedding happened to fall within the same window. "So, here he is wrapping up a pull request. At his own wedding. Congrats Casey- now please, go take some time off," Mr Leonard wrote on LinkedIn. 

Take a look below: 

Mr Leonard shared the post a day back. Since then, it has accumulated several reactions and comments. 

In the comments section, Mr Mackrell clarified that he returned to the celebration "two seconds later," however, the image sparked a debate on social media over work-life balance. 

"Utterly bizarre to post this. This is nothing to brag about. This guy is his laptop, working at his own wedding and you're congratulating him? Dearie me. Completely tone deaf," wrote one user. 

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"It's easy to lose track of priorities as a founder. This is a great example of that," commented another. "I don't know what's worse: the people who asked him to work on his wedding or the fact it was posted on LinkedIn as somehow motivating," expressed a third user. 

"This is wildly embarrassing for you and your company," wrote one user. "This isn't the flex you think it is," said a fifth user. 

"People are really living a very depressing life," wrote one user. "I aspire to be the exact opposite of this guy in my career," said another.