The Midnight Entrepreneur: Balancing a 9–5 Job While Building Your Startup

How to build a million-dollar business in the hours most people spend sleeping.

Marshall Hargrave
2 min readNov 4, 2024

Success is not final, failure is not fatal—the courage to continue is what matters.

It’s 2 AM, and the soft glow of your laptop screen illuminates your tired face. By day, you write code for someone else’s dream. By night, you build your own.

This is a story of exhaustion, triumph, and the relentless pursuit of freedom.

The hardest part isn’t having the idea — it’s finding the courage to start while everyone else is resting.

The Brutal Reality of Double Life

Let me be honest: building a startup while working full-time is brutal.

Here’s what a typical day looked like:

  • 6 AM: Wake up, exercise
  • 7 AM — 4 PM: Corporate job
  • 4 PM — 7 PM: Family time
  • 7 PM — 9 PM: Kids’ bedtime routine
  • 9 PM — 2 AM: Startup work
  • 2 AM — 6 AM: Sleep (if lucky)

The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks…

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Marshall Hargrave
Marshall Hargrave

Written by Marshall Hargrave

Serial entrepreneur. Finance, startups, investing. Catalyst-focused, event-driven. Hip-hop vigilante. On the quest for the best hot chicken.

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