Business 4 min read By Arthur Ellington
Ex-Meta executive Martin Ott says Zuckerberg taught him to protect work-life boundaries at Taxfix
Martin Ott, who led Facebook's Northern and Central Europe operations before becoming CEO of the $1 billion tax app Taxfix, says Mark Zuckerberg taught him that impact matters more than hours. He now schedules emails to avoid disturbing his team outside working hours.
Martin Ott, who joined Facebook in 2012 to lead its Northern and Central Europe operations, says the most valuable lesson he learned from Mark Zuckerberg was not about scaling fast or working around the clock. It was about focusing on impact during working hours and protecting time away from work.
Ott, now chief executive of Taxfix, the Berlin-based tax app valued at more than $1 billion, told Fortune that Zuckerberg's approach shaped his own management style. «One of the things I'm also passing on is, there's only so many hours in a day,» Ott said. «Ask yourself, what is the real one thing you could do today to really have impact, make a difference? Ask yourself, do you need to be in that meeting or not?»
His stance contrasts with a prevailing narrative among some technology leaders who argue that round-the-clock commitment is the only route to success. Lucy Guo, cofounder of Scale AI, has said people who crave balance are in the wrong job. Twilio chief executive Khozema Shipchandler has described allowing himself only six to eight hours on Saturdays away from work. Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn cofounder, has said work-life balance is not possible in the startup world and has admitted expecting employees to be constantly working, with the exception of family dinners.
Ott argues that such an approach is unsustainable. «That 24/7 only works so long,» he said, adding that switching off matters not only for leaders but also for those who work under them. «It's also protecting team members from getting burned out. You don't ever want to get there.» He describes his method as being deliberate rather than constantly available.
To enforce those boundaries, Ott has built specific routines. He rises most mornings at around 5:30 a.m. and reads for half an hour before exercising, often running by a lake. He maintains a support network and has practised meditation for his mental health, though he admits the habit comes and goes. «At times, I meditate every day, and then I drop it. Now I'm in the phase where I've dropped it and want to pick it up again,» he said.
Even when he starts early and drafts messages before meetings begin, Ott uses scheduling functions to ensure they do not reach his team until working hours. «I start writing Slack messages and emails. Often, they only go out with a scheduling function at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. So I don't pull people out of their free time, which they need to recharge, because it is a marathon,» he said.
He applies the same discipline to meetings, questioning whether his presence is necessary and focusing only on those where he can make a real difference. The approach, he says, is about sustaining high performance over years rather than burning out in a sprint.
«Everyone tells you, when you start a company, or you're running a company, there will be ups and downs. There will be constant crises. There's a lot of pressure as well,» Ott said. «You need to make sure you see it actually as a marathon, not a sprint. And that also means you have to maintain the high performance over a long period of time. And that doesn't work 24/7.»
Ott's experience at Facebook gave him a close view of the company's evolution from a pre-IPO startup pivoting from desktop to mobile into one of the world's most powerful platforms. He was among the few leaders who witnessed that transformation firsthand under a young Zuckerberg. The lesson he carried into his current role at Taxfix, a company that has reached a billion-dollar valuation, is that deliberate boundaries and focused effort are more effective than constant availability.
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