Ron Schneidermann, now chief executive of the test-preparation startup Acely, has acknowledged that his early career in building companies came at a personal cost, saying he lost sight of a healthy work-life balance. Speaking in an interview with Fortune, he described living on a tight budget, going without a salary and taking very little time away from work when his children were born.
Schneidermann built Liftopia, a marketplace for ski-resort lift tickets, to more than $60 million in annual revenue. In the early stages, he lived in a cramped San Francisco apartment and spent less than $15 a day. For two years he went without a salary, and he said he survived largely on canned soup.
He also described his decisions around family. He took two days off for the birth of his first daughter and one week for the birth of his son. He now calls the shorter break for his son a mistake and says he regrets the time he lost. Rather than dwelling on those hardships, he said he has come to see the period as one that built resilience, though he is clear that he would now choose differently.
His former company, AllTrails, the outdoor-navigation platform he led as chief executive, introduced a monthly company-wide shutdown held on the first Friday of each month, when employees are encouraged to leave their desks and spend time outdoors. At Acely, he has introduced a monthly full-day hackathon for the under-a-dozen staff, with no meetings and no key performance indicators. The approach reflects a deliberate effort to build breaks into the working calendar rather than relying on individuals to take them.
Schneidermann's career path has included a stint as a consultant at Accenture, which he left after about two years because he disliked the work. He then moved into technology through Hotwire, the travel company later acquired by Expedia. He joined Acely after a search firm approached him, and he said that his own daughter had used the company's SAT preparation product, which he cited as one reason he was drawn to the role. Acely reports more than 50,000 active users, though it has not disclosed its revenue or funding.
For early-career workers, Schneidermann emphasises networking and curiosity as the most useful tools for advancement. He referred to a 2024 survey in which six in ten bosses said they had fired recent Gen Z hires, a finding he presented as a reason younger employees should focus on building relationships and demonstrating initiative. The survey's sponsor and sample size were not stated in the material available.