I model my day off pro athletes. Here's what that means for my schedule, my team's, and my approach to 996 culture.

Jagda told Business Insider '996 culture' misses the point.

Courtesy of Proximity Works Hardik Jagda wants to function like an Olympian, and waking up at 3 a.m. helps him do that.

He commits long hours to his AI-based company, but says he doesn't enforce 996 hours on his team.

For Jagda, 996 misses the point.

Here's how he structures his day instead.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hardik Jagda, 35, the CEO of Proximity Works, who lives in San Francisco.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2017, I wanted to build my own company, but I couldn't jump into it full-time because of my financial obligations at home.

Instead, I'd spend the mornings and evenings outside my full-time job working on my side projects .

That time was foundational for building my company, Proxmity Works, which I launched in 2019.

My aim was to help broadcasters scale their live sports streaming platforms worldwide.

In 2020, we started building AI infrastructure for live sports.

Those years made me aware of how my body clock works.

I read a lot of autobiographies from entrepreneurs and athletes to understand what allowed them to build what they achieved.