SurveyMonkey's Dave Goldberg on Managing Family Time

I like to work. I like building companies and creating things with smart people. When I met Sheryl, I knew she felt the same way. It would have been weird for me to expect one of us not to work after we had kids. I’m not willing to not work. If Sheryl had ever said, “I don’t want to work,” that would have been okay. It never came up. I’m glad she works. I think it’s good for her. It’s good for our relationship. I think it’s good for our kids. I grew up with both of my parents working, and I liked it.

I started my first company [Launch Media] at 26. I took it public, then sold it to Yahoo! and stayed another six years. That meant I was commuting between San Francisco and Los Angeles. After the fourth or fifth time stuck at LAX for five hours on a Friday night, I realized I was spending most of my time at the airport. I felt I wasn’t helping enough at home or getting stuff done at work. It was hard to leave a business I’d built, but I quit.