Twilio CEO says he checks email at 4.30 am, scoffs at 9-to-5

Twilio CEO Khozema Shipchandler has said he starts checking emails at 4.30 am and works until 9 pm, adding that work-life balance is not possible at the top. The Indian-origin executive, born in Indiana to parents from Mumbai, told Fortune that sacrifice separates leaders from everyone else. He said he missed many of his son's tennis matches but made CFO by 31.

Shipchandler, 51, follows a strict daily routine: coffee and news before a workout, then work from 7.30 am. After lunch he walks on a treadmill for 10 minutes. He takes a dinner break at 6.30 pm, does another hour of work at 8 pm, and sleeps by 9.30 pm. On weekends he wakes at 6.30 am and works most Sundays.

"If you want to work eight-to-five, coach your kids sports teams, have the evenings for yourself, that's awesome," Shipchandler said. He does not use social media and said his parents, classic immigrants, pushed him to work hard. He runs laps around his house between meetings to avoid sitting all day.