dot-com syndrome

A phrase that describes the stress of working 24/7 on Internet time in the industry, it occurs for several reasons.

For example, there's tremendous pressure from corporate heads and fellow colleagues to work 12-16 hours days so that if you don't, you aren't considered a team player. There's also the frustration that accompanies working at a start-up because the business model is constantly changing so that you have to either "wear a lot of hats" or be able to change direction at a moment's notice. Then, when the project you spent the last six months working on is rendered useless or obsolete and you have to start all over again, the feeling is very empty and unsettling. In addition to increasingly strange office politics (due to the pressure put on by the VC firms and the rush of people wanting to get promoted as quickly as possible), mental anxiety, insomnia and RSI often result which adversely affects the overall performance of people and ultimately contributes to the dot-com deadpool.

This "syndrome" is also known as a "drink the KoolAid" environment (with reference to Jim Jones' cult).