Is It Time To Slowdown? After Three All Nighters Bank Of America Intern Dies

(image: gawker.com)

As entrepreneurs and startup founders, we often work just as hard, if not harder, than interns working for the top firms on Wall Street. Or in London as the case was with 21-year-old Moritz Erhardt.

The young man was a college student who was living at Charedale House in London while working through a rigorous internship program for Bank Of America Merill Lynch’s London office.

Gawker.com reports that Erhardt had come home after three all nighters, had a seizure, and passed away in the shower.

“He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future,” Bank of America said in its statement. “Our first thoughts are with his family and we send our condolences to them at this difficult time.”

Many summer interns from other investment banks are talking about Erhardt’s death on Wall Street Oasis. While some seem to be sympathetic to the passing of the college student, there are actually many who are critical 0f his situation, saying that you have to work hard to advance in the investment bank world.

Startups are often in the same position. Hackathons are a startup staple. Of course, these aren’t “every day,” and most hackathons do encourage a little bit of rest. But as one person on Wall Street Oasis points out, to pull three all nighters had to have involved a lot of caffeine. Caffeine is even more common for startup founders than hackathons, and what work space doesn’t include coffee, Red Bull, and soda.

Back in May the sad story about our good friend and “Bad Ass Startup Chick”, Denver Hutt was a wake up call to some of us.

When is it time to re-charge the batteries? Comment and share below.