# The 4-day week as a design choice for owners · Worth Owning · Horizon

Canonical: https://withhorizon.co/worth-owning/alex-soojung-kim-pang

[All episodes](/worth-owning)

![](/images/guests/alex-soojung-kim-pang.jpg)Worth OwningEp. 13Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

[Stepping back](/worth-owning?topic=Stepping%20back)[4-day week](/worth-owning?topic=4-day%20week)[Team design](/worth-owning?topic=Team%20design)

Worth Owning · Episode 13

# The 4-day week as a design choice for owners

Hosted by **Krystyn Harrison** · With **Alex Soojung-Kim Pang**, Founder, 4 Day Week Studio; author of RestMar 2026 · 41 min

0:0041:00

Watch or listen on[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alex-soojung-kim-pang-10-weeks-back-a-year-the-4/id1830558138)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zMg90oEwoHyZiKsabBtZC)[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Fl384ljGQ)

## One firm cut turnover from 40% to 3% on a 4-day week

Overview

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang studies how companies move to a 4-day week, and he says nobody does it and loses money. The founders who try it are usually on a second or third company, done with 70-hour weeks, and facing a hard problem like half a team leaving. A 4-day week gives back about 10 weeks a year, and in Alex’s examples the business gets stronger, with turnover down and revenue up.

Alex explains how it works. A shorter week acts as a forcing function: by Thursday night the work is done or it is not, which gives fast feedback on every process. Pursuit Marketing in Glasgow cut turnover from about 40% to 3% and saved £250,000 a year in job ads. The place to start is meetings: fewer, shorter, with clear agendas, held in set blocks that protect time for focused work.

Then the part most productivity advice skips. Rest is an investment, and the lasting fixes are shared rules a team keeps together, from no email in the evenings to everyone taking vacations. Alex also sees AI as a choice: use it to extract more from people, or to buy time back. His advice to owners: take your own vacation first, because it signals to the team that they can, and pushes you to build the systems that cover for you.

Chapters

What you’ll learn

01Why a 4-day week works as a forcing function

02How shorter weeks cut turnover and widen the hiring pool

03Where to start: redesigning and ring-fencing meetings

04How to use AI to buy time back for the team

Where does your business stand today?

[Get your Optionality Score →](/optionality-score)

## More on the episode

Episode 13Mar 2026 · 41 min

Note: Krystyn, Matt and their guests may hold interests in companies discussed in this episode. Worth Owning is not financial, legal, tax or investment advice, and is for informational purposes only. Do your own research and speak with your own professionals before making any financial decision.

[Where this shows up in your businessIs the business running on your hours?The Growth Partnership builds the systems and the team that let the company hold its value with less of you in it.See the Growth Partnership →](/growth-partnership)

![Alex Soojung-Kim Pang](/images/guests/alex-soojung-kim-pang.jpg)

Guest

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

Founder, 4 Day Week Studio; author of Rest

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is the founder of 4 Day Week Studio and the author of Rest and The Distraction Addiction. He works with organizations across financial services, tech, healthcare and government on shorter working weeks.

For Owners Only

The takeaways from every episode, and one move to make your business worth more.

By subscribing, you agree to get For Owners Only emails from Horizon. Unsubscribe anytime. [Privacy Policy](/privacy-policy)

Every Thursday. Free.

You may also enjoy

[All episodes →](/worth-owning)

[Miranda Lievers · Nov 2025A $1B IPO in 5 months, then selling the dream house](/worth-owning/miranda-lievers)[Susan Richards · Apr 2026Is your CFO just a controller?](/worth-owning/susan-richards)[Josh Axler · Apr 2026AI moats, venture debt and the $20M exit](/worth-owning/josh-axler)