This study aims to reconstruct various questions arising from the concept of time within the context of control mechanisms. Although it is common for both large companies and startups to devise management techniques based on the concept of time, there exist two types of enterprises depending on how they embed time into their control mechanism. Through in-depth interviews with 23 startup employees, this study seeks to concretize how time is integrated into the control mechanisms of startups. It is observed that control mechanisms are manifested through both formal and informal techniques, and this study examines whether these techniques are effectively aligned with the objectives of startups. Based on a dramaturgical approach, our analysis reveals how startup employees understand and respond to their workplace (the startup) and the surrounding control mechanisms. There exists another form of influence in startups that transcends formal and informal controls, emphasizing time embedded in individual careers rather than organizational time. Thus, control mechanisms in startups are not traditional but driven by personal desire for growth. Startup employees link organizational growth with personal career success, and by establishing various cultural mechanisms that enhance intrinsic motivation, employees view autonomous work as valuable, strengthening it as a positive control mechanism. Consequently, work hours in startups are efficiently restructured through the desire for growth of their members.