If you’re working on an early stage startup, tell the court that you have a business that’s not making money, that’s not paying you, that requires you to work 12-16 hours per day in order to have a chance to some day make money, and that working 8 hours less per day during jury duty would hurt those chances. After hearing this (and after looking at you funny and wondering why in the world you would do that), they will likely excuse you.
(Note: When summoned for jury duty, you have the opportunity to get excused by the court if you have a solid reason for why spending time on a trial would be detrimental to you.)
