Does Entrepreneurship & Alcohol Mix?
An entrepreneur argues that heavy drinking tanks your energy, clarity, and pitch. He quit alcohol entirely, citing a founder who lost investor backing because of alcoholism, and says the hangovers alone cost you too many work hours to compete.
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Does entrepreneurship and alcohol mix? Can you drink and be a successful entrepreneur? Well, I have a very strong opinion on this. I would love your thoughts in the comments. I wonder if the top entrepreneurs in the world that we know and maybe love, like Elon Musk, um, I wonder how much alcohol they drink. I'm just going to throw it right out there and I'm going to say I do not believe you can be a successful entrepreneur and drink a lot of alcohol. Now, some people will say, well, entrepreneurship's a very social thing and you can network and drink while you network. Well, why do you need to drink while you network? How many drinks did it— does it take you to have a fuzzy head the next day? How much time and energy might you lose if you drink? What might other people, customers, etc., think of you if you drink alcohol? So let me know what you think in the comments. Now I've got a few examples here. I can say this: I do not believe that entrepreneurship and alcohol mix, in that if you want to be the very best that you can be, the most quick-thinking, energized, effective, productive, passionate, enthusiastic, excitable entrepreneur, if you want to have the maximum success I do not believe that drinking and alcohol mix. So as I got older, the hangovers got longer. Um, someone has just said, um, alcohol in small doses is fine, but the thing is, it's a gateway drug. Can you really just have alcohol in small doses? Can you have one glass of wine a week? I don't know. Yeah, I'll just have a little bit of crack cocaine every now and again. I mean, it is a very addictive addictive drug. It's a drug, and what goes up must come down. So I get up at 5:30 AM, sometimes 5 AM, every day. I start work at 5:45-ish AM. I get podcasts in my ears at 5:30 AM, and I can get a lot— by the way, this morning I've got loads of work done, loads of work done. I can get 5 or 6 hours work done before 8 AM, but I couldn't if I had a hangover. But here's the thing, some, some people say, oh, well, one or two is okay, but how do you know how much that's slowing you down, how much that's clouding your thinking, how many hours it wastes, those weekends that you lose? So I'm just going to put it out there and say that I don't believe that entrepreneurship and alcohol mix, even if it's just one, because if it's one a night, it's 7 a week, and then it's 10 a week, and then bang. So let me know what you think. I remember going to a, um, a networking event for investors and entrepreneurs. You could go as an investor asking for money, raising money for your company, or you could go as an investor investing money into a company. And we all saw a jaw-dropping pitch. Someone went up and pitched this business which was a bit like, um, Uber Eats or Deliveroo, but you could cook in your own home as your own chef, and then that food could get delivered out. So you could make a living cooking as a home chef, and you could be on Deliveroo and Uber Eats. So it was like a decentralized Deliveroo. What a great idea! That would have absolutely smashed it in the lockdown. But you know what the problem was? The founder was an alcoholic. And the word got through and everyone was like, well, I'm not investing then because it's a great idea, but I can't put hundreds of thousands of pounds into an alcoholic. So actually, great idea, wrong entrepreneur because of the drink. Now of course, that's— I'm not saying you're an alcoholic, and I'm not saying drinking one drink a day is, is alcoholic. But the thing is, most entrepreneurs are pretty obsessive. We're pretty much all in, all or nothing. So my opinion, I I think it's better than nothing, but I would like your opinion. How much do you drink? At what point does it affect you in your energy and your productivity and your clarity of thinking? But you just don't know how many hours a week you lose. You just don't know how unsharp your thinking is. And therefore, why not just drink nothing? Why would you need a drink to socialize? Why would you need a drink to feel good? Isn't alcohol actually a depressant? So doesn't it actually have the opposite effect? And we want to maintain this consistent level of energy. Now, I used to drink a lot, a fucking lot at university, and I had my time and all of that. And as I got to 25 and 30 and 35 and 40, I found that just one drink could affect me and my first few hours of the next day. And getting effective shit done in your day is about momentum. So you start the day well, sharp, productive, effective, bang, you build up this momentum. You know, like the truck pull, really hard to get pulling, but once it's got momentum, it's moving fast, it's got energy. And your day is like that. And if you're waking up in a bit of a thick head and it's taking a few hours to get rolling, you're losing the most important part of your day when you should be really clear You should be— if you are not waking up really clear and energized, there is something wrong. So I quit drinking because most entrepreneurs are all or nothing obsessive. I quit drinking. Now look, I do have one drink maybe 3 times a year, a cocktail to celebrate, and it's usually at 6 PM, not after that, and I'm always absolutely fine the next day. So I can't say I'm teetotal. I can say I have about 3 or 4 cocktails a year. I never have two, and I've found that to be really, really helpful for me, for my energy, enthusiasm, productivity, etc. And also, maybe it's the perception. If you drink quite a lot, you're gonna get known for that, and I'm not sure that's great for your brand and your business. Now, the next thing, of course, linked to that, which has just been put in the comments, is drinking loads of water. You know, really, we are pretty much all water, 70% water. Water is life. And if you are fully hydrated, then you have clear mind. But what does alcohol do? It dehydrates you, so it has the opposite effect. So even just one, especially wine, apparently bodybuilders will sometimes drink a glass of wine because it dehydrates you, so it makes them look more cut. So not only does it lack your clarity, robs you of your sharp thinking, your decision-making, your energy, but it also actually can dehydrate you, which of course can ruin your, um, thought process. Someone has said here, wow, you're boring. I think this is a really interesting subject, even if you think I'm boring. I don't give a fuck if you think I'm boring, um, because I'm rich and boring. But actually, I think it's a really important point. So let me know what you think in the comments. Does alcohol and entrepreneurship mix? Do you drink and how much? Have you quit drinking and does it help you with being an entrepreneur? Do you know, I know so many entrepreneurs in my community, loads who have quit drinking and they say it's been one of the best things they ever did. Productivity, efficiency, energy, enthusiasm, passion. You're going to have moments in your entrepreneurial journey where you're going to meet a millionaire investor, or you could bag a massive client or supplier, and you need to be fully on it. And if you've got a little bit of a hangover, could lose it all. So I just went all or nothing, so therefore it's nothing. Let me know what you think in the comments. It is an interesting topic. Please hit the share button. I actually think that a lot of people are damaging their ability to be an entrepreneur, and I don't really talk about what you eat being an entrepreneur, what you drink or don't drink being an entrepreneur, you know, your health, your fuel, your energy as an entrepreneur. But actually, if you don't have any energy as an entrepreneur, that's a, that's a false start before you even start, because I think entrepreneurship is energy. So hit the share button. Let me think, let me know in the comments if you think that alcohol and entrepreneurship mix. How much do you have? What's the limit? Um, have you had hangovers? How much time do you lose? Do your hangovers get longer and worse as you get older? And let's have a chat because I like to keep you engaged. Thanks for tuning in to my work. And remember this: if you don't risk anything, you risk everything. Hit the share button. Let's discuss. In the comments. Do entrepreneurship and alcohol mix? Do you still drink? Does it affect you being an entrepreneur? Does it affect your work? If you have a hangover and you're working for someone else, might not affect you that much. Probably shouldn't do it, but might not affect you that much. But what about if it's your own business? You can't lose hours in a day. You just can't afford to. Let me know what you do. And, and for all of you that have given up drinking or stopped drinking, how much of a difference did it make? I stopped drinking, and for me, it changed everything for being, um, energized and entrepreneurial. Cheers everyone, love you all. Hit the share button. I'll see you on the other side. And remember, if you don't risk anything, you risk everything.
