Sleep is essential for business leaders looking for the next successful venture

Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington had brilliant ideas that grew into companies that are now household names – Amazon and HuffPost. The secret ingredient to coming up with these ideas might be something we can all enjoy – a good night's sleep.

According to a new study, sleep plays an especially important role in not just identifying a good business idea, but evaluating it and believing it's viable.

"Everyone needs a good night's sleep, but it's especially important for entrepreneurs."

“Entrepreneurs who consistently choose hustle over sleep, thinking sleep comes after success, may be subverting their efforts to succeed,” says lead author Jeff Gish, an assistant professor of business at the University of Central Florida.

The study was published in the Journal of Business Venturing in late July.

Several studies have found a connection between sleep and work performance. Bezos and Huffington have indicated that they get a lot of sleep in several media interviews. But the new study found a link between sleep and the cognitive skills needed to identify and evaluate an idea. Entrepreneurs use business experience and knowledge to evaluate ideas that can turn into successful ventures. But sleep seems to be an important factor as well.

The study interviewed more than 700 entrepreneurs from around the world. The surveys asked about sleep patterns, sleep hours and sleep types.

Business pitches* were prepared, then an independent panel of business experts reviewed and rated the pitches as having the highest potential, medium potential and lowest potential for success. Then study participants reviewed the pitches on the same day. Those leaders who slept the least did not consistently pick the best pitches.

In the second part of the study, a smaller group of participants assessed pitches over several weeks while documenting their sleep patterns. Participants who slept at least seven hours a night consistently selected the best pitches identified by the expert panel. Those who slept less or slept restlessly did not consistently pick the best pitches.

"Evidence suggests that less sleep leads to less accurate beliefs about the commercial potential of a new venture idea," says Gish. "As we compare individual performance over several days, we can say that these results are consistent even for entrepreneurs who don't sleep as much as the general population."

The study was completed at the University of Oregon, where Gish earned a doctorate in management philosophy. Gish also holds a master's degree in engineering and technology management. Other contributors to the study include: David T. Wagner of the University of Oregon, Denis A. Grégoire of the HEC Montreal Business School in Canada, and Christopher M. Barnes of the University of Washington.

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* What is a business pitch?

A business pitch is a business plan that you present to your potential investors to secure funding. The pitch helps you explain your business to investors to enable them to make the right decisions.

Story Source: Materials provided by University of Central Florida. Original written by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

1. J. Jeffrey Gish, David T. Wagner, Denis A. Grégoire, Christopher M. Barnes. Sleep and entrepreneurs' abilities to imagine and form initial beliefs about new venture ideas. Journal of Business Venturing, 2019; 105943 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2019.06.004