Founders, you’re not lazy – you’re just running on empty

Sometimes I hit a wall at 2PM.

I’ve been productive. I ate reasonably well. I even went for a run that morning. But then – bam. My brain fogs. My sharpness fades. I lose steam.

If you’re building a startup, you probably know the feeling. You’re beyond tired, you’re totally drained. You stare at the screen like it’s written in another language. Your cofounder asks a question and you pause, just a beat too long. You try to push through it, assuming it’s a discipline problem.

It’s probably not. More often than not, the problem isn’t your motivation. It’s your biology.

Founders forget they’re animals

We treat our bodies like software: as if they run continuously in the background and never need attention. The reality is we’re hardware too. And the hardware needs fuel. That means water, food, electrolytes – basic things. Just like the animals we are at heart.

But when you’re deep in the work of building something, you forget you’re running a body.

You forget that focus isn’t free. Thinking burns calories. Decision-making uses glucose. Pushing your brain through strategic problems for hours isn’t just intellectually taxing, it’s physically demanding. It’s not just your willpower depleting. It’s your energy system running out of resources.

This might sound obvious, but it’s one of those things that’s so obvious we forget it. Especially in startup culture, where the default mindset is “just push through.”

That works until it doesn’t. Eventually, your body pushes back. Hard.

Why you should care about energy availability

There’s a term in physiology: energy availability. It’s the amount of energy your body and brain actually have on hand to function.

Let’s say you’re eating clean – salads, lean protein, the whole thing. Great. But if you’re not eating enough, or if your meals are out of sync with your work demands, your body enters a kind of silent deficit.

You’re asking it to run a high-performance operation (your startup), but giving it the energy budget of a weekend nap.

And it’s not just physical performance that suffers:

• Your cognitive function drops
• Your mood worsens
• Your creativity flatlines
• Your ability to make decisions gets compromised

Your body starts turning off systems it can’t afford to run. Including the brainpower you rely on to build your company.So here’s three things to keep in check.

Three ways to fuel your system as a founder

1. You may need more calories than you think

One of the lingering lies from diet culture is that less is always more. That might work for weight loss, but it’s a disaster for performance.

Founders aren’t trying to lose weight, they’re trying to build billion-dollar businesses. And that requires fuel.

Thinking hard is expensive. Leading a team is expensive. Sitting in five back-to-back strategy sessions is expensive. Your brain runs on glucose. Your nervous system needs fats to function. You need nutrients to make adenosine triphosphate (the actual energy your body uses).

You’re not weak for feeling tired. You’re under-fueled.

So, eat. And don’t just eat what’s convenient. Eat what will help you operate at your best. A breakfast rich in B vitamins and Omega 3s can change your entire day. Scrambled eggs with spinach and avocado. Whole grain toast. Even a smoothie with chia seeds and berries.

And yes, eat carbs. Carbs aren’t evil. They’re energy. Start thinking of food as fuel for focus. Not a treat. Not a chore. A necessary system input.

2. Hydration is not optional

Most people don’t drink enough water. That includes founders.

The problem is that by the time you feel thirsty, your cognitive performance has already dropped.

Imagine running a team offsite and trying to pitch your vision with the end chopped out. You’d never willingly choose that, and yet that’s what dehydration does to your energy.

And here’s the kicker: it’s not just about chugging water. Your cells can’t actually use water properly without the right balance of electrolytes. Without sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc., the water just moves through you, it doesn’t stay where it’s needed.

The fix is to start small. Use a bottle with a straw. You’ll drink more without thinking. Add a pinch of sea salt to your water or consider an electrolyte tab. Think of it like code optimisation for your body. Tiny changes give you compounding returns.

3. Build like an athlete

Startup founders should treat themselves more like athletes.

You’re not on a field. But you are running a daily marathon. Mentally, emotionally, physically.

So you need a training schedule. You need rest. You need recovery. And you definitely need to eat and drink like it matters. Because it does.

High-performance founders don’t just optimise for productivity tools, better calendars, or sharper Notion templates. They optimise the whole system and that system includes their bodies.

And then you need to check in with your system. You don’t have to meditate for an hour. Just stop every so often and ask: am I tired because I’m out of motivation, or because I’m out of fuel? If it’s the latter, fix it like you’d fix a bug in your product.

If you want to build something enduring, you need to endure. And endurance isn’t a mindset. It’s biology. You can have all the vision and discipline in the world, but if you’re short on fuel, your system will shut down. Slowly, then all at once.

Final thoughts

Startups are hard. They demand everything from you – mentally, emotionally, physically. And yet the simplest way to gain a competitive edge is often the one we ignore: Eat enough. Drink water. Stay fueled.

Your best ideas, sharpest pitches, and strongest leadership will never come from a place of depletion.

You don’t need to hustle harder. You need to power up the machine that’s doing the work.