How Not to Die…Before You Exit

At IdeasFest this year, I sat down with two trailblazers of the global health, wellness and biohacking movement who are also incredible entrepreneurs dominating in this space.

Davinia Taylor, bestselling author and wellness entrepreneur, has built a reputation for tearing down taboos around health and habit change. Her story of rebuilding her body and mind through biohacking has made her one of the most recognisable voices on longevity and wellbeing. Davinia is also the founder of Willpowders - a community led wellness brand.

Tim Gray, known as the UK’s leading health optimiser, has built an incredible global community of health advocates and is the founder of the Health Optimisation Summit, turned his own health collapse into Europe’s biggest biohacking event. He’s spent the last decade experimenting, refining, and showing us

what it takes to sustain high performance.

Some biohackers dream of living to 150, but for founders the challenge is more immediate. Together, we had the urgent conversation too often avoided: how to stay alive, sharp, and sane long enough to actually enjoy your exit.

From burnout to focus, here’s what every founder needs to know to make it to the finish line in one piece..and note, they are both super successful entrepreneurs so speak from a place of real lived experience.

BURNOUT = BUSINESS FAILURE

“If you burn out, your business is going to burn out.” — Tim Gray

As entrepreneurs, you’re hit with constant stress, decision-making demands, and dopamine spikes. The temptation is to push through, but it’s a false economy. Short-term productivity comes at the expense of your long-term capacity to lead. You’re essentially borrowing energy on credit.

Davinia pointed out that burnout isn’t just physical exhaustion, it’s what happens when you override your own instincts and let outside pressures dictate your choices. As she put it: “Founders need to be really in tune with their own bodies and their own decisions. You can’t outsource that instinct.”. Protect yourself first, or you’ll have nothing left to protect your business.

IT’S NOT SLEEP, IT’S REPAIR

“Replace the word sleep with repair.” — Tim Gray

For Tim, the shift was simple but powerful. Call it sleep, and it feels negotiable - something you can cut back on. Call it repair, and it becomes essential. Your body and mind need those cycles to restore, reset, and prepare you to perform. Skipping them isn’t saving time, it’s sabotaging yourself.

Davinia underlined the point: “People don’t realise how much poor sleep wrecks your energy. You think you can push through, but it catches up with you. You reach for the carbs and sugar because you’re exhausted - and then your brain just doesn’t work properly.”

Rest isn’t indulgence. It’s the foundation for good decisions, steady energy, and resilience.

EAT BETTER, THINK BETTER

“Within 20 minutes of eating something, your thought processes change.” — Davinia Taylor

What you put in your body changes how you think. Davinia was clear: food can either sharpen or fry your brain. She described being stuck on the “sugar rollercoaster” of highs, crashes, and cravings. Her turning point came when she swapped sugar for ketones. A simple experiment with coffee and MCT oil fired up her brain and empowered her to start making better choices.

That realisation reshaped her whole approach: “Food is chemistry. Change what you eat, and you change your state.”

That same message came through from Tim: “It’s not just calories, it’s information for your body. The wrong fuel makes you reactive and emotional. The right fuel makes you resilient. And when your diet is poor, you burn willpower just to get through the day — instead of saving it for the big decisions.”

For founders, food isn’t just fuel, it’s strategy. The choices you make at the table dictate the clarity, focus, and resilience you bring to the boardroom.

FOCUS YOUR FIREPOWER

“Founders forget they can structure the business around themselves.” — Davinia Taylor

You do your best work when your energy’s at its highest. For Davinia, that means mornings: “I protect my mornings because that’s when I’m sharpest. That’s when I make the big decisions. The rest can wait.”

Not every founder is wired the same way - some do their best work at night, others at the crack of dawn. But the discipline is the same: know your rhythm, and guard it.

Finding the right time is only half the battle. The other half is knowing what to give that energy to. As Tim put it: “The most important thing is having a mission or a big vision. When you own that, nothing gets in the way. Decision-making becomes easier because you know where you’re heading.”. Without clarity, even your best hours get scattered across the wrong things.

EXIT ALIVE

“If you get to your exit but you’re broken, what’s the point?” — Davinia Taylor

​​Entrepreneurship is an endurance sport, not a sprint.

The founders who last aren’t chasing immortality; they’re choosing the small, deliberate habits that compound into resilience. As Tim put it: “Everyone wants to talk about the big hacks, but it’s the small things you do every day that add up.”

That mindset runs through his whole philosophy of biohacking: “It’s not about living forever. It’s about performing better for longer.”

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“Build your health like you build your business: with intent, consistency, and the long game in mind” — Jo Dalton