A founder gets open about entrepreneurship and Adderall addiction
When I was a kid, aspiring to be an entrepreneur, I remember hearing that Howard Hughes was addicted to something that let him work through the night.
Frankly, it was a handful of entrepreneurs who had that and in my head, I said to myself, “I’d be willing to make that trade-off. If I could take a drug that would make me work harder through the night, I’d be absolutely willing to do it. Yeah, my health would suffer, but you know what? Life makes your health suffer. I’d be willing to do it.”
My biology doesn’t allow me to get into drugs. But it turns out that it’s not some kind of superpower, at least according to Michael Dash’s experience. He is an entrepreneur who built an HR company called Parallel HR Solutions, grew it. We’ll find out how big he got it. And along the way was addicted to Adderall.
Most entrepreneurs will not talk to me about it here. They will talk to me about it in private. Michael Dash is willing to do it, so we’re going to talk to him about that.
Michael Dash is the author of Chasing the High which chronicles his journey through addiction and lawsuits.
Andrew: Hey there, freedom fighters. My name is Andrew Warner. I’m the founder of Mixergy where I interview entrepreneurs about how they built their businesses, and I do it for an audience of real entrepreneurs. And I’m going to be open with you guys. I remember when I was a kid, aspiring to be an entrepreneur. I remember hearing that Howard Hughes was addicted to something that gave him more speed that let him work through the night.
Was it Howard Hughes or Hugh Hefner? I think it might have even been both of them. Frankly, it was a handful of entrepreneurs who had that and in my head, I said to myself, “I’d be willing to make that trade-off. If I could take a drug that would make me work harder through the night, I’d be absolutely willing to do it. Yeah, my health would suffer, but you know what? Life makes your health suffer. I’d be willing to do it.”
It turns out that I don’t have an . . . My biology...
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