Podcast Guest Page
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About Me
I'm Joakim Achrén. I've been building companies for over 20 years, including a game studio that was acquired by Netflix. I spent 6 years investing in startups. Now I build AI products.
After a burnout in 2019, my sleep completely broke down. I spent two years researching why entrepreneurs specifically sleep worse than everyone else. That research became Sleep Again: Finding Rest in a World Built on Urgency, launching April 9, 2026.
About the Book
Sleep Again is the first sleep book written specifically for entrepreneurs and founders. It combines sleep science with first-person experience from 20 years of building companies. 27 chapters, 54,000 words, 87 endnotes from peer-reviewed research.
The book covers hormones and circadian rhythms, caffeine and alcohol timing, overtraining, chronotypes, mental strategies for 3am wake-ups, and a practical sleep toolkit that costs less than $50.
Topics I Can Discuss
- Why founders are uniquely bad at sleep (and why generic advice fails them)
- The founder insomnia cycle: stress, poor sleep, worse decisions, more stress
- Positive stress and sleep: why excitement wrecks rest as much as anxiety
- Chronotypes for entrepreneurs: Lion, Bear, Wolf, Dolphin scheduling
- Overtraining and 4am wake-ups: the hidden link between the gym and insomnia
- The $50 sleep setup that outperformed a $3,000 smart mattress
- Caffeine timing, alcohol protocols, and meal strategies
- The Mental Bouncer Technique for falling back asleep
- Building an evening wind-down routine for unpredictable schedules
- Sleep and decision-making: the cognitive cost of running a company on 5 hours
Bio (Short)
Joakim Achrén is an entrepreneur, investor, and author based in Helsinki, Finland. He has been founding companies for over 20 years, including a game studio acquired by Netflix. His book Sleep Again is the first sleep guide written specifically for entrepreneurs. He writes about entrepreneurship and sleep to over 10,000 Substack subscribers.
Links
- Book website: sleepagain.co
- Goodreads: Sleep Again on Goodreads
- X / Twitter: @joakim_a
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jachren
- Substack: elitegamedevelopers.substack.com
Headshot & Cover
High-resolution author photo and book cover available on request. Email info@sleepagain.co.
Contact
Email: info@sleepagain.co
Get the Book
Sleep Again launches April 9, 2026.