Founders are drinking less and less alcohol. But why is that? And is it a question of age? Founder Scene investigated the matter.
The Gründerszene team is at an evening event. All around: founders, investors, VCs. Everyone has water and cola in their hands, no one has a glass of beer. And it’s not just an event. We observe again and again: Alcohol (even if it’s free) is no longer the first choice. What happened here? Has the startup scene forgotten how to celebrate?
However, founders are not entirely alone in abstaining from alcohol. In Germany, alcohol consumption fell by around ten percent between 2015 and 2025. The development is particularly striking among Generation Z: only around 61 percent drink alcohol at all. Almost four out of ten abstain completely. And more and more founders are coming from this generation.
So the question is: Why are startup founders suddenly ordering water instead of wheat?
Silicon Valley is to blame again
Anyone who wants to understand why founders today are sober at networking events will quickly end up in Silicon Valley. Almost everything is now optimized there: sleep. Nutrition. blood sugar. heart rate. And also alcohol consumption.
The so-called longevity movement does not simply want to accept aging, but rather slow it down as much as possible. The goal: live longer, but above all, live healthier. Alcohol doesn’t fit in very well.
The longevity movement has developed into a central mega-issue in the Bay Area: Tech billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg have been investing billions in research into life extension for years – also with the aim of defeating age-related diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer’s.
Probably the most extreme example: Bryan Johnson. The Silicon Valley founder founded the payment service provider Braintree and sold it for $800 million in 2013. Since then he has devoted himself intensively to researching longevity. What does that mean specifically? He swallows over 50 pills every day, injects his son’s blood plasma and employs a team of 30 experts to research and stop aging.
But Peter Thiel has also supported almost a dozen longevity startups with over $700 million. Jeff Bezos is said to have invested $2.9 billion in cell reprogramming research.
What do German founders say about this?
So is this just a Silicon Valley thing? At the Startup Awards 2026 we talked about this with German founders, including Florian Seibel, founder of Quantum Systems, and Kai Lanz, founder of Krischat. While Quantum Systems builds defense drones, Crisis Chat offers online help for children and young people with mental health problems. Although the business models of both startups couldn’t be more different, the founders’ attitude towards alcohol is very similar.
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Florian Seibel says: “I generally drink less alcohol because then I am more alert and fitter.” According to him, too many founders hang around at events and don’t use their time wisely to work on their projects.
And Lanz from Krisschat also says to Gründerszene: “I’m alcohol-free this evening, I’m drinking water.” Over the past few years he has had the feeling that many of his fellow founders don’t drink alcohol. Why is that? “The awareness of health and fear of loss of control” is his thesis.
Welcome to the optimized start-up life
Florian Scherl (22) sees it similarly. Scherl is the founder of Explaino.ai – an AI platform that transforms texts into animated explainer videos.
Founder scene he revealed his morning routine. The young founder’s early hours are already well planned: “I get up at 5:30 a.m. every day,” he tells Gründerszene. Immediately after getting up, follow a fixed morning routine: “5-10 minute breathwork session, then 10-minute morning activation and then a cold shower.” So first breathing exercises, then stretching and finally an activating shower. His idea behind it: maximum productivity. “I don’t want to be exhausted by midday,” says Scherl. That’s exactly why you go to bed between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the evening to get 7.5 hours of sleep.
Added to this: strict calendar and movement management. The days are largely call-free in the mornings, meetings are postponed until the afternoon. Also on the plan: regular sports sessions – usually a running session or sometimes a body workout. “All of my sports equipment is in our office, including the shower.” For him, this is part of the same logic as the early bedtime: “I notice that I get significantly more done in my days and am less tired.”
Scherl was recently in Silicon Valley – and observed the same development there. With one difference: “Some founders there instead experiment with psychedelic substances to increase their creativity.” Alcohol, on the other hand, hardly plays a role in many startup circles.
Boomers still drink wine
Young founders are paying more and more attention to their consumption. But what about the older generation of founders? Scherl has an observation about this: “I was recently at an event. While all the young founders were drinking mineral water, the older men had wine and beer in their hands.” So it’s all a question of age?
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Not necessarily, says Philipp Depiereux (48). The AI entrepreneur, who lives in California, says to Gründerszene: “I haven’t consumed alcohol for 20 years, after I used to drink a lot and smoke – up to two packs a day.” Nevertheless, he did not notice any extraordinary consumption during his venture days. “Sure, there was a lot of alcohol at the summer parties and Christmas celebrations. But it’s always been that way.” Nevertheless, he also recognizes a change. Not necessarily when it comes to the celebration itself, but when it comes to the importance of health: “The times are different today.”
