Barry Hearn: How I Still Wake Up Every Day Hungry to Win
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
4.8 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 November 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Barry Hearn joins Jake and Damian for a no-nonsense masterclass in ambition, resilience, and the mindset that turned a kid from a council estate into one of the most influential figures in global sport. The legendary Matchroom founder opens up about the work ethic shaped by his formidable mother, the chip on his shoulder that fuelled his rise, and the Christmas Eve moment in 1988 when he stood on the brink of bankruptcy, before one audacious deal changed everything.
Across the conversation, Barry lays out his 10 Rules for Life: why “everything is a competition,” how sheer graft can make you look like a genius, why honesty is a superpower, and what it means to be “unbeatable” even when life dents you. He reflects on building empires in snooker, darts, and boxing, the importance of thinking poorly to stay sharp, and the role fire, fun, and relentless optimism have played in his seven decades of success.
This is Barry Hearn in full force, funny, fierce, and fiercely honest, offering the timeless laws of success from a man who refuses to be beaten.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | someone said once about me he's not the brightest candle in the room but he burns longer than |
| 0:10.0 | anyone else and that's exactly what i do i won't be defeated you see that is the voice of barry |
| 0:18.5 | hearn the legendary sports promoter, founder of Matchroom Sport, |
| 0:23.0 | a chartered accountant by trade and the man who turned snooker, darts, fishing and boxing |
| 0:28.1 | into global, commercially dominant empires. |
| 0:31.7 | This is a conversation about the fundamental laws of success and why for Barry everything's a competition. |
| 0:39.2 | Listening as Barry lays out is incredible 10 rules for life and he shows us why being |
| 0:44.1 | unbeatable is a mindset which you can choose not a skill that you're born with. |
| 0:49.6 | He shares with us his think poor to stay rich philosophy and how pressure is only felt by those who fail. |
| 0:56.7 | There's a brilliant story in here about how he nearly lost everything, standing in the snow on Christmas |
| 1:02.1 | Eve 1988, one deal away from bankruptcy. It could have been written by Charles Dickens. |
| 1:08.5 | But most powerfully, he talks about his mum, a working-class snob as he calls her, |
| 1:13.2 | instilled in him an unbreakable work ethic that still drives him today. We're going to start this |
| 1:18.6 | conversation with that exact mindset, the chip on his shoulder, the hunger to build something |
| 1:23.8 | from nothing, and his refusal to let anyone else write his story. I'd like you to |
| 1:29.1 | join me and welcome Matron, Barri Hearn, to High Performance. Your decisions are defined by |
| 1:41.4 | your 10 rules for life and what we wanted to do with this conversation was to base it on the 10 rules. |
| 1:47.4 | And we'd love you to sort of put some meat on the bones for us. |
| 1:50.1 | So your first rule for life is it's better to be born lucky than good looking. |
| 1:55.4 | Well, it's so true. |
| 1:57.3 | I mean, because without that little bit of luck, |
| 2:07.9 | and no matter what you might think, how bright you are or how well qualified you are, we all need that bit of luck. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from High Performance, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of High Performance and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.