Her Last Words Changed His Life. Then He Built a Business Helping Thousands | Danny Buckley
This is one of the most personal founder stories we’ve recorded on The Entrepreneur Experiment. Danny Buckley is the co-founder of ADHD Now and a 2026 EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. But the company exists because of a far more personal story. Danny spent much of his life struggling with distraction, emotional dysregulation, anxiety and a lack of structure without understanding why. His wife Simone believed he had ADHD. Danny dismissed it. Then life changed completely. After years of serious health challenges, Simone became critically ill. The day before she died, she told Danny that life was short, that he needed to stop inflicting suffering on himself, get help for his ADHD, understand who he was and back himself. Danny eventually followed her advice. His diagnosis at 32 gave him a new understanding of himself, but getting there exposed another problem: accessing ADHD assessment and support was extraordinarily difficult. Danny saw an opportunity to change that. Together with his co-founders, he built ADHD Now around a simple idea: people should be able to get answers in weeks rather than wait years. We unpack how they found clinical capacity, built the technology and processes, generated demand, scaled the team and created a service that expects to see 13,000 patients in 2026. But this conversation goes far beyond business. Danny speaks openly about grief, becoming emotionally available for his son, sobriety, faith, asking for help and learning to live with structure and discipline. We also explore why ADHD appears so frequently among entrepreneurs, how hyperfocus can become both an advantage and a liability, and why Danny eventually had to recognise that not every exciting business opportunity deserved his attention. His personal framework is beautifully simple: desire, hard work and help. And each morning, he returns to his Three Cs: Connection. Compassion. Contribution. This is a story about what happens when you finally understand yourself, accept what you cannot control and put your energy into what you can. As Danny puts it: “Life is short. Enjoy the life you’ve left.” IN THIS EPISODE Danny’s experience of living with undiagnosed ADHD The final conversation with his wife Simone that changed the direction of his life Why he travelled to the UK to receive his ADHD diagnosis How diagnosis brought structure, discipline and emotional awareness into his life Why getting a diagnosis is only the beginning Turning his own experience into the idea for ADHD Now The stranger Danny met outside the hospital who would later back the business How ADHD Now went from idea to launch in a matter of months Recruiting clinicians when the healthcare system was already at capacity Using technology and systems to reduce friction for patients Why private providers may form part of the solution to healthcare waiting lists The relationship between ADHD, hyperfocus and entrepreneurship Why Danny bought two bakeries while scaling a healthcare company Learning when ADHD-driven curiosity becomes distraction Danny’s formula of desire, hard work and help His Three Cs: Connection, Compassion and Contribution The moment at EY Entrepreneur of the Year when Danny finally felt proud of himself Why he rejects the idea that founders have to be miserable to succeed Faith, fatherhood and redefining what success means Why “action removes anxiety” Our Sponsors: Nostra: https://bit.ly/nostra26 Azure Communications: https://bit.ly/azure26 🔗 Links & Resources: ADHD Now: https://adhdnow.com/ie Danny Buckley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danibuckley90 Danny Buckley on LinkedIn: https://ie.linkedin.com/in/danny-buckley-84840b2a0 Book recommendation – Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss: https://amzn.to/4dshO2a Follow The Entrepreneur Experiment: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/entrepreneurexperiment/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@entrepreneurexperiment Podcast: https://www.mrgaryfox.com/podcast
