Here's why sleep plays an important role for business leaders

Several studies have found a connection between sleep and job performance. But the new study found a link between sleep and the cognitive skills needed to identify and evaluate an idea.

Entrepreneurs use experience and business knowledge to evaluate ideas that could turn into successful business ventures. But sleep appears to be an important factor as well.

The study surveyed more than 700 entrepreneurs from around the world.

The surveys asked about sleep patterns, hours of sleep and types of sleep.

Business pitches were drafted and an independent panel of business experts reviewed and ranked the pitches as having the most potential, medium potential and least potential for success.

Then the participants in the study reviewed the three pitches in the same day. Those leaders who had less sleep did not consistently pick the best pitches.

In the second part of the study, a smaller group of participants evaluated the pitches over several weeks while charting their sleep patterns.

Those participants who had at least seven hours of sleep each night consistently selected the best pitches identified by the expert panel.

Those who had less sleep or restless sleep did not consistently pick the best pitches.

Gish said, "The evidence suggests that less sleep leads to less accurate beliefs about the commercial potential of a new venture idea."

"Since we compared individual performance over multiple days, we can say that these results are consistent even for entrepreneurs who don't sleep as much on average as the general population," Gish further added.