I work with founders of founder-led agencies – usually small to mid-sized businesses where the founder is still closely involved in direction, decisions, and delivery.
At this stage, the challenge isn’t usually ideas or ambition. It’s that everything competes for attention, decisions feel heavier than they should, and progress costs more effort than expected. The agency works, but the business isn’t as straightforward or as satisfying to run as it once was.
People use different labels for this kind of support – coach, mentor, advisor, non-executive director. The work itself tends to converge once you get clear on what’s actually going on.
What I help with
Most of my work is about improving the quality of decisions and bringing the business back into alignment with what the founder actually wants it to support.
That might involve:
- creating clearer priorities and trade-offs
- untangling problems that have been circling for too long
- reducing the sense of carrying everything alone
- making the business calmer and more predictable to run
- ensuring effort translates into progress, not just activity
The work isn’t about motivation, pressure, or growth for its own sake. It’s about thinking clearly, choosing deliberately, and staying with the consequences of those choices.
How I tend to work with founders
The shape of the work varies, but it usually involves a combination of ongoing conversations and focused attention on whatever matters most at the time. Sometimes that means stepping back and making sense of the bigger picture. Sometimes it means getting specific and practical about a problem that needs resolving. In some cases, it involves a more formal role and regular board-level discussions.
What doesn’t change is the nature of the involvement: independent perspective, informed challenge, and enough continuity to hold context over time.
I bring close to three decades of agency experience, including building and exiting my own agency, but the value isn’t in me telling you what to do. It’s in helping you see situations more clearly, make better decisions, and align the business with the outcomes you care about – inside and outside work
How engagements usually begin
I don’t sell predefined packages or ask people to decide in advance what kind of support they need. Most engagements start with a conversation to understand what’s actually going on, what feels stuck, and whether I’m likely to be useful. If there’s a good fit, the shape of the work tends to emerge naturally from there.
I work with a small number of clients at any one time. That’s deliberate. It allows me to stay properly engaged and give each business the attention it deserves. Some engagements stay at a thinking-partner level. Others evolve into more formal coaching or board-level involvement. The shape follows the need – not the other way round.
What I’m probably not a good fit for
It’s often helpful to be clear about this. I’m unlikely to be useful if you’re looking for:
- quick wins or hype
- generic motivation or growth-at-all-costs thinking
- advice that assumes spare capacity you don’t actually have
- frameworks that sound good but collapse under real-world pressure
If what you want is reassurance or someone to tell you everything will be easy, I’m probably not the right person.
“As a lone agency founder, Mat has saved me from my ‘lonely at the top’ existence. Working with him has allowed me to bounce ideas and questions and benefit from his experience, insights and ability to get me to the core of an issue with (mostly) gentle questioning!”
– Duncan Davidson, Rohallion
A sensible next step
If this way of working sounds relevant, the next step is simply to start a conversation: An initial call to learn more about each other’s businesses, what you are looking to achieve and what support might help you get there. The aim of these calls is clarity and to assess fit for us both rather than persuasion of sales pressure.
Start the conversation by getting in touch.