Businessman Matt Haycox Reveals Candid Playbook for Founders Struggling to Scale

Businessman and investor Matt Haycox has released a candid new playbook aimed at founders battling one of the toughest stages of entrepreneurship: scaling. Designed to cut through the confusion and second-guessing that hold many businesses back, the playbook forms part of the wider No Bollocks Business HQ, Haycox’s execution-first platform for founders who want straight answers rather than recycled advice.

Haycox says most founders aren’t struggling because they lack ambition, they’re struggling because scaling exposes every weakness a business has been hiding.

‘Scaling isn’t about getting bigger,’ he says. ‘It’s about tightening what’s loose, fixing what’s broken and building a structure that can hold real growth. You can’t scale chaos. And most founders only realise that when it’s already hurting them.’

Why Scaling Fails: The Global Reality

Global research supports Haycox’s concern. A study from Startup Genome found that 70% of startups fail because they attempt to scale too early, long before the business is ready. Meanwhile, a McKinsey report revealed that only 22% of growing SMEs manage to sustain consistent growth longer than three years. Another study from the Kauffman Foundation noted that internal issues, not market competition, are the primary cause of stalled scaling in small businesses worldwide.

Haycox says these stats highlight a simple truth: scaling isn’t a marketing problem. It’s an operations, leadership and clarity problem.

‘Founders think they need more clients to scale,’ he says. ‘But if your delivery, systems and pricing aren’t ready for volume, more clients just make the cracks wider.’

A Playbook Built for the ‘Messy Middle’

The new business growth for founders playbook is aimed squarely at founders trapped in the ‘messy middle’, that frustrating stage where the business works, revenue comes in, demand is growing…but the founder is drowning.

Haycox says this is where most businesses plateau. The founder becomes the bottleneck. The team becomes reactive. Delivery slips. Margins shrink. Burnout creeps in.

‘Growing from zero to something is hard,’ he explains. ‘But growing from something to something bigger is a completely different skill set. The messy middle demands structure, not hustle.’

Inside the playbook, founders are guided through practical steps that address the root causes of scaling pain: unclear roles, inconsistent delivery, founder-dependency, weak pricing, lack of weekly cadence, unmanaged scope, fragile cashflow and emotional decision-making.

The Hardest Pill to Swallow: Scaling Requires Letting Go

Haycox says the biggest barrier to scaling isn’t money or talent, it’s the founders themselves. Many refuse to delegate properly, cling to operational tasks or make decisions based on instinct rather than data.

‘You cannot scale while micromanaging,’ he says. ‘If everything has to go through you, growth dies. The playbook forces founders to confront that.’

He argues that leadership evolution is essential. The founder must shift from operator to strategist, from doer to manager of decisions, and from firefighter to architect.

The Often-Ignored Link Between Scaling and Exiting

Haycox also highlights something many founders rarely consider: the same processes that enable scaling are the ones that increase valuation and make a business sellable.

‘Investors and buyers don’t buy hustle,’ he says. ‘They buy systems, predictability and transferable value. If you ever want to sell your business, now or ten years from now, scaling properly is the first step.’

This long-term view connects tightly to his wider guidance on acquisitions and exits, available through his M&A and Exit resources on his official site. 

Haycox says founders should understand exits long before they plan one.

‘Scaling and exiting aren’t separate conversations,’ he explains. ‘If you scale well, you give yourself optionality. The business can grow, you can step back, or you can sell. Bad scaling kills all three options.’

Built From Scar Tissue, Not Theory

Part of the playbook’s appeal is its honesty. Haycox openly admits that many of his insights were shaped by past mistakes, including businesses that collapsed because he scaled too quickly, hired badly or operated without systems.

‘I’ve paid the price of naïve scaling,’ he says. ‘I’ve rushed growth, drowned in delivery, burnt out teams and ignored the basics. That pain taught me what scaling really requires. This playbook is the shortcut I wish I had.’

He says founders don’t need more inspirational slogans. They need truth delivered bluntly and practically.

A Global Problem With a Practical Solution

Scaling challenges aren’t local, they’re universal. Whether a founder is running a tech startup in Berlin, a service business in Toronto or an agency in Singapore, the same issues surface every time.

Haycox says that’s actually good news.

‘If the problems are predictable, the solutions can be too,’ he says. ‘That’s why this playbook works. It’s built to help any founder anywhere build a business that grows without destroying their sanity.’

A Closing Note for Founders Who Feel Stuck

For Haycox, the goal of the playbook is simple: give founders clarity in a stage where clarity is usually in short supply.

‘You don’t scale by working harder,’ he says. ‘You scale by working smarter, building systems and letting go of the stuff that keeps you small. If you’re stuck, the problem isn’t your ambition, it’s your structure. Fix that, and everything else starts to move.’

The Candid Scaling Playbook is now available inside Haycox’s No Bollocks Business HQ, giving founders a cleaner and far more realistic path to meaningful, sustainable growth.