About
Focus on Founders exists to end superficial networking and combat founder isolation. It is a community, a podcast, and a consulting brand, built on one idea: nobody builds alone.
Why it exists
Founders are surrounded by people and still on their own. The hardest decisions land on you, the people closest to you do not run a business, and the rooms that are meant to help are full of pitches and small talk. The isolation is real, and most of what is sold as networking makes it worse.
Focus on Founders was founded in 2025 by Matthew Adams in Glasgow to do something about that. It is a community for ambitious founders to grow, connect, and scale with purpose, through events, conversations, and a podcast. The aim is plain: end superficial networking and combat founder isolation. Build rooms where people say what is actually going on, and put founders next to other founders who understand the call they are about to make.
The podcast and the community go deep into the real journeys of business founders, not just the wins but how their businesses work day to day. The point is that the next generation of founders, and those already building, can learn and think differently.
That idea runs through everything. The community is vetted and kept small, with regular roundtable dinners that seat around 15 business owners at a table, so the conversation stays honest. The podcast covers building, scaling, burnout, and mental health, the parts most founders keep off the record. The consulting and academy work helps founders with the practical decisions on sales, marketing, and hiring. And LIVE 2026 brings it into one room for an evening.
The belief underneath all of it is simple. Nobody builds alone.
The year it was founded.
Small tables of around 15 business owners.
Where it started and where it is based.
What we stand for
We would rather hear what went wrong than sit through another highlight reel. The honest version is the useful one.
The people we put in front of you are building or have built a real business. The advice comes from experience, not a stage act.
Running a business is isolating. We build the rooms and the relationships that make it less so.
Partners
Past events have been run and sponsored alongside some good names.
We have worked with Rathbones on a members' financial planning event, Creator Grid on a content and personal branding event, and Adobe as an event sponsor. We are grateful to the partners who have backed the work so far. To partner with Focus on Founders, email matthew@focusonfounders.co.uk.
Register for LIVE 2026 in Glasgow on Wednesday 30 September, or apply to join the community.