Unicorn boss Matthew Scullion said the UK’s obsession with exits is hampering its ability to create big businesses.
The CEO of Manchester-based Matillion also told The Dealmaker Uncut Podcast that UK founders needed to stop blaming investors for their inability to raise funds.
The award-winning entrepreneur co-founded Matillion in 2011 and now employs around 500 people in Manchester, Denver and Hyderabad, with turnover approaching $100m.
Matillion entered the ranks of UK unicorns in 2021 when a $150m Series E funding round took its valuation to $1.5bn.
Speaking to the Alvarez & Marsal podcast’s co-hosts Jonathan Boyers and Chris Maguire, Scullion said: “In general I only hear the world ‘exit’ in the UK. I don’t hear it in the US at all. Founders and CEOs in tech that I happen to know don’t talk about exiting.
“If you’ve got a high conviction that the asset which you are holding is going to be worth twice as much in 12 months’ time you don’t sell.
“Here in the UK we talk about exit all the time. It’s normally a question I’m asked within 30 seconds of telling someone I’m an entrepreneur.
“I would say – and it’s a bit of a punchy Matthew thing to say – there are no very big businesses created here because we spend all our time talking about exit.”
Scullion, who was included in BusinessCloud’s 2024 Northern Leaders, said great businesses will always raise investment.
IPO in Timbuktu
“There’s always a risk that we can blame other people (for not raising investment),” he said. “A guy from Goldman Sachs once said to me ‘Where you IPO is really important but if you’re Stripe you can IPO in Timbuktu and investors will turn up to your earnings call’.
“What he means by that is that is if your company is good enough the investors will get on a call, on Zoom, in a car or on a plane to come to see you.
“If you’ve got an amazing business the capital will take care of itself. I speak from experience. I’ve tried to do plenty of fundraising rounds that’s I’ve not got away and that’s because we weren’t good enough. We came back to the office, got better and then we got them away.”
Scullion said he didn’t obsess about becoming a unicorn or exiting.
“For me at least, the outcome has to be something that is not a measure of finance,” he explained. “You set up a business to change the world in a small way, to make planet Earth spin on its axis slightly differently and slightly better. In doing so be proud that you’re building something beautiful.”
Boyers is the head of Alvarez & Marsal Corporate Finance team and Maguire is BusinessCloud’s executive editor.
The Dealmaker Uncut podcast has been produced by Manchester-based What Media and previous guests include gaming legend Paul Gouge; Travel Counsellors CEO Steve Byrne; Clare Roberts OBE, CEO and founder of Kids Planet; Graham Donoghue, CEO of Forge Holiday Group, and the ‘Mr Money’ of deals Barry Nightingale.
You can listen to the podcast here