What David Horne talks about

Female Founders and Venture Capital: the data behind the funding gap and what changes it

Despite producing exceptional businesses, female founders continue to receive a disproportionately small share of venture capital investment worldwide. David explores the published data that first…

Finance as a Growth Function: building financial foundations that support hiring, investment and M&A

Many founders see finance as something that reports what happened last month, when in reality it should be shaping every major growth decision. As businesses scale, weak financial foundations quietly…

Growth by Acquisition: scaling from 1 million to 28 million pounds through funding and integration

Most entrepreneurs are told that sustainable growth comes from selling more, hiring more people, and waiting patiently for results. But for founders who want to build significant enterprise value…

Removing the Founder Bottleneck: systems and leadership that let a business run without you

Many entrepreneurs unknowingly become the biggest bottleneck in the businesses they've worked so hard to build. David shares why, after decades of scaling companies, raising capital, and leading…

Capital Allocation and Female Founders: where investor assumptions shape who gets funded

Female founders are still building companies in a funding market where access can look open while outcomes remain deeply uneven. The easy explanation is that too few women enter the pipeline, but the…

Thinking Like an Acquirer: How founders use funding, acquisitions and integration to build enterprise value instead of scaling sales alone

David Horne has raised more than £120 million in growth capital and completed 33 acquisitions and exits across nearly four decades as a CFO. Most founders are told the route to a bigger company is…