Failure, Resilience, and Why They Make Better Founders
Most people only see the highlight reel.
- The £120+ million raised.
- The 30+ acquisitions.
- The bestselling book.
What they don’t see is what happened in between.
I recently sat down with Lucy McCarraher MBE on The Phoenix Conversations podcast to share the part of my story I rarely talk about: what a failed business does to your identity, and what it truly takes to rebuild.
It’s a conversation that every founder, at every stage, needs to hear.
Ready to hear what £120M+ raised actually cost first?
Watch David B Horne’s full conversation with Lucy McCarraher MBE on The Phoenix Conversations, an unfiltered look at failure, rebuilding, and why the hardest moments make the sharpest founders.
Failure Isn’t the End of the Story, It’s Often the Beginning
If you’re just starting out and exploring an idea, building your first product, trying to turn a spark into something real, this conversation will stop you in your tracks.
Before the raises and the acquisitions, I faced the kind of setback that most entrepreneurs keep quiet about. The kind that goes beyond losing money, the one that shakes your confidence, challenges your identity, and makes you question whether you were right to start at all.
At Add Then Multiply, we know that growth starts long before the first deal is done. Because before you ever pursue an acquisition or approach a funder, you need to do the inner work first. It’s not just about believing in your business. It’s about understanding your own relationship with equity, with money, with risk and, yes, with failure.
My story is proof that this work matters and my best decisions didn’t come from a place of comfort. They came from rebuilding.
The Business You Build After the Storm Is Stronger
For founders already generating revenue, this episode will feel familiar. You’ve felt the pressure. You’ve made tough calls with imperfect information. You’ve held it together for your team, customers, and investors even when everything felt like it was unravelling.
Those experiences become foundations.
The FACE Methodology (Fund, Acquire, Consolidate, Exit) wasn’t created in a boardroom. It was forged through lived experience—including the moments when things didn’t go to plan. When you’ve been through difficulty, you understand your business differently. You know your numbers from necessity. You build systems because survival demands it.
That isn’t weakness.
That’s investor-grade resilience.
Want to learn the system built from the hardest lessons in business?
Claim the award-winning “Add Then Multiply” Book and discover the proven methodology that David B Horne forged through real experience including what it looked like when things didn’t go to plan.
Resilience Translates Directly Into Better Deals
For founders raising capital or pursuing acquisitions, this is where everything connects.
My hardest moments sharpened my approach to funding and deals. When you’ve experienced real loss, you negotiate differently. You ask better questions. You recognise downside risk as lived experience, not theory. You know what actually matters in a term sheet.
Why We Share This Story
At Add Then Multiply, the mission is simple: help founders build businesses that are ready to fund, acquire, consolidate, and exit on their terms. That means arriving at every conversation whole. Confident. Prepared. And clear on their own story, including the chapters that didn’t go to plan.
My conversation with Lucy McCarraher MBE is a reminder that the path to growth is rarely linear, and that the founders who rebuild are often the ones who build best.
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There’s no reason your fundraising journey needs to feel like you’re figuring it out alone.
— David B Horne
