Watch the full podcast to hear David B Horne’s complete journey from corporate CFO to strategic growth partner.
The £100,000 Wake-Up Call
After burning out as a CFO, David B Horne launched a wine business and lost £100,000 learning a harsh lesson: “The accountant in me worked out what was the gross profit on a case of wine and it wasn’t worth the effort of selling it.”
This expensive failure became the foundation for helping entrepreneurs raise over £115 million in funding.
The FACE Methodology for Rapid Growth
From his experience raising £115+ million and completing 30+ acquisitions, Horne developed FACE: Fund, Acquire, Consolidate, Exit.
His approach focuses on:
- Strategic M&A over trendy innovation – 30+ successful transactions
- Financial systems that support scaling – beyond basic bookkeeping
- Exit planning from day one – building valuable, sellable businesses
The Growth Psychology Challenge
The biggest hurdle for scaling? Accepting minority ownership for exponential returns.
Horne’s analogy: “40% of this [larger pie] is a lot more than 100% of this [smaller pie].”
One client sold 75% of his company, then sold his remaining 25% stake four years later for three times more than the original 75% sale.
Technology-Enabled Scaling
Horne’s next venture: acquiring 5-7 female-founded businesses and implementing shared AI infrastructure across the portfolio.
“I’m going to allocate money to bring all businesses up to speed technologically with modern AI tools,” he explains in the podcast.
Key Takeaways
- Learn from strategic failures – Extract valuable lessons from setbacks
- Focus on proven methodologies over trendy solutions
- Embrace growth psychology – Smaller ownership of bigger enterprises
- Build scalable systems from the start
Ready to Scale Strategically?
For entrepreneurs scaling from £1-3M to £10M+, the question isn’t whether it’s possible—it’s whether you’re ready to make the strategic choices for exponential growth. David B Horne’s transformation from failed wine entrepreneur to guiding £115 million in funding shows that strategic thinking accelerates exponential growth.
