When I won Man of the Year 2025 at the Women’s Business Club Awards, my first reaction wasn’t pride or excitement.
It was vindication.
Because for the past seven years, I’ve been banging a drum that most people in the business world would rather not hear: the funding system is rigged, and it’s costing us all billions in lost potential.
Not just women. Not just underrepresented founders. All of us.
And now, finally, that message is being heard.
Why This Award Matters to Add Then Multiply Clients
You might be thinking: “David, this is admirable, but I’m running a business. What does this have to do with me?”
Everything.
Because the same systemic barriers that prevent female founders from accessing capital are the ones preventing you from scaling strategically, regardless of your gender.
How much scaling potential does your business have? Find out now!
Discover the exact gaps blocking your capital access in 3 minutes, our FREE Growth Readiness Assessment reveals what investors see before they say no.
The FACE Methodology Works When Capital Flows Properly
The four pillars of exponential growth: Fund, Acquire, Consolidate, Exit — only work when entrepreneurs can access the right capital at the right time.
But “the right capital” isn’t always venture capital or private equity. Sometimes it’s:
- Asset-backed lending against your acquisition target’s property
- Revenue-based financing that scales with your growth
- Family offices who understand long-term value creation
- Strategic investors who bring operational expertise, not just money
- Crowdfunding that validates your market whilst raising capital
Funding Focus teaches entrepreneurs these alternative routes. The right funding structure accelerates growth. The wrong funding structure destroys it.
Systemic Change Benefits Everyone
When funding flows based on merit rather than demographics, the entire ecosystem improves.
More diverse funding decisions mean:
- Better risk assessment (homogeneous groups make worse decisions)
- Broader market coverage (different founders spot different opportunities)
- Stronger returns (diverse portfolios outperform)
- More innovation (varied perspectives drive better solutions)
If you’re running a £3–10 million business and struggling to secure growth capital, you’re not competing against female founders for scarce resources. You’re both competing against a system that’s fundamentally broken.
Fixing that system helps you.
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The Man of the Year Award Amplifies the Message
Recognition like the Women’s Business Club Awards nomination does something crucial: it forces the conversation into mainstream business discourse.
The message becomes: strategic growth and equitable funding aren’t separate issues—they’re the same issue.
And that matters to you because it means:
- More investors reconsidering their screening criteria
- More lenders developing products for established businesses
- More alternative funding structures becoming viable
- More entrepreneurs realising they have options beyond traditional routes
What This Means for Your Business Right Now
The Women’s Business Club Awards nomination represents recognition that someone’s finally saying out loud what millions of entrepreneurs already know: the funding game is rigged, and we need better rules.
For the past seven years, I’ve been using everything I learned raising £115 million; all the term sheets, the due diligence processes, the negotiation tactics to help entrepreneurs navigate a system that wasn’t designed for them.
- Not just female founders.
- Not just underrepresented groups.
- Not just entrepreneurs.
Any ambitious business owner who’s been told their perfectly viable, profitable, growing business isn’t “scalable enough” or “disruptive enough” or “venture-backable enough.”
Because here’s the secret the funding industry doesn’t want you to know: you don’t need their permission to scale strategically.
You just need the right structure, the right approach, and the right partner who understands that exponential growth comes from smart acquisitions, not just organic expansion.
Stop Guessing and Start Scaling Systematically.
Join our weekly newsletter for proven frameworks on strategic M&A, capital access, and building exit-ready businesses — the same strategies behind £115M+ in funding and 30+ successful deals.
Because exponential growth isn’t about fitting someone else’s playbook. It’s about writing your own.
— David B Horne
