10 Lessons To Help You Build A Multi-Million £ Business (You’ll Wish You Knew)

Dominic Monkhouse29 January 2026

Why do so many CEOs follow “smart” advice and still end up wrecking their companies? I’ve built two tech businesses past £30 million and coached over 100 founders, and I’ve seen it happen over and over. Here are 10 hard lessons every CEO needs to hear before they fuck it all up.

I’m Dominic Monkhouse. I scaled two UK firms. Rackspace and Peer-1. To £30m ARR in five years. I’ve coached over 100 founder-CEOs, 12 of whom have had fantastic exits. These lessons come from real mistakes. Mine, my clients’, and the patterns I see everywhere.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00. Why CEOs Follow Smart Advice and Still Wreck Their Companies

0:17. Pay Yourself Properly (Stop Carrying C Players)

1:53. Working With Friends Is Fine (If You’re Not a Coward)

2:56. “Fail Fast” Doesn’t Mean Fail Stupid

3:56. Revenue Doesn’t Solve Everything (Focus Problem)

5:15. Don’t Hire Great People and Disappear

6:39. Growth Without Profit Is Just Expensive Chaos

7:42. You Can’t Keep Control Forever

8:50. Don’t Build a Board Early 10:05. You Don’t Need the Biggest Market Now

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Test assumptions before committing. Fire bullets before cannonballs
• Focus beats revenue. Cut everything that dilutes your story
• Build a structure so experts can make decisions without you
• Growth without profit is expensive chaos. Focus on your economic engine
• Performance first, sentiment second. Even with friends
• One ICP, one problem, one route to market. Win the smallest niche first
• Get your plan on one page or it’s too complicated to execute

Book a free discovery call with Dominic.

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