Most CEOs at mid-size companies have tried networking. Most have concluded it doesn't work. They're right…but only about the wrong kind of networking. Chambers of commerce, local coffee mornings, IOD breakfast events: full of people who haven't yet reached a million in revenue, and predatory service providers who want to sell to you. That's not a tribe. That's a waste of a Tuesday morning.

The networking that actually moves the needle looks completely different. It's deliberate, it's scarce, and you have to go looking for it. Because the people who share your level of ambition and capability, the founders who've broken through a million, through ten million, and are still hungry, number around 13,000 across the entire country. You won't bump into them at a local business breakfast.

In this episode, we explore why peer connection is one of the highest-leverage things a mid-sized CEO can invest in, how to find the right people and why 5% growth feels like success right up until the moment you're in a room with someone doing 50%.

TIMESTAMPS

01:33 — Why most networking doesn't work. Two types fill the average networking room: those who haven't built their business yet, and those trying to sell to you.

04:55— Why buying advice isn't enough. Even the best non-exec hasn't done what you've done. The value of peer connection is finding someone who is living exactly what you're living right now, at your scale.

05:32 — The right kind of network and how to find it. Ask your lawyer, banker, or broker who else they work with at your scale. One introduction leads to another. But you have to ask directly and keep asking.

06:19 — What your tribe actually gives you Confidence that 40–50% growth isn't exceptional — it's achievable. Once you're in a room with people who believe that, your own ceiling starts to move.

07:30 — Non-execs from your own peer group, Mid-sized CEOs sitting on each other's boards. Challenging the finance director's voice of caution. Unlocking the value already sitting in your payroll without spending an extra penny.

09:38 — The loneliness of the top 0.5% You've done something fewer than half a per cent of founders ever achieve. But that rarity is also isolation. Good is 35–50% growth. Five per cent is barely above inflation and well into zombie territory.

10:45 — From entrepreneur to enterprisor. You've already proved you can solve problems. Now it's about borrowing what works at enterprise scale, adapting it to where you are now, and going beyond doing.

13:45 — Tim's open offer: He built 3 businesses with a total value of over £10 billion in global sales. Tim explains why he'll connect any mid-sized founder with the right people in their geography over a coffee, for free.

15:55 — Tim has created “Enterprisation” and the podcast is a starting point, not the destination. Peer events, introductions and questions from the audience. An open invitation to ask what hasn't yet been covered.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The wrong networking is worse than no networking, it costs time and quietly kills ambition
• Your peers are out there, but you have to go looking; they will not find you by accident
• 5% growth feels safe. In a room of ambitious peers, it feels like what it actually is, just above inflation
• Doubling productivity through your people costs nothing extra. Doubling sales requires borrowed cash. Choose your lever wisely
• You are in the top 0.5% of every founder who ever started. The next move is learning to think like an enterprisor, not just an entrepreneur

Next episode: AI expert Gerard Fogarty on what artificial intelligence really means for mid-sized businesses — and how to use it to free up space to grow.