The Working Theory · A weekly newsletter by Graeme Barlow
The next stage of your business needs something different from you.
- The sales approach that won your first clients stops scaling.
- You're too busy to handle delivery, and too busy to delegate it.
- The stakes are higher, and you're not sure which numbers to watch.
- Knowing what deserves your focus becomes the job.
I've spent more than 20 years building companies. Now I spend much of my week coaching founders through the jump from one stage to the next.
That gives me a front-row seat to the same growth problems playing out across very different businesses. The Working Theory is where I break down those patterns: what's working, what isn't, and what I'd do next.
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Every week
What you'll get each week
One practical email, written by Graeme from what he's seeing with the founders he coaches right now.
- 01
Lessons from the coaching room
The patterns I'm seeing across the founders I coach: business models, pricing, sales and marketing, hiring, culture, delivery and more.
- 02
Tools you can use right away
Templates, frameworks and resources that help you solve the problem faster.
- 03
Rooms worth being in
Upcoming FounderLink dinners and events with founders working through the same challenges you are.
- 04
A direct line
Reply with whatever you're stuck on. If other founders are wrestling with it too, I may write about it in a future issue.
Who's writing this
I'm Graeme Barlow. I've built four companies and sold two.
I know how different the business feels at each stage because I've made those leaps myself. Now I help other founders grow their companies while making fewer expensive mistakes.
- First exit at 16
- Agency grown from 7 to 50+ people
- Founder of FounderLink
I find that Graeme delivers dense, high-value insights with few words. He speaks as a fellow founder: clear, direct, and thoughtful. Every session leaves me with clarity, perspective, and tangible next steps.
Chris Bryce, Dotfusion
About FounderLink
Building a company is hard enough without doing it alone.
The Working Theory comes out of FounderLink, the founder community Shawna Tregunna and I run. It's where founders compare notes, sit at the same dinner table and get honest answers from people who've been there.
You don't need to be a FounderLink member to read the newsletter.
The Working Theory
Get ahead of your next stage.
One useful founder lesson in your inbox every week.
One email a week. Unsubscribe anytime.
The next issue lands in your inbox this week. Hit reply anytime and tell me what you're stuck on.