RE:WYND — Episode 7: Community and Collaboration over Competition | Matthew Adams from Focus on Founders

What if the people around you really do determine what you build?At just 23, Matthew Adams has already built businesses, worked in recruitment, freelanced, consulted and created Focus on Founders — a growing Scottish founder community and podcast designed to offer something he felt was missing from traditional networking.Matthew talks openly about growing up with an entrepreneurial mindset, from selling light-up yo-yos at school to building businesses of his own. But the real story behind Focus on Founders isn't networking. It's connection.After becoming frustrated with rooms where people exchanged business cards and elevator pitches before returning to their separate lives, Matthew wanted to create something where people genuinely supported one another. Today, Focus on Founders brings together founders at completely different stages, with a simple philosophy: everyone should be both a mentor and a mentee.In this episode, we talk about:Why traditional networking often fails to create meaningful relationshipsHow Matthew built Focus on Founders from a podcast and a dinner with just 12 peopleWhy character matters more than a CV when building a communityThe importance of giving as much as you takeWhy authenticity can be one of the most powerful things you bring to businessWhether "founder" has become an identity rather than simply a job titleWhy Matthew believes Scotland needs more collaboration and less competitionThe gaps in support for people starting and growing businesses in ScotlandWhat happens when the right people are put in the right roomThe reality of being a young founder — including self-doubt, burnout and learning your own worthWhy success has become less about money and more about freedom for MatthewAnd the personal experiences that changed the way he thinks about business, health, family and what really mattersPerhaps the most powerful part of the conversation comes towards the end, when Matthew talks about what he actually wants to leave behind. Not simply a successful business or a well-known community, but a personal impression — knowing that something he did changed someone's life or perspective.Because ultimately, this episode isn't really about networking.It's about people.It's about finding the right room, being willing to learn, being willing to give, and remembering that behind every business is a human being trying to figure it out too.Follow Matthew Adams and Focus on Founders to find out more about the community, podcast and upcoming events.