Matt Haycox on Failure, Resilience, and Why Entrepreneurs Need to Talk About It

Business success is easy to mythologise. The wins are polished, amplified, turned into highlight reels. What rarely makes the cut are the failures — the pressure, the setbacks, the times when deals unravel and the walls feel like they’re caving in. Yet those are the moments that test what an entrepreneur is really made of.

Matt Haycox, 44, has lived through that pressure twice — and both times, he’s needed to overcome bankruptcy. First in 2008, when the financial crisis cut deep into the credit markets for investors he’d built his early hospitality ventures with. Then again more recently, when the global pandemic shuttered industries overnight and many of the companies he had invested in and provided finance for went under. Brutal chapters, yes — but also formative ones. And now he’s on a mission to help others going through their darkest times in business.

He talks about bankruptcy in the same plain way he talks about success: as part of the reality of entrepreneurship, and part of the education that shaped him. “It hardens you,” he says. “It sharpens you. It gives you a perspective you can’t buy any other way.”

That perspective feels urgent now, because behind the glossy surface of today’s start-up scene is a quieter crisis. In England alone, more than 420,000 people in financial trouble consider taking their own lives each year. Entrepreneurs face a suicide rate around one-and-a-half times higher than the general population. Financial collapse isn’t just a business risk — it’s a human one.

And that’s where Haycox is determined to make a difference. Far from closing the book, he’s in the middle of his second ascent — older, wiser, more disciplined — and focused on helping others survive the kind of adversity he knows first-hand.

Scroll through Instagram or LinkedIn and you’ll see no shortage of “business influencers.” The posts are similar: selfies, motivational quotes, perfectly curated highlight reels. As Haycox knows better than most, the reality behind the filters is far less glamorous: sleepless nights, payroll stress, relationships buckling under pressure.

Haycox isn’t interested in selling illusions. He’s built multi-million–pound ventures twice — and recovered from losing them. He’s raised hundreds of millions in finance for UK firms, and he’s seen what happens when markets turn. For him, setbacks aren’t permanent, and he believes coming back stronger and wiser is part of his credibility.

“I’ve been through levels of stress most people can’t imagine,” he says. “But all entrepreneurs go through tough times and dark moments — they just don’t talk about them. And when you don’t talk about it, you make it worse.”

That refusal to pretend sets him apart. While others polish their reputations, Haycox insists on showing the cracks. For him, the scars are part of the story.

Entrepreneurship today is wrapped in hustle culture: outwork everyone, win at all costs, show no weakness. But behind the motivational noise, founders are burning out. Anxiety, depression, and breakdowns are routine — but rarely admitted.

Matt Haycox calls the bluff. He argues true resilience starts from being real about the situation. “Everybody loves to show the highlights,” he says. “But if you don’t admit the tough times, you’re not just lying to strangers online — you’re lying to yourself.”

It’s a philosophy more punk than polished. Overcoming bankruptcy and being written off. Deals gone wrong. But also multi-million–pound fortunes made, and helping raise vital funds to turnaround and help grow hundreds of UK businesses along the way. Thousands of jobs saved and many more created, and always looking to get new ventures underway. Haycox’s credibility doesn’t come from perception; it comes from surviving scenarios that would have broken most and mastering the art of the comeback.

The numbers are stark. More than 2.7 million people in the UK considered suicide during the cost-of-living crisis. Nearly half of small business owners admit to suffering with their mental health in the last 12 months.

Haycox has lived that pressure, and some. He knows the weight that can crush even the most confident founder. That’s why he speaks openly — not to dramatise, but to make clear the stakes. “Pressure doesn’t just kill businesses,” he says. “It kills people. And if we don’t admit that, we’ll keep losing good entrepreneurs who think they’re alone.”

By calling it out, he hopes to shift the culture. Silence fuels stigma. Pretending everything is fine isolates people who need help. Haycox’s candour flips that script: failure isn’t the end, and admitting pressure isn’t weakness.

Today, Haycox is focused firmly forward. He’s in the midst of his second comeback — and determined to build better than ever before. With two decades of experience that covers both highs and lows that most of us can’t imagine, it feels like he’s lived out several entrepreneurial lifetimes already. And for him, rising up once more is in the blood. It’s clear that he’s not the sort to theorise about what it takes to be resilient. He’s living it.

The difference this time is perspective. “The easy thing would be to pretend the past didn’t happen,” he says. “But everything that has been and gone, has made me who I am today. And now I’m using it to make sure what I build next is stronger than anything before.”

That balance — seasoned investor and battle-hardened entrepreneur — sets him apart. In a world of hype, Haycox is betting on credibility, association, and realness. Through his podcast, where entrepreneurs and business owners regularly send in questions, and in the thousands of comments and messages he receives each year, he hears directly what people are going through. It’s a constant reminder that the challenges he’s faced aren’t unique — they’re playing out for founders everywhere.

For Haycox, the comeback isn’t just personal. It’s about making entrepreneurship healthier for others. Drawing on both his own experience and those of his online community, he’s clearly not one to sit still. Currently in the process of writing his first book, developing a series of content designed to help business owners in crisis, and laying the groundwork for a community where they can find support and practical guidance when they need it most, it feels like what comes next might be the most important yet.

“It’s not just about money,” he says. “It’s about people. If we can’t be honest about the severity of the situation, we’ll keep losing people. And I’m not willing to sit back and let that happen.”

All this by his mid 40s, Matt Haycox isn’t finished. Far from it. Bankruptcy hasn’t been a curse, but a teacher. His story isn’t a straight line, but that’s exactly what makes it resonate.

Because resilience isn’t about never falling. It’s about what you do when the walls close in — and how you keep moving when others would stop. For Haycox, that’s not the end of the story. It’s where the next chapter begins.