Steve Phillips on building ZappiCEO, Helm
Andreas Adamides
Andreas Adamides is CEO of Helm. A serial founder, he launched Australia's first online department store, founded phone brand Wileyfox and grew FinluxDirect to £20m+ revenue in two years.
About Andreas
Andreas leads Helm, the private club for founders and CEOs of UK scale-ups. He has been where members are: building and scaling businesses of his own, across several continents.
He started out by launching BuyQuick, Australia's first online department store, and took it into ten countries. He went on to found Wileyfox, at one point Europe's fastest-growing mobile handset brand, and FinluxDirect, which he grew to more than £20m in revenue within two years.
As Helm's CEO he speaks for UK founders in the press, from capital gains tax to what the Budget means for scale-ups, and his comment pieces appear in City AM and Comment Central. He was shortlisted for City AM's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2025.
He writes Helm's guides on growing a business and building the team around you, and talks to every founder who applies to join.
Every guide Andreas writes follows Helm's editorial standards: written from founders' experience, confidential by default, checked against public sources and dated.
Track record
Writes about
By Andreas Adamides. 143 guides and articles
The latest from Andreas. Also from Helm's leadership: Duncan Cheatle, Founder.
How to cancel or leave a paid founder membership community
Start with the membership agreement, because terms vary. Helm asks for one full calendar month's notice and bills monthly, so leaving is a short email and…
Read the guideWhat is the ROI of joining a paid CEO community when you're already time poor?
The honest answer is that a paid CEO community pays back through decisions you make faster and mistakes you don't repeat, and that's hard to attribute…
Read the guideCan you try a CEO peer community before you commit?
Mostly, no. Helm's Forums and events are members-only, and it runs no taster sessions or guest passes. Nor do most of its peers. Before you pay you get a…
Read the guideBest community for UK SaaS founders
The metrics, the playbooks, the org structures, the unit economics, all of them are different enough from other business models that generic founder…
Read the guideBuilding company culture as you scale: a UK founder's guide
Culture isn't a thing you can plan for at scale. It's a thing you do every day at small scale, until one day you notice it's stopped working.
Read the guideBringing in your first NED or advisor at Series A
Somewhere between closing your Series A and your first £3M ARR, the question of formalising external advice gets asked.
Read the guideBuilding your first proper board as a founder
Most founders build their first proper board too late, badly, or both.
Read the guideCurated founder dinners and retreats in the UK
They happen at curated dinners of 8–12 people. They happen at retreats where founders are together for 48 hours, away from their normal context, with…
Read the guideFrom 20 to 50: when founders need to manage managers
Somewhere between a team of 10–30 and a team of 30–50, the company you built stops working.
Read the guideFounder-led sales: when to stop being the salesperson
Founder-led sales is one of the most important moments in a company's life. Knowing when to stop is one of the most under-discussed.
Read the guideFounder community for consumer and DTC brand owners in the UK
Consumer and DTC brand founders sit awkwardly inside the broader UK tech founder community.
Read the guideHiring your first head of people: when and how
There's a moment in every scaling company when "we'll figure out HR later" stops being a viable answer.
Read the guide
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