Steve Phillips on building Zappi39 guides and articles
Building your team, and your board.
The business can only grow as fast as the team around you. The first senior hires, the first proper board and the day your best manager resigns all shape what comes next.
These guides share what Helm members have learned hiring, building leadership teams and boards, and keeping people as the business grows.
Start here. The three guides to read first
Building your first proper board as a founder
Most founders build their first proper board too late, badly, or both.
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 guideQuestions founders ask. Building your team: the short answers
When should a founder hire a CFO?
Many start with a fractional CFO once finance becomes strategic, typically around fundraising, debt or a first acquisition, and move to full time when the work fills a week. Our CFO guide sets out the signs.
What's the difference between an advisory board and a board of directors?
Directors have legal duties and authority; advisers don't. An advisory board gives you expertise without governance. A proper board brings accountability, usually when investors arrive.
How do I keep my best people as we grow?
Give them room to grow with the business, be clear about where it's going, and reward more than salary. Members share what has worked in our retention guides.
Building your team. Every guide, article and interview on building your team
What 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 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 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 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 guideStepping up from founder to CEO: the hardest transition you'll make
There's a moment, somewhere between Series A and your first £5M ARR, when you stop being a founder and start having to be a CEO.
Read the guideWhere to find a mentor, coach or NED as a UK founder
"Mentor", "coach", "NED" and "advisor" get used interchangeably by UK founders, and they shouldn't.
Read the guideHow to scale your business during a hiring freeze
A hiring freeze is not a growth strategy. But in April 2026, for a majority of UK scale-ups in the £1m–£10m bracket, it is the operating reality.
Read the guideHow to build a high-performing sales team from scratch
Building a sales team is the single most important decision you make as you scale from £1m to £10m+ ARR.
Read the guideHow to get the most growth from business coaching
Business coaching is one of the highest-ROI investments a founder can make.
Read the guideThe role of business coaching in personal and professional success
Most founder-CEOs navigate their businesses on instinct, pattern recognition, and late-night coffee sessions.
Read the guideManaging remote teams effectively: what leaders need to know
Managing a remote team is not managing an office team at a distance. The tactics are completely different, and most founders get this wrong, leading to…
Read the guideHow peer advisory groups help you scale
Scaling a company is isolating. You can't share your struggles with your team: they need to believe you have answers. You can't vent to investors: they're…
Read the guideWhy every entrepreneur needs a mentor, and how to find yours
This sounds obvious when stated plainly. Yet most entrepreneurs operate as though they do. You face business decisions: hiring, pricing, market entry, capital…
Read the guideAdvisory boards vs directors: the legal basics for founders
As your company scales from £2m to £10m+, one of the most misunderstood decisions you'll face is whether to set up an advisory board or a formal board of…
Read the guideAdvisory boards vs boards of directors: what's the difference?
Most founders don't think about governance until an investor brings it up in due diligence.
Read the guideHow AI is changing leadership and innovation
Every week we read headlines about disruption: model new AI breakthroughs, companies rebuilding around AI, entire job categories being reimagined. But as a…
Read the guideCEO vs executive director: key differences explained
Most founder-CEOs we work with across Helm's 400+ member community face the same question at some point: Do I need to bring in an Executive Director, or am I…
Read the guideCorporate governance 101 for ethical leadership
Governance sounds like a compliance checkbox: something you do to keep lawyers happy and satisfy investor demands.
Read the guideHow to attract and retain top talent in competitive markets
The most persistent bottleneck in scaling businesses is not capital, technology, or market conditions. It's talent.
Read the guideRemote vs office: finding the right balance for your team
Monday morning arrived and half your team logged in from home. The engineers were focused, shipped code faster. But the product designers who needed to…
Read the guideThe CEO playbook: leading and succeeding at speed
The CEO role fundamentally changes as your company scales from £2m to £20m.
Read the guideWhat makes a great CEO
Great CEOs are not born. They are built through relentless self-examination, deliberate practice, and the wisdom to surround themselves with people who…
Read the guideHow great leaders make decisions
The difference between leaders who scale and those who stall often comes down to one thing: how they handle pressure decisions. Not the easy calls, not the…
Read the guideExecutive vs non-executive directors: roles and responsibilities
There's a moment in every founder's journey when you realise you can no longer be everything to everyone. You're good at running the business, but you don't…
Read the guideLeadership lessons from successful entrepreneurs
There's no MBA course that teaches what actually happens when you hit £10m revenue.
Read the guideLeadership development
Leadership development is an industry. Executive MBAs, leadership academies, corporate programmes, 360-degree assessments, psychometric profiling…
Read the guideA network of founders that acts like your friendly board
Discover how Helm's network of founders provides invaluable support and guidance, acting like a friendly board for your entrepreneurial journey.
Read the articleWhen employees think like founders
Discover why fostering a founder mentality in employees drives innovation, ownership, and business growth at Helm.
Read the articleDigital discussion: employee engagement
Digital discussion: employee engagement: from Helm, the private club for founders and CEOs of UK scale-ups.
Read the articleBuilding a world-class employer brand using EVP
At a digital discussion for members, founder of Initial Jamie Matthews, looked at creating a powerful employer brand and a toolkit called The Employee Value…
Read the articleFour more unusual places to find talent
Discover unconventional talent sources to overcome hiring challenges and enhance your recruitment strategy with Helm's expert insights.
Read the articleFour unusual places to find talent
Discover unconventional talent sources to overcome hiring challenges and enhance your recruitment strategy with Helm's insightful guide.
Read the articleHow to keep your people and keep them happy
Discover effective strategies to retain your talent and boost employee satisfaction. Keep your people happy and engaged for long-term success.
Read the articleHow to find and hire a great non-exec
Discover effective strategies to find and hire exceptional non-executive directors to enhance your business leadership and governance.
Read the articleAs a CEO or founder, how can you support the mid-career women in your business?
Discover actionable strategies for CEOs to empower mid-career women in business and foster a diverse, inclusive workplace culture.
Read the article8 reasons to step back from your business, and how to prepare your team
Discover 8 key reasons to step back from your business and learn how to effectively prepare your team for future success.
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