Matthew Black

Matt Black is a 12x serial entrepreneur (now semi-retired), active investor, creator and author.

Born and raised in a small, dusty town in the Australian outback, Matt grew up in one of the most unforgiving landscapes on earth. It taught him early what business would later demand: self-reliance, resilience, and a bias toward action over hesitation. He left home at 14, founded his first company — in logistics — at 18, and sold it for over a million just over a year later. After a number of other successful ventures, he spent five years building the largest private telecoms business in the Asia Pacific region, all before the age of 30. He is the first to admit that a founder's life is as challenging as it is rewarding: big ups, big downs.

Now largely retired from starting businesses of his own, Matt calls London home but travels extensively — advising founders, giving back, and sharing what the journey actually taught him.

He writes for founders who are done waiting for certainty. His Imagination Economy series makes a single argument: as the cost of execution collapses, imagination and the willingness to move become the scarce, decisive advantages. His first book, The Little Black Book for Entrepreneurs — a field guide for pre-start and early-stage founders — was shortlisted for the 2016 People's Choice award and has since been downloaded more than 400,000 times. Many copies have been given away free in developing countries and to educators, helping young people see starting a business as a route out of poverty and the challenges around them.

Matt's work centres on helping founders define a clear vision and direction, then turning that clarity into lower marketing costs, sharper messaging, and higher conversion. He is an active part of the UK start-up community, donating a large share of his billable hours for free — through mentoring, public speaking, free events, and creating resources, like his books, for anyone setting out to build something or change things for the better.

Direct, practical, and grounded in having built and sold companies himself, Matt writes the way he operates — clearly, and with an edge.