"Don't Do What We Did!" Growth Studio’s Approach to Startup Acceleration

On the latest episode of Profit Meets Purpose, Paul Finch sat down with me to unpack what it takes to build and back startups in the age of the climate crisis. “Terrifying but fun,” he recalls of their early days. “We did some things right, but we did a lot of things unstrategically.” 

In the early days the team was driven by a shared passion for travel and learning, seeking opportunities that allowed them to combine these interests with their work. They were eager to take on any challenge, so long as it took them somewhere they had never been before

Paul didn’t set out to run an accelerator. “We were the UK’s first growth hacking agency,” he says. But startups kept turning up not with growth problems, but existential ones.

“They couldn't actually articulate what they did, who their market was. They weren’t investable. So we ended up working more on the foundations of the business rather than the growth hacking.”

The startup ecosystem extends far beyond just investors and founders. Paul and his co-founder, Rayan Jawad, positioned themselves as intermediaries, taking startups through the accelerator so that by the end, each team had a clear vision and a defined path toward their next milestone.

This shift, whilst a little messy, laid the foundation for Growth Studio which is the desire to see startups and scaleups thrive. “I didn’t want to turn into an agency and also never wanted to work on clients just to pay the bills. I wanted big results.”

Listen to the full episode​​ here,

Covid and A New Outlook

Then came the pandemic. Paul found himself looping through the same streets on government-sanctioned daily walks, reading Isabella Tree’s rewilding , and quickly realising that Brixton was a long way from the wilderness haven being described in his book. 

“There was no biodiversity at all... no plants, no bugs. I remember just being hit by, like, oh, what have we done to the world and the planet?”

At the same time, Ryan, his co-founder, was in hospital with COVID for 11 weeks. “It looked like he wasn’t going to come out,” Finch shared with me. “That changes your outlook, your perspective, your priorities in life.”

When they emerged from this time they had a new outlook on the world and thus their company. “We decided we wanted to work on something more meaningful. The world has a prioritised need for technologies to stop us burning up.”

The Triple Planetary Crisis and Why Commercials Still Matter

Growth Studio’s current focus is tuned to what Finch calls the “triple planetary crisis”. But don’t confuse that mission with naivety about market realities.“Sustainability in and of itself isn’t your core value proposition,” Finch reminds startups. “You’ve got to be commercial and sustainable. You need to be able to sell it, and compete with other less sustainable options on the market.”

He’s not just worried about founder blind spots, he’s critical of the broader cultural narrative too. “We’ve done a fairly bad job in explaining what the benefits of sustainability or climate tech are,” he says. “It's not about carbon or renewables. It's about job creation, wealth creation, generational wealth.”

Finch is acutely aware of how the sustainability narrative is shifting, especially in political spaces like the US. “Any outlandish support for climate change mitigation or sustainability, a bit like DEI, is going to be pulled back,” he warns. “Founders feel that sustainability is what will help them most when actually, you’ve got to have a good business model.”

The idea that sustainability and growth can’t co-exist is a false dichotomy, but a powerful one. “The minute the economic climate gets a little dicey,” Finch notes, “the importance of things like innovation and sustainability gets pulled back.”

It’s why he doesn’t tell founders to lead with green. “Sustainability can be a differentiator,” he says, “but focus on the core proposition.”

Are you a sustainable founder or startup seeking recognition, visibility, and the chance to win a prestigious award? The RISE Awards celebrate purpose-driven innovation and give a platform to those shaping a better future.

Find out more and apply here.

What Makes an Accelerator Work?

In short, the people. “The founders are the most critical lever of success,” Finch says. Over years of experimentation, Growth Studio developed a selection methodology that filters for tenacity, timing, tech, and team.

“If someone else tells me they’ve raised a friends and family round of 50 or 100k, I’m going to scream,” he jokes. “We’ve tried to democratise it a bit more.”

Finch explains to me that he things he has one of the most inclusive recruitment processes out there.

When it comes to outcomes specifically, vibes matter. “When you get a cohort that gels, they outperform every single metric,” Finch explains. “They look out for each other, open doors, give honest feedback. It’s a micro-community, but a really strong one.” Paul and his team can’t fully explain why this happens, and he welcomes the idea of someone studying it. He shares that, at times, they’ve had to turn away a startup after just one day because it's clear the team dynamics won’t mesh, and allowing them to stay would negatively affect the performance of every other team

Corporate Meet Startup Life

With over 70 programs run and partnerships with 22 corporates including Amazon, and the Crown Estate, Growth Studio now acts as a matchmaker between big organisations and the startups they want to back. 

“You’ve got two different people with two different sets of motivations,” Finch says. “We try to work out the best mutual outcome and then bring that together in a way that has longer-term sustainable commercial impact.”

That often means stepping in as a translator. “A corporate might want a startup, but they won’t pay them for 120 days,” he shrugs. “And a startup might want the validation, but it could completely derail their longer-term growth.”

What’s Next? 

So what’s next for Growth Studio? “I’ve been working on a three-year plan this morning,” Finch tells me. There are many things in the pipeline and much to be announced soon. 

As for advice to founders?

“We always say: focus, focus, focus. Do one thing brilliantly,” Finch laughs. “Don’t do what we do. It’s the worst advice for a startup founder.”

And his second piece of advice is to take note from across the Atlantic to get the storytelling correct. “Being able to articulate and explain what you do, how you do it, why it's great, and why people should follow you is so critical,” he says. “At an early stage, when you don’t have anything apart from your vision and a good-ish idea, that can help you get through the first stages.”

Growth Studio was born from a frustration at the status quo. “We always wanted to do things slightly more aggressively, slightly more ambitiously.” That same restless energy still drives the accelerator today.

To hear more about my conversation with Paul Finch listen to the episode here.

Are you a sustainable founder or startup seeking recognition, visibility, and the chance to win a prestigious award?

The RISE Awards celebrate purpose-driven innovation and give a platform to those shaping a better future.

Taking place Thursday 6th November with reception drinks, a 3 course dinner, followed by our awards and the afterparty with entertainment at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, London.

Why register?

• Connect directly with investors actively seeking sustainable and impactful opportunities.

• Recognise your team's hard work and the positive change you're driving.

• Leverage judges' insights from across industries including Microsoft, TechUK, Octopus Energy and more to refine your strategy and strengthen investor outreach.

I will be featuring all the entries, nominees and winners along the way through Sustainable Times, making this a great opportunity to increase your reach as a business, so once you have registered get in touch so we can delve deeper into your sustainability focused business venture.