# Matthew Howells-Barby: Growth for the frontier of finance

Growth for the frontier of finance, where there's no playbook to copy.

I founded and sold a company, then spent years running growth at scale in crypto's most volatile, heavily regulated markets. Now I'm building an agent-driven growth org from the ground up. I'm back in the trenches with the team, doing what I do best.

Chief Growth Officer, Breakout [My operating record](https://mhb.xyz/operating-record/)

![](https://mhb.xyz/assets/portrait-crumbs.ff1df3561860.webp) ![Matthew Howells-Barby](https://mhb.xyz/assets/portrait-photo.f7e79cccd247.jpg) ![](https://mhb.xyz/assets/portrait-clay.607b82c0d10f.webp)

## Essays

[![A dockside crane lifting a small sailing dinghy up toward the deck of a freighter.](https://mhb.xyz/_astro/src.zQvAF_yW_1xp67.webp)](https://mhb.xyz/essays/bootstrap-to-buyout/)

Growth / 24 Oct 2023

### [From Bootstrap to Buyout: How We Sold Our Side Hustle to a Public Company](https://mhb.xyz/essays/bootstrap-to-buyout/)

The Traffic Think Tank sale, told from the founder side of the table.

[![A horseshoe magnet lifting a dense cluster of iron filings while loose filings fall away beneath.](https://mhb.xyz/_astro/src.DbvgPjZ1_1r05Om.webp)](https://mhb.xyz/essays/incentive-systems/)

Growth / 6 Feb 2024

### [You Can't Buy Product-Market Fit](https://mhb.xyz/essays/incentive-systems/)

[![A lone diver mid-air between a high platform and the open water below.](https://mhb.xyz/_astro/src.fdZ5l_LV_Z2wBqFf.webp)](https://mhb.xyz/essays/going-all-in/)

Career / 27 Apr 2022

### [Going All-In](https://mhb.xyz/essays/going-all-in/)

[![Successive tide lines marked on a sloping shore, the newest wave reaching past every earlier mark.](https://mhb.xyz/_astro/src.DzGs7wXG_181OU0.webp)](https://mhb.xyz/essays/this-time-its-different/)

Economics / 16 Feb 2024

### [This Time It's Different](https://mhb.xyz/essays/this-time-its-different/)

[![Small figures hauling on ropes to raise the frame of a timber barn together.](https://mhb.xyz/_astro/src.364KYSBh_Zs24jA.webp)](https://mhb.xyz/essays/1mm-arr-community-business/)

Growth / 29 Aug 2019

### [Growing a $1mm+ ARR community business: The story of Traffic Think Tank](https://mhb.xyz/essays/1mm-arr-community-business/)

[![A towering hollow effigy held up from behind by wooden scaffolding, small figures kneeling at its base.](https://mhb.xyz/_astro/src.Boz16RB4_1vRhnW.webp)](https://mhb.xyz/essays/cult-problem-in-crypto/)

Crypto / 16 Nov 2022

### [Our Fearless Leader: the Cult Problem in Crypto](https://mhb.xyz/essays/cult-problem-in-crypto/)

[Read the essays](https://mhb.xyz/essays/)

Source: [https://mhb.xyz/](https://mhb.xyz/)