World Entrepreneur Day: Building Something Bigger Than Ourselves

Written by James Sellon

Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a single leap of faith. In reality, it’s a series of decisions, challenges, lessons and opportunities that compound over time.

This World Entrepreneur Day, we sat down with MASECO founders Josh Matthews (Managing Director, UK & Europe) and James Sellon (Managing Director, UK & Europe) to reflect on nearly two decades of building and growing the business together. From leaving the security of Citibank in 2008 to growing a firm that would ultimately become part of Creative Planning in June 2026, their stories reveal many shared themes: conviction, resilience, adaptability and an unwavering focus on the clients and families that have made the business the success it is today.

While their personal journeys into entrepreneurship were different, it is striking how often their answers converged around the same ideas when interviewing them recently for this blog.

Spotting an Opportunity Others Couldn’t See

When Josh and James left Citibank in 2008, neither was looking to build a business simply for the sake of it. In fact, they spent considerable time exploring opportunities with other wealth management firms in order to service their American clients that were due to be impacted heavily by the upcoming UK tax changes.

The problem was that none of the firms quite measured up.

Josh and James arrived at the same conclusion from a client perspective.

“It became clear to us that the traditional offering at these firms wasn’t really designed around what our clients needed. We believed there was an opportunity to build something more robust, more tailored and ultimately better than what was available in the market.”

They recall being increasingly frustrated by what was available in the market at the time.

“When we scratched away the surface, we realised that no companies had a business that we wanted to be part of. There were good bits and bad bits about every other company, but none aligned with our vision of creating a best-of-all-worlds solution for US/UK clients.”

For both founders, the decision was about creating the business they believed clients genuinely needed but couldn’t find elsewhere and that philosophy remains deeply embedded in the business today.

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?

It’s a question that regularly crops up in conversations about entrepreneurship.

The interesting thing is that both James and Josh point to early influences, while also believing entrepreneurship can be learned.

For James, the entrepreneurial spark was ignited at a young age.

“My father was an entrepreneur. I’d done Young Enterprise at school. I’d always wanted to build something independently.” After nearly twenty years of running a business, he adds, “I couldn’t imagine life being any other way.”

Josh’s upbringing in Montreal had a significant impact on his exposure to entrepreneurship throughout his youth, “Most of the people I grew up around, including my father, were business owners. In Montreal, entrepreneurship often felt like a necessity if you wanted to build something for yourself and become successful.”

That entrepreneurial instinct emerged early. Josh started a popular DJ business, launched a fashionable athletic clothing company while at university, and built a recurring-revenue window-cleaning business employing more than a dozen people, which he ultimately sold.

Yet despite those early experiences, Josh is clear that entrepreneurship isn’t limited to a select few and he believes it is something that can definitely be learned.

Perhaps that’s one of the most encouraging lessons for aspiring founders. While natural tendencies and environmental factors and exposure from a young age can help, many entrepreneurial skills are built through experience, curiosity and a willingness to continually learn.

Thinking 10x Bigger

When asked about training or frameworks that shaped their thinking, both founders immediately referenced Strategic Coach.

The programme challenged entrepreneurs to make decisions not for the business they currently had, but for the business they wanted to become.

James explains, “The basic framework was to imagine the business ten times larger than it was and make every decision through that lens.”

That simple idea became a guiding principle.

For Josh, the lesson was reinforced by his knowledge of the stock market and compounding, “If strong growth compounds over 18 years, it makes a huge difference. 20% annual growth over 18 years leads to 26x growth.”

Whether it’s assets under management, client relationships or team growth, both founders have seen first-hand how small improvements, repeated consistently, can create extraordinary outcomes compounded over time.

It’s a reminder that entrepreneurship is rarely about overnight success. More often, it’s about patiently compounding effort, decisions and learning over many years.

Did They Ever Imagine MASECO Would Reach This Scale?

James always had ambitious goals, “I’ve always wanted to build the highest quality wealth management and planning business in the UK. What has always interested me is solving client problems. Prior to 2008 the model was segmented – clients received planning from IFAs and portfolio management from investment management firms.  Our firm was built on combining those disciplines in a fully integrated manner. It is important to get the big decisions right – our client type, integrated offering, investment philosophy etc.

But while the ambition existed, the exact path did not, as he adds, “Did I see in 2008 exactly what it could look like today? No, absolutely not.”

What followed was the gradual building of systems, governance, departmental leadership and infrastructure needed to support long-term growth.

Josh points to another important entrepreneurial lesson in that growth opportunities rarely emerge exactly as expected.

Looking back, two of the biggest drivers of MASECO’s expansion was being a specialist in a niche market (wealth management for US connected families) and the growth in the number of US connected families living in the UK, something that was far less obvious in 2008.

“Since moving to the UK in 2001, I’ve always wanted to parlay my US knowledge and experience and build the best wealth management proposition for US-connected families in Europe. As a business leader, I tend to focus more on the direction of travel than trying to predict the precise duration or quantum of the journey, because neither is really known in advance. What I do know is that, with the right direction and enough time, compounding can produce extraordinary results. But you can’t simply set a course and assume it will remain the right one. You have to stay adaptable, remain flexible and keep evolving. That means having your finger on the pulse of the business, your clients and the wider market – understanding what is changing, where opportunities are emerging and when you need to adjust course, while remaining clear about the ultimate destination.”

The combination of long-term vision and adaptability appears to have served the founders well throughout MASECO’s growth journey.

Resilience: Navigating the Difficult Years

No entrepreneurial journey is without setbacks. Josh says all businesses will face challenges and highlights the value of learning from others who have faced similar challenges before.

He points to business networks, including YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), and to the generosity of experienced entrepreneurs who are willing to share the lessons they have learned along the way.

“When you face a problem, one of the most valuable things you can do is reach out to people who have more life or business experience in that area. Chances are, someone in your network has encountered something similar before, and in my experience, people are usually very willing to share what they learned and offer advice.”

For James, it starts with perspective and he simply summarised it with one well-known quote, “This too shall pass.” It’s a simple phrase, but one that reflects a long-term mindset, “Storms never last. Blue skies prevail.”

Both founders also speak openly about previously more challenging periods, however they highlight that the pandemic provided an opportunity to reset and they revisited the firm’s core strengths and recommitted to its long-term vision.

They said “Around the time of the pandemic, we adopted a structured framework (EOS: Entrepreneurial Operating System), refocused on MASECO’s value proposition & strengths, sharpening MASECO’s focus on its core market of US connected clients and strengthened the leadership team.”

It’s a powerful reminder that resilience isn’t simply about perseverance. Often, it’s about having the humility to reassess, refocus and change course when necessary.

The Most Rewarding Part? The People

Perhaps the most striking similarity in both interviews is what they identify as the most rewarding aspect of entrepreneurship. Neither immediately spoke about growth, revenue or scale, instead, they mentioned the people.

For James, it’s the relationships that have developed over decades, “We’ve known clients now for 20 or 25 years.” He is equally proud of colleagues who have grown their careers alongside the business, “We’ve had individuals who work at MASECO who are now married and have kids. That’s super cool, watching people on their own journeys.”

Josh shares a remarkably similar perspective, “I like having created an enterprise that has been able to offer many younger people a career and a path for success.”

He also speaks passionately about building something that extends beyond its founders, “At a certain point, the goal is to build a management team and a business that are bigger than any one individual. If James and I were hit by the proverbial bus tomorrow, MASECO should be able to continue to grow, evolve and thrive without us.”

Today, Josh describes himself as having a “passing the baton mentality” and sees real value in creating an organisation that can endure and continue to grow for generations.

For both founders, success isn’t simply what they have built. It’s who they have been able to build it with.

The Next Chapter

The next stage of MASECO’s journey will happen through its partnership with Creative Planning.

As James and Josh recently explained:

“MASECO was founded as a planning-led, highly tax-aware wealth management firm designed so that investment management and financial planning work seamlessly together.”

The attraction of Creative Planning was clear.

Both of them see additional opportunities through the partnership, particularly given the scale of the US wealth management market.

“Creative Planning is an integrated wealth management firm that offers more than just financial planning and investment advice. Their affiliates offer tax, legal and trust services plus, in our opinion, most favoured nation pricing on most investments. This is where the puck is going and we can either build these services ourselves or merge with what we believe to be the best firm in the US who has already built these capabilities. The results of offering these new integrated services will be brilliant for our clients and our team.”

For two founders who have spent almost two decades thinking about growth, innovation and client outcomes, it is a natural next step in an ongoing journey.

One Book Every Entrepreneur Should Read

We couldn’t end without asking for a recommendation.

Josh’s pick:

Good to Great by Jim Collins – Find your Hedge Hog Concept!

James’ choice:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

Both books focus on principles that run throughout this conversation: vision, discipline, leadership and long-term thinking.

Final Thoughts

If there is one theme that emerges from speaking with James and Josh, it’s that entrepreneurship isn’t really about taking risks for the sake of it.

It’s about identifying a problem, solving it, focus on what you can be the best at, maintaining conviction through difficult periods, staying adaptable when circumstances change and investing in people along the way.

Nearly twenty years after founding MASECO, both still speak with the same energy and enthusiasm that drove them to start the business in 2008.

And perhaps that’s the most entrepreneurial quality of all: never quite feeling that the journey is finished.

 

 

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