No Bollocks with Matt Haycox
Welcome to No Bollocks with Matt Haycox, the business podcast for entrepreneurs, CEOs, and anyone who wants to build big without the bullshit.
I’m Matt Haycox: investor, founder, and straight-talking business mentor. I’ve funded nearly £1 billion in UK business loans, bounced back from bankruptcy, and now own and advise multiple 7- and 8-figure companies across sectors, from property and e-commerce to finance and hospitality.
This podcast cuts through the noise. No bollocks. No gurus. Just raw conversations, real strategies, and the lessons you actually need to succeed in business.
Each episode features unfiltered insights from me and guests who’ve built it, lost it, and built it back bigger.
So buckle up. It’s time to learn how to do business, properly.
No Bollocks with Matt Haycox
The Diary of a CEO Ads Guy: How to Scale with Meta | Tom Lewis
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Most founders treat paid ads like a targeting game. Tom Lewis says it’s a creative + story + data loop, and if your ads look like everyone else’s, you’re in a race to the bottom.
In this episode, Matt Haycox sits down with Tom Lewis, advertising performance partner and co-founder of Metastat, who worked with The Diary of a CEO as a client and later became business partners with Steven Bartlett.
Key takeaways:
- Why creative beats targeting (let the algorithm work)
- How storytelling stops you competing on discounts
- The ROAS mindset: build systems, not “one winning ad”
- Google Ads: why brand terms cap your growth and exploratory terms scale
- How DOAC became a client + the partnership path with Steven Bartlett
Timestamps
0:00 – Intro
2:03 – Tom’s background
13:53 – Marketing and paid ads: what actually matters
23:14 – Maximising ROAS (and why most people get it wrong)
30:32 – Google Ads: how to scale beyond brand search
33:52 – The Diary of a CEO as a client
42:40 – Becoming business partners with Steven Bartlett
57:31 – Networking: partnering for reputation and leverage
59:41 – Final thoughts + where to find Tom
Follow Tom:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomlewis123/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_tomlewis/
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Connect with Matt Haycox, No BS Business Podcast Host & 8-Figure Entrepreneur.
I’m Matt Haycox, entrepreneur, investor, and your straight-talking guide to building a business that actually works. I’ve raised over £750M, built (and rebuilt) 8-figure companies, and learned the hard way what it really takes to win.
On No Bollocks with Matt Haycox, I cut through the bollocks to bring you raw conversations with 7–8 figure founders, investors, and experts who’ve been there, done it, and got the scars to prove it. No hype, no theory, just actionable strategies you can use today to start, grow, and scale your business.
Whether you’re stuck in your 9–5, building your side hustle, or trying to hit your first £100k month, this is your go-to podcast for entrepreneur tips, startup growth strategies, raising capital, building a personal brand, and avoiding the costly mistakes most founders make.
📩 Get Matt’s free business newsletter for weekly strategies, mindset shifts, and behind-the-scenes lessons → https://nobollockswithmatthaycox.beehiiv.com/subscribe
▶ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thematthaycox/
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