The Dating App Founder | 8M members | Bootstrapped startup with a team of 50+ | Co-founder & COO of Inner Circle | Follow for insights on business, leadership and relationships

I build and scale companies by raising standards, strengthening teams, and scaling execution.

I’m an entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience founding and scaling businesses. 
I’m the Co-Founder of Inner Circle, a dating app founded in 2012, which has grown to over 8 million users across 50 countries. 

As Chief Operating Officer and acting Chief Marketing Officer, I sit at the intersection of leadership, hiring, execution, and growth.

Across that journey, I’ve helped build teams from 0 to more than 50 people across two continents. 
I’ve interviewed 1,000's of candidates and hired 100's of high performers, giving me a front-row seat to what separates teams that scale from those that stall. 

As companies grow, performance rarely breaks because of strategy. It breaks when clarity fades, standards slip, and execution becomes inconsistent. My perspective is practical and grounded in operating reality. High-performing companies are built by A-player teams, clear priorities, and leaders who combine ownership with humanity. 

My leadership principles are:

⟶ Disciplined execution beats complexity. 
⟶ Trust works when standards are explicit. 
⟶ Momentum comes from focus, not motion.

This account is for founders and leaders who want to build companies that perform consistently as they grow, without losing speed, accountability, or their human edge.

To collaborate with me as a creator please contact: enquiries@alecrickard.com

Michael Krayenhoff

Most founders don't have a talent problem.

They have an "overthinking" problem.

The way you frame a hard moment decides everything.
Not your skills. Not your network.

The story you tell yourself.

Every team eventually hits a wall.
A bad hire. A missed target. A product that didn't land.

What separates the ones who recover from the ones who don't?

They see the same situation differently.

Learning to code at 35 wasn't about code.
It was about proving to myself that hard things are learnable.
That discomfort isn't a stop sign. It's a starting line.

That shift changed how teams around me operate too.

When the leader treats hard problems as puzzles, not threats,
the team starts doing the same.

It's not about being positive all the time.
It's about training yourself to ask a better question.

Not "why is this happening to us?"
But "what does this make possible?"

That's the real competitive edge.
Not the strategy deck. Not the funding round.

The mind you bring into the room every morning.

Train it like a muscle.
Push it when it wants to stop.
Question the first story it tells you.

The obstacle doesn't change.
But what you do with it always depends on how you see it.

What's one moment where changing your thinking changed the outcome entirely?

Drop it below. I'd love to read it.

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⚡️ LinkedIn Top Voice ⚡️ Be happier and more fulfilled by changing how you work ⚡️ Former People Partner at KPMG

I help teams to improve their performance by changing how they work.

When teams work differently, companies get the performance they want and people get work that feels more fulfilling.

My approach combines behavioural science, leadership psychology, and real-world experience.

That real-world experience comes from over 20 years at KPMG, where I was a Partner, COO, and Head of People for a major division, alongside leading complex client work. I have seen first-hand what actually drives performance in high-pressure, high-accountability environments.

I work with organisations where:

Productivity is falling despite longer hours and bigger teams
High performers and future leaders are leaving
Engagement and discretionary effort are declining
Cognitive overload is driving poor decisions
Burnout and stress-related absence are increasing
Client experience and service quality are slipping
Innovation is squeezed out by constant busyness
Leaders are stuck firefighting instead of leading

The solution is not greater effort.
It is working differently.

Organisations including HSBC, M&G, and Royal London work with me globally on leadership and management development programmes, offsites, and all-company events, both in person and virtually.

“𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴.”
– 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘊𝘌𝘖, 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘱𝘭𝘤

If you are a senior leader exploring how to improve the performance of your team through better ways of working, feel free to message me.

Mostyn Wilson

Rude people win at work.

Not because they're better.

Because we let them.

When someone is blunt, dismissive, or aggressive, it creates an illusion of urgency.

People think they must be important.
Under pressure.
Getting things done.

So they get more space, airtime, and influence.

Meanwhile, respectful people wait their turn.
They don't interrupt.
They trust their work will speak for itself.

It hardly ever does.

Teams tend to adapt around the loudest voice, not the best one.

When we stay quiet, we reinforce it.
When leaders look away, they allow it.

I've broken down exactly why this keeps happening in the carousel.

And what changes when we stop accepting it.

The moment someone speaks up, the dynamic shifts.

Because everyone else was thinking it too.

Your co-workers are waiting for someone to say what they're all feeling.

That person could be you.

Follow me Mostyn Wilson for more ways to be successful at work.

The Real Reason Rude People Keep Winning at Work

Management is not a promotion.

It’s a trade.

I’ve spent 25 years leading teams.

Here’s what that trade really costs.

You stop being measured by what you produce.

You start being measured by what others become.

That shift sounds inspiring.

Few people are ready for what comes with it.

Here’s what that trade really looks like:

Emotional labour becomes your real job.

👉 You manage confidence. Doubt. Conflict. Unspoken tension.

Decision fatigue becomes normal.

👉 By late afternoon, your brain is tired from non-stop decisions.

When the team wins, they get the credit.

👉 When things go wrong, you carry it.

Friendships change.

👉 The same people you grabbed lunch with now look to you for direction.

Your calendar stops being yours.

👉 Deep work moves to the end of your day.

And you will miss being an individual contributor.

Because there was a time when finishing your own work felt like progress.

Now progress only happens through others.

Most people chase management for status.

Few understand the exchange.

But when it’s done well, management multiplies your impact in a way being an individual contributor never can.

You don't just deliver outcomes.

You start building people.

You leave the team stronger than you found it.

And that scales far beyond anything you could ever deliver alone.

That is the trade.

And that’s the real promotion.

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6 Brutal Truths About Management

Competence is judged in the first 20 seconds.

Not over the full meeting.

Not after your slides.

The first 20 seconds.

And I’ve seen incredibly capable people lose authority before they even reach their point.

Not because their idea was weak.

Because their delivery was.

They begin with context.
They walk through the background.
They explain every variable.

By the time they reach their actual point, they've lost the room.

Here’s what most people miss:

– Clarity is interpreted as intelligence.

– Structure is interpreted as leadership.

When your thinking feels scattered, people assume your judgement is too.

Strong communicators flip the order.

They start with the conclusion.
Then they explain the reasoning, if needed.

That one shift changes how you're perceived.

It signals control.

It reduces cognitive load for the listener.

It makes decision-making easier for everyone else in the room.

Authority is not usually about knowing more.

It’s about making your thinking easy to follow.

The biggest rule I use now is simple:

If I can’t summarise my point in one clean sentence, I’m not ready to say it out loud.

I'm still working on it... but that rule forces clarity.

And clarity compounds into credibility.

Over time, people start describing you differently.

Decisive. Clear. Sharp.

Not because you got more intelligent.

Just because you changed the order of what you say.

Pretty cool.

Take a look at the whiteboard for more.
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Whiteboard titled “The Communication Framework That Makes You Look 10X More Competent” by @mostynwilson. It presents nine boxed sections with blue and red headings outlining tips for clearer communication: why people sound less competent, speak in conclusions, a four-part formula (Context, Point, Reason, Next Step), one-sentence-first technique, stop rambling, weak vs strong example, adapt by channel, remove hesitant phrases, and questions to ask before speaking. Key highlights stress leading with the point, reducing filler words, and structured messaging. Bottom line reads: “Clear thinkers sound competent.” Markers and an eraser sit on the tray.

AI is creating a new productivity trap.

Because of what we do while it’s thinking.

You ask AI to do something:

Write a report
Review a document
Generate code

Then you wait.

10 seconds.
30 seconds.

Sometimes longer.

And that tiny pause creates a new behaviour.

You open another app.

Email.
Teams.
WhatsApp.

By the time the AI response arrives…

Your brain has switched context.

Now you need to reload the task again.

The workflow ends up looking like this:

Ask AI
Check Email
Read AI response
Write new AI prompt
Reply to email
Read AI response
Write another prompt
Jump to Teams
Return to AI
Try to remember what you were doing

Tiny interruptions.

But repeated hundreds of times a week.

The irony:

AI is designed to remove cognitive load.

But the waiting time actually increases context switching.

Which destroys focus.

I catch myself doing this constantly.

The real productivity skill in the AI era might be this:

Ask AI. Then wait.

No app switching.

No dopamine scroll.

Just stay in the task.

But much harder than it sounds.

Have you found yourself doing this?
__

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Illustration of a bald man with a black beard wearing a black polo shirt sitting at a desk with a laptop and holding a smartphone. The laptop screen shows “AI Thinking…” with a spinning loading wheel and a progress bar, indicating an AI response is generating. Around him, colourful notification cards float in the air including Slack (3 new messages), Email (17), WhatsApp (2), a calendar reminder saying “Call starts in 5 min,” and an “LI message.” The man looks upward toward the WhatsApp notification with a distracted expression while motion lines around his head suggest his attention is jumping between alerts. The scene uses a vibrant, energetic background with lightning bolts and movement to illustrate the chaos of task switching while waiting for AI to respond.

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Michael Krayenhoff

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The Battle

Michael Krayenhoff

Mostyn Wilson

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Michael Krayenhoff's LinkedIn Performance

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