Better planning gets better results. I help teams run and adopt better planning and execution processes.

The priorities, operating cadence, structure and culture that move the numbers that matter, for companies of tens to thousands of people.

For founders & senior leadership teams · post-raise to pre-exit

Matt Roberts, business planning consultant and trainer, smiling with his hand on his chin
Free downloadThe SLT's Planning Day(s) Pack
Download the 13-page PDF (4 MB)
2×
SaaS companies
founded
1
venture-backed
exit (trade sale)
10s–1,000s
team sizes
worked with
100s
teams
advised
Previously venture-backed by Amadeus Capital Partners 500 Global

I'm a senior consultant and two-time SaaS founder with a venture-backed exit. I've spent the last eight years building operating systems inside companies from the tens to the low thousands of people, across multiple geographies. It's a wide range, but being able to see and operate at both ends is a huge advantage: big companies want to be scrappier, and smaller ones want to scale. Either way the job is the same: turn strategy into execution, and move the numbers that matter.

My skills are in diagnostics, facilitation, critical thinking and change management, and I build with AI agents and automation. I treat AI adoption as a strategy-execution problem rather than a procurement event.


The range

I've sat in most of the chairs in your room

CEOWhere every trade-off finally lands.
Chief Strategy OfficerChoosing what not to do.
Chief Product OfficerRoadmap against revenue, every quarter.
Senior MarketerTurning positioning into pipeline.
Sales LeaderThe number on the 28th of the month.
Data Science leadThe gap between a metric and the truth.
StagesHyper-growth scale-ups · Turnarounds · Early-stage start-ups · Family businesses SectorsTech · Healthcare · Education · and a few I didn't expect

So when the CPO, the CMO and the Head of Sales disagree in a planning session, I speak all three languages, and I can hear what each of them is protecting.


Examples of scope of work

What leaders ask me to set up

01
OKRs used exceptionally wellNot the textbook version. Fitted to the org you actually are: stage, market, runway, ambition, and the behaviours you need people to show. Those details decide whether OKRs work.
02
The operating rhythmBuild or optimise the cadence: weekly and quarterly business reviews, OKRs, goal-tracking and cross-functional alignment in every geography.
03
The company brainDesign the AI-native information architecture and knowledge flows so the right people know the right things at the right time, across every team and time zone.
04
SLT/founder leverageShape the priorities of the CEO, the SLT and the founders, filter what reaches them, and drive what leaves their desk through to completion. Make them measurably more effective.
05
Communication infrastructureDefine how decisions get made, documented, communicated and followed through at scale, internally and externally.
06
Patterns into systemsWherever the company repeats itself, find the pattern, build the process or the agent that runs it, and get out of the way.
07
Connective tissueMake it easy to spot misalignment between teams and geographies before it becomes a problem.
08
The KPI and metrics modelsMaintain the metrics layer that sits alongside OKRs, with dashboards and metrics packs that are easy to reach, and the reports leaders actually read.

Ask me to run your planning workshops

Offsites and planning days that end in decisions

A planning day is won or lost before anyone sits down. I put about 40% of the effort into the weeks before, 30% into the room, and 30% into the 90 days after, because that's where most plans quietly die.

One-to-one interviews with every attendee beforehand, so the real tensions surface before the day rather than in the corridor after it
A short pre-read and written pre-work, so nobody sees key data for the first time in the room
A timed agenda, with who decides and how agreed for every item before we start
A neutral chair. I have no budget to protect, so I can challenge the CEO's pet idea when it needs challenging
Decisions, owners and dates captured live and read back before anyone leaves
A one-page summary within 24 hours, and a 30-day follow-up booked while diaries are still open
The test I agree with the sponsor first "By 5pm we will have decided X, and everyone will be able to explain why." If we can't fill in the X, the day isn't ready yet. I run annual and quarterly planning, strategy resets, OKR-setting sessions and leadership offsites.
Free download · 13-page PDF, 4 MB The SLT's Planning Day(s) Pack The pre-work questions, a timed agenda, the pre-mortem script and the capture templates. Run it yourself; nothing is held back.
Download the pack

More options for you to consider

DiscoveryI map the real system before prescribing anything. Diagnostics first, so we fix the crux, not the symptom everyone is busy fighting.
Team skills trainingI build capability into the team, not dependency on me. The operating skills get installed so the system keeps running after I've gone.
Workshop facilitationThe right people in a room, producing decisions, alignment and momentum, not just discussion. The same approach runs through the planning workshops above.
Regular coachingAn ongoing cadence with founders and leaders: the loops and accountability that keep it moving between sessions.

Having done most of these jobs myself is why the operating systems I help build, and the OKRs inside them, fit together by design.

My first introduction to Matt was reading his book. When we met him, he was not what we expected. Less formal, and much more interested in our business and people than we expected. Over the weeks and months, he helped us sharpen our strategy and adopt OKRs. Both are definitely behind our much higher growth rate. We have stayed in touch, and I look forward to catching up enormously.

Ashley Heather · Building Materials Nationwide


Core strengths

Operating Rhythm: WBRs, QBRs, Cadence
OKRs & Goal-Tracking at Scale
AI-Native Operating Models
Founder Leverage & Prioritisation
Information Architecture & Knowledge Flow
Cross-Functional & Multi-Geo Alignment
Investor Relations & Board Comms
Turning Repeated Patterns into Systems
Org Design & Team Topologies
Fundraising, M&A & Exit

AI-native toolkit

AI Agents & Automation
LLM Workflows
Pre-Reads & Action Tracking
Decision Logs
Metrics Pipelines
Natural-Language Dashboards

Experience

Co-Founder, ZOKRI: Strategy & OKR Consultancy

2018 to present

  • Built and ran the strategy-to-execution engine at the core of the business: translating leadership intent into OKRs, an operating cadence, and clear, accountable ownership across client organisations.
  • Consulted directly with senior leadership teams of organisations ranging from tens to several thousand people on strategy, OKRs and culture.
  • Recruited, trained and led the consulting team, and productised the methodology.

Co-Founder, Linkdex: Venture-backed enterprise SEO SaaS

2009 to 2016

  • Founded and scaled an enterprise SaaS platform from zero to an international enterprise customer base.
  • Raised venture funding from institutional investors, including Amadeus Capital Partners and 500 Global.
  • Built and led the company across product, engineering, marketing and sales.
  • Led the business through to a successful trade sale.

Earlier career: advertising and digital marketing agencies

Leadership and commercial roles

  • Leadership across marketing agencies and commercial functions, building the operating foundation for two subsequent SaaS ventures.

Being straight about it

I'm AuDHD

That gives me ADHD drive and autistic depth, together. In practice, it means I take in a room, a business, or a tangle of a problem, and I see the shape of it fast: the connection nobody has named yet, the thing that is actually causing the thing everyone is arguing about.

A quirk to manage. The most valuable thing I do.

For most of my career I treated it as something to manage. It's how I work, and I'd rather you knew that before we meet.

I see patterns. Across a conversation, a system or a whole organisation, I notice what connects to what, and where the real crux or lever is, versus the symptom everyone is busy fighting.

I think creatively. I make connections across things that don't obviously belong together. The ideas that work are usually the ones from the next field over.

I think in systems. I don't just see the problem in front of me. I see how it sits inside the bigger machine, what is upstream of it, and what will break if you pull this lever instead of that one.


Common questions

What does Matt Roberts do?

Matt is a business planning consultant and trainer and a two-time SaaS founder with a venture-backed exit. He is based in London and works with leadership teams across the UK, Europe and the US. He turns strategy into execution: the priorities, operating cadence, structure and culture that move the numbers that matter.

What size of company does Matt work with?

Anywhere from the tens to the low thousands of people. It's a wide range, but being able to see and operate at both ends is a real advantage: big companies want to be scrappier, and smaller ones want to scale.

How does Matt work with clients?

Through discovery, team skills training, workshop facilitation and regular coaching. He maps the real system first, then builds capability into the team so it keeps running. He also works as a Fractional Chief of Staff.

What does Matt set up for leaders?

OKRs used exceptionally well and fitted to the org you actually are, the operating rhythm of business reviews and goal-tracking, an AI-native information architecture, founder leverage, the communication infrastructure for how decisions get made and followed through, repeated patterns turned into systems or agents, and the KPI and metrics models that sit alongside OKRs.

Do we need to use OKRs?

No. Matt is framework-neutral. He works with OKRs, V2MOM, Rocks, SMART goals and other goal frameworks, and hybrids of them are common.

What is a Fractional Chief of Staff?

Matt sits alongside the leadership team as the person who turns decisions into motion, holds the operating cadence honest, and makes sure agreed things happen. Part of the remit uses AI agents and automation to run the chasing, status-gathering and routine reporting.

Does Matt run planning workshops and offsites?

Yes. Matt designs and chairs annual and quarterly planning days, strategy resets, OKR-setting sessions and leadership offsites The work includes one-to-one interviews and pre-work beforehand, neutral chairing on the day, and a decisions summary within 24 hours with a 30-day follow-up.

Where does Matt work?

Matt is based in London and works with leadership teams across the UK, Europe and the US, in person and remotely.

Is there a free planning guide?

Yes. The SLT's Planning Day(s) Pack is a free 13-page PDF with pre-work questions, a timed agenda, a pre-mortem script and capture templates.

What is Matt's background?

Matt co-founded ZOKRI, a strategy and OKR consultancy, and previously co-founded Linkdex, a venture-backed enterprise SaaS platform funded by Amadeus Capital Partners and 500 Global, which he led through to a trade sale.

What does being AuDHD mean for how Matt works?

AuDHD means Matt has ADHD and autism together: ADHD drive and autistic depth. In practice he reads a business or a problem quickly and sees the real crux or lever, not just the symptom everyone is arguing about.

How can I work with Matt?

You can book a meeting with Matt directly via his calendar.

Let's find the shape of it.

If something in your business isn't moving the way it should, a first conversation usually surfaces the real lever fast.

Book a meeting