Matthew Mathison

Co-Founder MBL Partners | Author of Leadership Orbit | CEO @AllevioCare | Helper | Fixer | Builder | Disciple of Jesus Christ 🐝 Beekeeper & Dad

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Which letter is hardest for your team right now — Truth, Hustle, Respect, Integrity, Value, or Enjoy?
Be honest. That's the one to fix first.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Consistency is all the time. Not some of the time. Not when you feel good. Not when you
have time. Always.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Orbit Challenge: tomorrow morning, before you open your inbox, rate yourself 1–10 on four things — physical energy, mental clarity, emotional stability, relational connection.
That's your oxygen check. Do it for a week.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

What would you build tomorrow if you lost everything tonight and had to start from zero?

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

April 19, 2012. Qihoo filed its 20F at 6am. Stock ripped 40%.
I had sold the day before on somebody else's panic. Then I chased it up on the spike.
The trade didn't break me. My reaction to it did.
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[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Lead like you have nothing to prove.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Orbit Challenge this week: identify one decision you've been sitting on for more than seven days. Make it today.

70% of the information is enough.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

What's the one permission you're still waiting for that nobody is ever going to give you?

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

@annimaniac We are well on our way to helping our portfolio of companies advance along this progression path -- and about to start offering our services and learnings to other enterprises

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

How many people on your team create velocity, and how many consume it?
Count honestly. That ratio is your ceiling.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

I started over from zero after NQ Mobile. Family depending on me. Reputation tied to a company that just died publicly. Best thing that ever happened to me. The builder’s mindset was forged in that fire.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

At Goldman Sachs, the fastest decision-makers consistently beat the smartest ones. Not because they were careless — because they understood that momentum compounds and paralysis kills.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

I evaluate every hire, every deal, and every partnership through six letters: THRIVE. Truth, Hustle, Respect, Integrity, Value, Enjoy. Misalignment on values is an instant kill. Everything else is negotiable.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

In 2013, Muddy Waters published 82 pages trying to destroy a company I worked for. Stock dropped 50% overnight. In Beijing at corporate HQ’s, I drove to the office in the middle of the night. The conference room was already full of people who chose to fight. That’s leadership.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

The pushup challenge in Chapter 6 of Leadership Orbit isn’t about fitness. It’s about proving that small, consistent actions done over long periods create outcomes you can’t achieve any other way. Momentum compounds.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Stop obsessing over your altitude. Your trajectory matters more than your current position. A rocket pointed up at 1,000 feet beats a plane circling at 30,000.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

Transparency is not a corporate value to print on a wall. It’s the immune system of your organization. I watched a company die because its board refused to stare at the truth. I’ll never let that happen again.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

After losing a career’s worth of earnings at NQ Mobile, I had two options: victim or builder. Victims ask “why me?” Builders ask “what can I build from here?” I chose builder. That choice created everything I have today.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

I discovered my superpower on a baseball diamond at 12. “Game speed” — not just fast, but fast with anticipation. Turns out that same edge wins in boardrooms, not just ballparks. Speed is a choice.

[Matthew Mathison @matthewmathison]

The biggest leadership lie: someone else is going to come save you. Nobody is coming. That’s Chapter 1 of Leadership Orbit — and the most important lesson I’ve ever learned.