Staring into the soul of Dominic McGregor

The Fearless Adventures founder has come a long way since he and his mate Steven Bartlett left Social Chain

Hello Rainmakers,

We all love a disruptor don’t we?

Meet Dominic McGregor from Fearless Adventures, and some of his investors and business partners.

Is it a venture capital fund? Kind of.

Is it a regulated investment vehicle? No.

Does it provide investment into businesses that want to scale up? Yes, but it claims to provide more than just the money.

So is it a marketing consultancy that takes equity stakes in its clients? Maybe.

But so what if it doesn’t fit into a box, isn’t that exactly what a disruptive entrepreneur like Dominic McGregor should be doing?

This isn’t a takedown, nor is it a puff piece. There’s also a few surprising new things about him. Read on…

Getting to know Dominic McGregor

I learnt something about Dominic McGregor and it wasn’t good news. Not for him, anyway. For a journalist like me it was explosive, and definitely worth following up.

But the founder of Fearless Adventures sparked a curiosity that required further enquiries where I got to know many more things about him.

At just 31 years of age he’s grown up in the business limelight, co-founding the social media agency Social Chain with business partner and former housemate Steven Bartlett, now a major media star.

Since 2021 his project has been Fearless, sometimes referred to as an “investment fund” which was co-founded by McGregor, with David Newns and Charlie Yates (below).

Pinning down what Fearless Adventures actually is though is part of the challenge. Is it a venture capital fund? Kind of. Is it a regulated investment vehicle? No. Does it provide investment into businesses that want to scale up? Yes, but it claims to provide more than just the money. So is it a marketing consultancy that takes equity stakes in its clients? Maybe.

But so what if it doesn’t fit into a box, isn’t that exactly what a disruptive tech sector entrepreneur like McGregor should be doing?

And even if you’re sceptical about the official Social Chain story - that McGregor helped Bartlett grow a US$300million turnover business with 750 staff, and that the pair “took the company public” in 2019 and exited in 2020 - it’s one which the telling of doesn’t lack audacity, something you can see being played out in the next chapters of both of their lives.

The Times newspaper has gone full sceptic on the claims. But as one entrepreneur told TheBusinessDesk.com in 2023: “Steven has very cleverly built his personal brand, there’s nothing wrong with that, but people have bought into the whole $600m myth.”

The reality lies somewhere in the small print, but even if the gain from chain wasn’t quite as portrayed, that’s still quite a story for a couple of young blokes in their

twenties. And cuts to the point as to why this is of genuine interest. McGregor also has a certain charisma, a magnetism and an energy that means he has a lot to give.

This is a story about what that is.