Based in London, I’m an ex-founder myself, working as a startup advisor, angel and co-founder of IfWeRaise.
One of the things that I love about early stage companies is the passion and energy to build, create and solve. You can’t help but learn and feel challenged every day.
I write about the lessons I learn from all sides of the founder/advisor/angel table. This forces me to clarify them. It also opens them to scrutiny so I (and others) can learn faster.
10 second bio
Co-founder of IfWeRaise - finding more collaborative ways for founders and angels to work together, they largely share the same interests…
Built and sold digital platform agency Deeson to TPXimpact, hundreds of clients included The Royal Household and Johnson & Johnson.
Co-founded OpenDialog.ai, my co-founder recently raised their seed round
Trained as an exec coach and studied psychotherapy - because all business challenges are partly people challenges
One current hat is Entrepreneur in Residence at the London School of Economics, working with 100+ startups a year
Active member of HERmesa and Angel Investing School syndicates
Spend more time thinking about using my campervan than actually using it
Will happily lose all sense of time at a music festival
Strongly held opinions
Premature scaling (and excess capital) in startups frequently increases risk and causes unnecessary failures, we can be more strategic
Not all startups are (or should be) VC-fundable unicorns, there are many other appropriate funding options that don’t get air time
We must create a more inclusive early stage ecosystem of founders and angel investors - it doesn’t currently represent the society we live in and that is wrong
For the majority of startups, aiming for earlier revenue (and possibly profit) is more likely to create sustainable businesses. And more founder friendly outcomes, whilst still delivering attractive investor returns
