Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs I always knew my future would lead me to found my own business. My mother and brother both built successful businesses (in the medico-legal and tech space respectively) having identified a 'need' and 'gap' then courageously jumping into the Founder journey. I’ve always been taken by the energy of an ambitious Founder and team and therefore love working with early-stage businesses.

An academic background in medical science has given me huge respect for data and logic. A decade spent co-building a commercially successful, international B2B media business has equipped me with the grit and strategic 'know-how' to coach and consult with Founders, empowering them to achieve their own ambitions.

All of this has led me to co-found a platform designed to empower Founders 'at scale', by making a previously premium service available to more businesses at an earlier stage in the journey, and equipping Founders with real insights and tools that build healthy, valuable businesses.

Growing up in Australia, my interest in business stemmed from my Father who had made the big move out of a senior corporate job to drive growth in a medium size private enterprise, which ultimately led him to raise some capital and found his own design and manufacturing business. I vividly remember seeing it all built from scratch, while I was mowing the lawn around the factory for a few dollars during my school breaks.

Having embarked on a career as a junior officer in the military, I studied Economics then joined the Armoured Corps because I wanted to work with technology and machinery. Later, I was selected to complete a Masters Degree in Technology Management, leading to a role where I was responsible for implementation of ‘high tech’ projects with the SAS and Special Forces. The high-performance culture of these organisations left its mark on me—the ambition to be the best, while always adapting with intellect and commitment to any challenges confronted.

By my late 20s I had left the Army to start my own business and study for a corporate finance degree (at the same time). As a first time Founder, I needed to fill many ‘knowledge gaps’ and this first venture taught me so many important lessons, many of which I still reflect upon today. My business journey over the next seven years took me through two ‘exits’ and ultimately brought me to London. I especially love the connectivity here and could see how software ‘tech’ was becoming all pervasive in life and business. For over 15 years now, I have immersed myself as an advisor in this world, helping other Founders with funding, strategy and M&A transactions. My business understands the Founder journey and this is the context for all we do. We are here to share our knowledge and insights to ensure that the courage shown by Founders is ultimately rewarded.

My father left the military after a 25 year career, going on to found his own successful consultancy business. As a boy, I found it fascinating to observe his inner entrepreneur emerge and flourish in such a different arena—one which looked completely alien to me, as I set off on my own journey into the Arts as an actor and writer. After one particularly poor year, and with a mortgage to pay, I 'temporarily' got ‘a proper job’. It was 1995—the year I fell in love with business.

I realised there was equal, perhaps even greater, scope for creativity in the commercial world, and so I have since founded, operated and 'exited' numerous fast growth B2B media and consulting businesses (two of which were technically ‘gazelles’). For a decade now, I’ve also supported Founders to help them avoid the regret that is experienced by the majority, who never fully realise the commercial and/or cultural outcomes they dream of - despite the huge effort, risk, investment and stress that is so often involved.

My raison d’etre has always been to support others to ensure they have the right tools, resources, and solutions to perform at their best. This led me on a professional pathway into learning and development, and then organisational change management within the corporate world. I was fortunate enough to be involved in numerous global and local initiatives. This gave me a love for building something new with a business, whether that was a product or a new venture in its entirety.

Moving from the corporate world to work with a global SME that provided business coaching allowed me to make best use of my skills and capabilities. More importantly, for over a decade, I have been working closely with their entrepreneurial clients—Founders—to support them on their business journey. As a learning and development professional, I found that being involved with Founders was both fascinating and enervating, cementing my desire to continue this support by enabling people to build and scale the type of business they really desire.