Strategic Advisor · Two Exits · £10M+ Built

Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur Advice.

Two exits. Two more being built right now. My diary does not have much room, but the right opportunity always finds a way in.

See What I'm Building Learn About Advisory Work

Brands I've had the privilege of working with

NikeNissanGymsharkSelfridgesExperianAccor HotelsVivienne WestwoodNikeNissanGymsharkSelfridgesExperianAccor HotelsVivienne Westwood

Interim Growth Advisor

Is your business growing but you feel trapped inside it?

That is usually the moment people reach out. Not when things are going badly. When things are going well but somehow it is getting harder, not easier. You are involved in everything. The company cannot move without you. And you know something has to change but you are not sure what.

That is exactly where I come in.

You might be right for this if...

You have a growth mindset and the ambition to match it. You are a founder or MD who has built something real and wants to build it further. You are not looking for someone to do the work for you. You want someone who has been through every stage, from startup to a company of a hundred and fifty people with global clients, who can challenge your thinking and help you see what you cannot see from the inside.

Here is how I work

I come in. I listen. I challenge. I share everything I know that is relevant to your situation. Then I help you build a plan and hold you accountable to it. Sometimes that is a three month project. Sometimes it is twelve months. One client had an hour with me every month for three months then moved to quarterly for six months then stopped. Another asked me to join their board as a non exec on a quarterly basis. It depends entirely on what you need. When the work is done, I get out of the way. That is by design.

What good looks like

When the advisory is working, the numbers go up. Revenue. Leads. Profit. Team size. But what is the point in having an advisor if the metrics are not going to look better? The reality is that could happen quickly or it could take a year. That depends on the commitment from the leader I am working with. I cannot do it for you. But I can make sure you are doing the right things.

Last year I started working with a business doing £50k a month. They are on track to do £3 million this year. They moved to London and now have an office of over 10 people. Is this all down to me? Of course not. But there is no way they would be this far ahead without me.

Founder, B2B Services Business. London.

No equity. Ever.

Through twenty years as an entrepreneur I have brought on around twenty advisors across my businesses. Every single one of them added value. But every single one of them also stopped adding value at some point. Not because they were not brilliant. Because there was no more knowledge left to give. You need different voices at different stages. If you give equity to someone who eventually stops adding value, they are getting a free ride. I have experienced this first hand on the other side and I regret every one of those decisions. So I do not take equity. I do not want a long term seat. I want to come in, make a genuine difference and leave you in a better place than I found you.

One more thing. Yes, growth is the goal. But I have learned that the best advisory relationships happen when there is genuine connection and energy between us. We need to like each other. If that sounds like you, let's talk.

Investment

Because my time is genuinely limited, advisory work starts from £1,000 a month. Every engagement looks different, so the first conversation is always about understanding what you actually need before we talk about anything else.

Start a Conversation

I take on a small number of advisory clients at any one time. If the timing works and the fit is right, we will know quickly.

About

I have been at this for twenty years.

I co-founded my first business with nothing. No funding, no safety net and about thirty grand in debt. That business became 4Ps Marketing: 150 people, global clients, acquired by a French listed group. Then I did it again. The Happiness Index is now an eight figure SaaS business and I am still the joint largest shareholder.

Along the way I have had the privilege of working on strategy for some of the most recognised brands in the world. Nike, Nissan, Experian, Accor Hotels, Selfridges, Gymshark and others. I even pitched at Apple's HQ once. We did not win. But we were in the room.

I work incredibly hard, but I have never really done more than forty hour weeks. A lot of entrepreneurs love to show off sixty, seventy, eighty hour weeks. But life is about living and having balance. I am proud of what I have built. But I am more proud that I have been a mainstay in my children's lives every step of the way. That balance is everything to me.

Right now I am all in on two companies. PondHop is the agency I run day to day. Discover.d is the one that keeps me up at night in the best possible way. Both are growing fast. Both need everything I have got.

What I'm Building Now

Two companies I am building today.

Discover.d

Co-founder and CEO. In market. Growing fast.

Discover.d is a sports discovery platform where athletes and sporting talent build their professional profile and get seen by the clubs, coaches, agents and brands that matter. This one started because of my son Henry. Watching him navigate the world of youth sport made me realise how broken the system is for young athletes trying to get noticed. We are fixing that. New athletes are joining every single day and we are just getting started.

Find out more at discoverd.co

PondHop

Co-founder and Chairman. Active.

PondHop is a challenger brand and performance marketing agency for businesses that refuse to blend in. Brand strategy, paid media and SEO, all integrated under one roof with no hand offs between teams. We work with ambitious brands that want to grow properly, not just look good. Built on one equation: Brand times Performance equals Growth.

Visit pondhopdigital.com

What I've Built

Two companies built from nothing. Both still very much alive.

4Ps Marketing

Co-founded 2008. Acquired 2016. Exited 2018.

The day we sold 4Ps Marketing to Artefact SA.

We started with two people in London and grew to a 150 strong performance marketing agency. Clients included Gymshark, Selfridges, Audi, Vivienne Westwood and Nissan. We were acquired by French listed group Artefact SA in a multi million pound deal. After the acquisition I helped grow the group from 600 to over 1,000 employees worldwide.

The Happiness Index

Co-founded. Eight figure valuation. Still a shareholder.

Award winning team, platform and funding milestones.

It started with a simple question I asked my agency team. How happy are you? That question became a SaaS platform with over twenty neuroscience based surveys, real time sentiment analysis and one million responses a month. I remain joint largest shareholder.

Get in Touch

Tell me about your business.

Whether you are researching PondHop, want to find out more about Discover.d, or are curious about advisory work, the best thing to do is just get in touch. I read every message myself.