Currently based in London
It started the day after Guy Kewney's hilarious interview mix-up on BBC News 24. Despite the temporary comic relief, there was a serious atmosphere. I remember sitting in the coffee room of a busy central London hotel lobby, notebook in hand, learning all about Web 2.0 and how it would change the world. No one outside the industry cared much. But I realised there was a serious ambition in Europe to challenge Silicon Valley.
The seeds of the modern European startup scene were planted by returning expats and ex-Skype, ex-Google, ex-Yahoo engineers who wanted to build a European version of the Valley—albeit one with different values, localised strengths, and eventually, its own identity.
Spotify and Adyen were founded around this time.
But Europe still lacked a critical mass of venture capital, serial entrepreneurs, scalable consumer platforms, and risk appetite. Many startups exited early to US buyers. This all changed with the arrival of tech incubators like Seedcamp, Startupbootcamp, and The Family, cheap cloud infrastructure (AWS and others lowered capex barriers), and successful unicorns giving birth to a new breed of operator-led VC like Atomico and Balderton. The rise of mobile and SaaS made it easier to grow with lean teams.
Cities like Lisbon, Bucharest, Tallinn, and Warsaw were starting to produce world-class companies. I wanted to get into the middle of all of that activity and chronicle it.
So what's the point of this portfolio site?
I decided to collect a representative cross-section of my feature stories and interviews. The samples here date back to 2006.
It was illuminating to meet and interview personalities like Paul Polman (Unilever), Volkmar Denner (Bosch), Sergio Marchionne (Fiat), Ed Colligan (Palm), and Torsten Müller-Ötvös (Rolls-Royce). But also the most influential angels of the day: Niklas Zennström, Morten Lund Nielsen, Alexander Straub and Martin Varsavsky.
As you will see, though, I'm a polymath. I'm interested in where ideas come from, along with the question of how best to adapt to this strange but exciting new world we're heading into. I never limited myself to the startup scene or the executive world—that was just one entry point. I've covered everything from infosecurity to telecoms, finance, clean tech, transport, sustainable packaging, mining and nuclear engineering.
Assignments took me from Last.fm's grungy office in Shoreditch to Madrid's polished Alcobendas district. From the owners of Europe's most prestigious luxury brands to IDEON Science Park, Lund, where I spoke to an inventor with plans to connect remote Africa without the need for mobile base stations. One interview whisked me away to the picturesque harbour of Hellerup, north Copenhagen, a city I called home for several years.
My job is to keep asking questions—about what we're building, why we're building it, and whether it truly serves us.
If you're a commissioning editor who needs more than shallow commentary or LinkedIn-flavoured 'insights', you're in the right place. For thought leadership, industry analysis and reports, founder profiles, op-eds, long-form interviews and copywriting, get in touch.
PRs are welcome to throw me their best pitch.
The seeds of the modern European startup scene were planted by returning expats and ex-Skype, ex-Google, ex-Yahoo engineers who wanted to build a European version of the Valley—albeit one with different values, localised strengths, and eventually, its own identity.
Spotify and Adyen were founded around this time.
But Europe still lacked a critical mass of venture capital, serial entrepreneurs, scalable consumer platforms, and risk appetite. Many startups exited early to US buyers. This all changed with the arrival of tech incubators like Seedcamp, Startupbootcamp, and The Family, cheap cloud infrastructure (AWS and others lowered capex barriers), and successful unicorns giving birth to a new breed of operator-led VC like Atomico and Balderton. The rise of mobile and SaaS made it easier to grow with lean teams.
Cities like Lisbon, Bucharest, Tallinn, and Warsaw were starting to produce world-class companies. I wanted to get into the middle of all of that activity and chronicle it.
So what's the point of this portfolio site?
I decided to collect a representative cross-section of my feature stories and interviews. The samples here date back to 2006.
It was illuminating to meet and interview personalities like Paul Polman (Unilever), Volkmar Denner (Bosch), Sergio Marchionne (Fiat), Ed Colligan (Palm), and Torsten Müller-Ötvös (Rolls-Royce). But also the most influential angels of the day: Niklas Zennström, Morten Lund Nielsen, Alexander Straub and Martin Varsavsky.
As you will see, though, I'm a polymath. I'm interested in where ideas come from, along with the question of how best to adapt to this strange but exciting new world we're heading into. I never limited myself to the startup scene or the executive world—that was just one entry point. I've covered everything from infosecurity to telecoms, finance, clean tech, transport, sustainable packaging, mining and nuclear engineering.
Assignments took me from Last.fm's grungy office in Shoreditch to Madrid's polished Alcobendas district. From the owners of Europe's most prestigious luxury brands to IDEON Science Park, Lund, where I spoke to an inventor with plans to connect remote Africa without the need for mobile base stations. One interview whisked me away to the picturesque harbour of Hellerup, north Copenhagen, a city I called home for several years.
My job is to keep asking questions—about what we're building, why we're building it, and whether it truly serves us.
If you're a commissioning editor who needs more than shallow commentary or LinkedIn-flavoured 'insights', you're in the right place. For thought leadership, industry analysis and reports, founder profiles, op-eds, long-form interviews and copywriting, get in touch.
PRs are welcome to throw me their best pitch.