Who I work with
The leaders I work with are capable, often very successful, and privately frustrated by the gap between what they could be doing and what’s actually happening.
That gap usually shows up in one of four places:
The startup they run. The company has grown, and too much still comes back to them. Founders, CEOs and the leadership teams around them, mostly at Series A–C.
The change they’re leading. Business-unit and transformation leaders changing a business they didn’t build, often because of AI.
The life and work they've built. People who got what they wanted and aren't sure they still want it, or who want the bigger role and can't yet see what's in the way.
The way they work. People who make difficult things look effortless, and still find ordinary things strangely hard. Many of them have a fast, pattern-matching brain, whether or not they have an ADHD diagnosis.
Many people see themselves in more than one of these. Wherever you start, we work on what matters most to you right now.
If that sounds like something you want, read this:
How I work
I don't come with a syllabus for you to follow, or a model to fit you into. I follow the person, not a script. What I bring is pattern recognition from over two decades inside fast-moving organisations, so I can understand context fast and we can get straight to what actually matters.
Rather than doing the analysis and telling you what I think you should do, I help you figure out what you actually think, what you want, and how you'll go about getting it. I'll draw on my own experience when it's useful, to close a knowledge gap, or challenge an assumption, but you're the expert on yourself, your team, your business, and your customers. My job is to help you access that expertise and intuition, not override it with mine.
Most leaders are good at thinking and much less comfortable slowing down enough to notice the frustration, fear, or desire underneath it. I push for that honesty alongside the analysis and strategy, because it usually points straight at what needs to change.
Where I've come from
I spent six years at Google in partnerships and customer service, then two at Amazon, where I led a cross-functional product team of over 100 people with over $1B in revenue impact. I’ve also worked in software development and systems administration, led product in startups, and been CPO of a listed company. That’s over 20 years across pretty much every part of a technology business, and it’s why I can sit in a room with a CTO, a CMO and a CFO and speak all three languages.
I got there by trying harder, which worked until it didn’t. Two burnouts and, at 47, an ADHD diagnosis that explained a great deal. I stopped, retrained as an executive coach at Henley Business School, and built a way of working that fits how my brain actually operates rather than how I thought it should.
Since then, a decade working with founders and executives across Europe and the US, from fast-growing scaleups to some of the world’s largest organisations, doing my own sales and marketing along the way.
What's shaping my thinking
People often ask me what to read. Here’s where I’d start, depending on what brought you here.
If you’re running a startup: start with Tony Fadell’s Build. Then Matt Mochary’s The Great CEO Within for running the company week to week. For the hard calls, Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things. When growth stalls, Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm. For building a company that doesn’t depend on you, Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer’s No Rules Rules.
If you’re leading a transformation: start with Marty Cagan’s Transformed (and the article I co-wrote with him on how Amazon built Prime), and Melissa Perri’s Escaping the Build Trap for moving from projects to products. For strategy, A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin’s Playing to Win and Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy/Bad Strategy. For change, John Kotter’s Leading Change. For AI, Kai-Fu Lee’s AI Native.
If you manage people: if you’re new to it, start with Julie Zhuo’s The Making of a Manager. Then Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap. For feedback, Kim Scott’s Radical Candor. For your leadership team, Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
If you’re working out what’s next: start with Steven Pressfield’s Turning Pro. Then Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ Designing Your Life, and Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks.
If you’re wondering about ADHD: start with Ned Hallowell’s ADHD Explained. Then Hallowell and John Ratey’s ADHD 2.0, Peter Shankman’s Faster Than Normal, and Russell Barkley’s Taking Charge of Adult ADHD if you want the science.
Thinking about working with a coach? Read Scott Osman, Jacquelyn Lane and Marshall Goldsmith’s Becoming Coachable.
Behind how I coach: Claire Pedrick’s Simplifying Coaching, Michael Neill’s The Inside-Out Revolution, Tony Robbins’ Awaken The Giant Within (much better than his first book), Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing and Richard Schwartz’s No Bad Parts.
Credentials
BSc with a double major in Pure Mathematics and Computer Science (Adelaide University, South Australia)
Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching (Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK)
Associate Certified Coach (International Coaching Federation)
Off the clock
I live in Luxembourg with my wife (who writes an amazing Substack), three kids, and my mother-in-law: a full house by any measure. We have no pets (yet).
I can order food in French, beer in German, pass tests in Luxembourgish, listen in on my kids in Russian, and I used to be able to flirt in Spanish. Despite this, I am genetically monolingual.
I work out two to three times a week, have been known to do yoga, and love to relax in a 90C (200F) sauna with a skilled Aufgussmeister. In 2019 I rode 320km over three days with TechBikers from Paris to London (yes, we took a ferry), raising over £2,000 for charity, which I’m still proud of.
I cook frequently and make a genuinely excellent chili con carne. My physique still reflects my cooking more than my exercise regime.
Let's meet
Book a 20-minute Clarity Call so we can get to know each other a little and explore your goals and what’s keeping you from them. We’ll finish with an invitation to work together, a recommendation to meet someone else, or simply a clearer next step.