Rainmaking — Venture Lead
Starting September 2026
Appointed to lead six-month venture acceleration for a major UK retail bank, focused on a new SME mobility proposition and taking the venture through Proof of Value.
Venture Builder.
Founder.
Commercial Leader.
Based in London · Working internationally
I build and lead new ventures from ambiguous starting points — combining proposition development, customer validation, commercial strategy, partnerships and operating model design.
Most of my career has been spent in rooms where I wasn’t supposed to be an expert yet. The pattern has been remarkably consistent: learn quickly, build credibility and help people move something meaningful forward.
From venture studios and family investment groups to startups and communities, I've spent much of my career helping turn ambitious ideas into ventures, partnerships and communities, often where there is no clear route to market, organisational alignment or established playbook.
Highlights
A few markers from different ventures, communities and conversations.
2,000+
Leaders connected across 43 countries through Sports Business Syndicate, a community I launched from scratch and grew into one of the industry's most influential networks.
£31m
Platform throughput across 40 deals through CrowdBnk.
3
New ventures built with NEOM across healthcare, biotech and AI-powered customer intelligence.
100+
Conversations with thinkers, athletes and leaders across sport, business and behavioural science through A Load of BS and A Load of BS on Sport, platforms I created and built from scratch.
EXPERIENCE
A chronological career journey.
Portfolio T / Mach49 / NEOM — Entrepreneur in Residence
2022–2024
Led three venture builds from concept to launch or handover across digital health in Egypt, biotech in Saudi Arabia and AI-enabled product intelligence in the UAE.
Instanda — Partnerships Director, UK & EMEA
2021–2022
Led strategic partnerships across EMEA and originated and closed a multi-million-pound enterprise deal with The Ardonagh Group — the largest account in company history.
Worldcover — Head of Strategy & Partnerships
2020–2021
Led strategy and partnerships for an Index Ventures, MS&AD and Y Combinator-backed climate insurance business, helping pivot distribution from direct-to-consumer to B2B partnerships.
Yellowwoods Ventures — Head of Innovation & Corporate VC
2016–2019
Led innovation and corporate venture activity for a family-owned investment group, advising family principals and portfolio CEOs across holdings including Hollard, Clientele, Telesure, Nando’s and Wahaca.
CrowdBnk — Co-Founder / Head of Sales & Investor Relations
2013–2016
Helped build and scale an early-stage investment platform to a team of 18, contributing to 227% year-on-year growth in funds raised and £31m of platform throughput across 40 deals.
Barclays Wealth & Investment Management — Private Wealth Manager
2011–2013
Advised HNW and family office clients, winning £10m of net new assets in nine months and later managing £30m independently.
Earlier career — Media Strategy, Sponsorship & Corporate Finance
2003–2011
Worked across corporate finance, media strategy, sponsorship and communications with Ingenious Media, Starcom MediaVest and OMD, supporting major international brands including Procter & Gamble, Gillette and Vodafone.
Broader advisory work has included engagements with NMG Consulting, Zilch, RGAx, Zag/Nestlé, L Marks, Lloyd’s Lab, BMW Financial Services Innovation Lab and OneDay.
Conversations
Through my podcasts, I've spent years exploring behavioural science, decision-making, leadership and human behaviour.
A few conversations that stayed with me
Featuring Jonny Wilkinson, Charlie Methven and Bryan Habana — with short reflections on the themes that stayed with me.
Jonny Wilkinson on balance, vulnerability and redefining success
A conversation about perfectionism, pressure, identity and what it takes to decouple self-worth from performance.
Charlie Methven on incentives and mediocrity
What are your incentives quietly encouraging you to do instead?
Bryan Habana on external validation and self-worth
Whose scorecard are you currently using?
Writing
A small collection of essays on community, behaviour, leadership and the way people make decisions in the real world.
Why Community Belongs at the Core of the Business Model
Why businesses need to move beyond transactional marketing and treat community as connective infrastructure for retention, participation and long-term value.
Read on LinkedIn
Why Rituals Are the Operating System of Belonging
Why the strongest communities are built not around platforms or content calendars, but around repeated behaviours that create shared attention, meaning and belonging.
Read on LinkedIn
On Risk, Uncertainty and the Illusion of Certainty
A reflection on risk, uncertainty and why our need to make the future predictable often blinds us to how messy real life actually is.
Read on Substack
CONTACT
If you're building something new, working through something complicated or trying to bring the right people together, feel free to get in touch.
Start a conversation →