I'm a builder.
For the last decade I've been deep in early-stage startups - writing code, shaping product, scaling teams, and turning zero into one. I like messy beginnings, real problems, and making things that actually work.
Most recently I was Product Lead at Risk Ledger. I joined pre-seed - no customers, no product, no investment - and helped build it into a platform used by 150+ enterprise organisations. We scaled to $10M ARR, raised a Series A, and grew to 65+ people. I bridged product and engineering, shaping both the product and how the team delivered it.
On the side, I run SuegoFaults - a long-running Minecraft community that's been a sandbox for testing systems around onboarding, trust, and retention. I also tinker with tools, workflows, and small experiments that help me move faster or think more clearly.
Things I'm proud of
- Still being a builder who writes code
- Ten years turning messy beginnings into real products
- Scaling Risk Ledger from pre-seed to $10M ARR and 150+ enterprise orgs
- Building the systems behind the team as much as the product
- Shipping features that moved revenue, not just demos
- Taking time out to travel and reset instead of chasing the next shiny thing
- Still excited about solving real problems for real people
Things I believe
On building products
- Talk to customers obsessively, build incrementally
- Ship beats perfect
- Revenue is the best validation
- Foundations matter more than features
- Product-market fit rarely feels how you expect
- Solve real problems, not imagined ones - avoid the XY problem
On early-stage work
- Messy beginnings are where the opportunities are
- Do things that don't scale until you must
- Multiple hats are a feature, not a bug
- The first 10 customers teach more than the first 10 features
- Pre-seed to Series A is a different game
- There's no substitute for putting in the hours
On teams and leadership
- Hire people who figure things out
- Context over control
- Systems thinking beats hero work
- Trust is the only currency that compounds
- Good people leave bad processes, not bad companies
On shipping
- Bias to action over paralysis
- Ship small, learn fast, iterate
- Debt is fine if it buys learning
- Momentum creates strategy
On scaling
- 0→1: find something people want
- 1→10: build systems that work
- 10→100: don't break what works
- What got you here won't get you there
How I work
- I get my hands dirty - coding, customer calls, digging into detail
- I think in systems but ship in increments
- I prefer small teams that move fast over big ones that move slow
- I value clarity over consensus - and write like I talk
- I optimise for learning speed when everything's uncertain
- I stay close to the work because that's where the truth lives
What's next
In October, I'm stepping away - not to quit, but to reset. I'm taking time to travel with my partner, clear my head, and make space for what comes next.
Follow that journey at @TwoDansOffTrack
When I come back, I'll either be building something of my own - starting that journey again - or throwing everything I've learned into a pre-seed team I believe in.
What I'm looking for
I'm drawn to pre-seed to Series A teams with real problems to solve. Founders obsessed with building something that matters. Teams ready to embrace the messiness of early-stage work. Opportunities that need both product thinking and technical depth. Chances to turn zero into one, again.
If you're building something real and early, and think I can help - get in touch
