Blog

Notes from the arena.

Short, practical writing on the startup topics I keep getting asked about — drawn from co-founding and selling two tech companies, TrueLocal in Australia and YourLocal in Ireland, and from years advising founders and ASX-listed teams.

Expect straight talk on validating ideas, building products people actually buy, raising capital, scaling without breaking what works, entering new markets, and planning an exit. No theory for its own sake — just what I learned the hard way, written for the founders coming up behind me.

Also on Substack — follow along there if you prefer.

What I'll be writing about

The founder journey, start to exit.

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Finding problems worth solving

Validating an idea before you sink months into building the wrong thing — the research and customer conversations that separate real opportunities from wishful thinking.

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Raising capital

What investors actually want, how the terms really work, and how to build the relationships that get you in the room before you need the money.

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Scaling without breaking

The things that quietly fall apart between 10 and 100 people — culture, process, quality — and how to grow without losing what made the business work.

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Entering new markets

Lessons from taking a proven model into a country where my accent told every room I wasn't from around here — and building it anyway through a downturn.

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Planning an exit

Getting the business, the story, and the numbers into the shape buyers expect — 12 to 24 months before you ever sit at the table.

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Team & leadership

Hiring the right people, building teams that hold up under pressure, and keeping a culture intact as everything around it speeds up.

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