I’m an English born South African living in Cape Town. A husband and dad – navigating my 40s. An ocean loving lazy longboarder and a football fanatic. A blogger since 2005.
Professionally, I’m a designer turned entrepreneur. A bootstrapper turned early stage business investor. A Co-Founder of WooCommerce (acquired in 2015).
Proudly unemployable
I fortunately discovered this early in life… This is my journey of self-employment.
2001 – 2003
Whilst studying at the University of Cape Town I decided to spend a Christmas holiday working as a sales temp at Selfridges in London. On returning home, with some rand-denominated pounds, I purchased sound equipment. Disc jockeying at birthdays and weddings helped to fund my rent and social life over the next few years. The entrepreneurial bug bit.
2004 – 2005
After graduating from university I founded my first business, with two fellow graduates. Gravit8 – an I.T business solutions company. Whilst we focussed on networking solutions I explored our web design arm of the business. An exploration that eventually steered us down different paths. Gravit8 is still going strong today.
2007 – 2008
Whilst freelancing as a web designer (and blogging about it) I was asked to work on the design of an African social media aggregator called Afrigator. Instead of charging for my services I requested equity. After a successful first year we were acquired by MIH Print Africa. (Hat-tip: If it excites you, shoot for equity)
2008
I helped my wife launch African Cartel. Helping traffic light artists sell their work online in a curated marketplace. Our short film featured on the CNN home page.
2008 – 2015
WooThemes. A hugely significant chapter worthy of its own page.
2016 – ????
A new season of rewirement. Being more present at home with the family, whilst immersing myself in new ecosystems and making some exciting early stage startup investments.
2019 – Now
I joined the Halls Group Board as a non-executive director. A family business, dating back to 1890, where I have fifth generation ties.
My passions
- Growing humans and being a dad.
- Spending time with early stage startups.
- I love taking photos.
- Landrover Defenders + utilitarian design.
- I’m a Newcastle United football fan. Howay the lads!
- I’m learning to surf. The ocean is my zen.
- I was an experimental beer brewer.
Site colophon
- This site is powered by open source.
- Hosted on WordPress.com.
- Logo by Alex Latimer.
Disclaimer
Whilst I’m not particularly proud of my early archive of blog posts it encapsulates my journey and maturity as a designer, entrepreneur and human.