About

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I have worked in strategy, investment, corporate development and digital product management for over 30 years, mostly in education. I now mostly advise on how to deploy money in education and the Future of Work for some combination of social impact and financial return. I work with (impact) investors, family offices, governments, philanthropists, businesses of all sizes, foundations, not-for-profits and charities. Get in touch if you think I can help.

I am based in the UK and have a portfolio of affiliations:

  • I am a Senior Advisor to both the consulting and investment banking practices of Tyton Partners, a boutique advisory firm based in the USA focussed on education and learning. Part of this work is writing about the Future of Work for Ufi Ventures.
  • I am a Senior Advisor to impact-focussed venture capital firm Creas, based in Spain and investing all over Europe. I work from origination to exit on education and Future of Work deals.
  • I work with Libby Hills and the EdTechnical team to convene impact investors in education.

I was particularly honoured to be part of the emergence of A-Street Ventures as leader of a Tyton Partners advisory team and to co-design the Cambiar THRIVE grant.

Pro bono, I am a trustee of the charity Big Change and advise the National Strategy Project. Previously, I served on the board of ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education; I advised the Ellen MacArthur Foundation; and served on the advisory board of the EDUCATE programme. I also act as a mentor for NHS Clinical Entrepreneurs. I am very proud that I helped the genesis of Big Change’s Reimagining Education Together campaign.

Until mid-2016 I was Head of Business Insights for one of the largest media organisations in the world, the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, where I managed a thought leadership, market intelligence and internal strategy consultancy team for the board. Previously, I imagined, created and managed a series of high-profile and cutting-edge software development companies and projects in education markets around the world, including co-founding a startup which raised £3m of venture capital in the 2000 “dot-com” boom and survived, executive producing major digital learning projects for the BBC, and putting the Complete Works online for the Arden Shakespeare.

This site is a home for my ongoing thinking about how education, technology, business and the media are evolving and might get better. It is sporadically updated – there is a lot more “live” material on LinkedIn and the Tyton Partners website (notably the “Future of Work” reports we publish quarterly for Ufi Ventures).

I am fascinated by creating better forms of capitalism and investment, which look to the long term, consider all stakeholders, nurture our world, and have measurable social impact. I am particularly interested in solving problems around education system change, employability and the “skills gap“, which are simultaneously an enormous challenge and a vast opportunity.

With acknowledgements and in a few cases delightful debate, I find professional inspiration in the work of Eric Ries, Evgeny Morozov, Sandy Speicher at IDEO, Fred Wilson, Audrey Watters, Charles Fadel, Todd Rose, the e-Literate team, Esther Wojcicki, Stefan Leuthold, Daniel Kahneman, Ed Catmull, Michael Braungart and William McDonough, Dale Russakoff, danah boyd, Rose Luckin, Ricardo Semler, Ellen MacArthur, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Michael Sandel, Aunnie Patton Power, Benedict Evans, the Enders Analysis team and many others. I am a proud member of the Oppi community  wonderfully sustained by Claudia Barwell and Darina Garland.

I am also a husband & dad; and fan of the outdoors, good food, culture and the world’s diversity.

I’ve been very proud to be involved in the generation of three documents to which I often point people:

You can find out more about me via my LinkedIn profile and my Twitter feed. I am a regular speaker at events and conferences. There’s a podcast interview with me here, another chaired by me here and a panel chaired by me here.