Background

My path to becoming a Founders’ Wingperson

Loving solving product issues from an early age:  My first job while just 8 was to sweep the floor of the old barn on my dad’s farm with a brush.   It took a few days and was hard, dusty, sweaty work.   Over the following few years this motivated me to find a better way.  I rummaged through a scrap heap, I taught myself to weld, and I learnt to drive a tractor, and by the age of 12 had a motorized brush that completed the job in less than an hour.  The job became more fun and as neighboring farmers started ordering the same product I had discovered my first product.

While at school I was awarded young inventor of the year.  In my gap year – between school and University – I worked for a local company building precision seed planting equipment, and I won runner up in the Royal Academy of Engineering year out program.

Learning how to solve problems more effectively: I got a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Durham Uni. I didn’t love the degree but while at Uni I was selected by the Royal Academy of Engineering for their Topflite education program and got sponsored to visit California’s agribusiness industry.   This was three dreams in one – got to take my first flight ever, got to visit California, and got to see some of the world’s most incredible farming and farm machinery.   I attribute living in America to the success of this trip and am really grateful for the sponsorship.

Learning how to build efficient organization:  I took a graduate job at Deloitte doing business consultancy – as I was so impressed with their team’s combination of humility and smarts.  I learnt a tremendous amount while there but ultimately missed product so after 4 years returned to product and business innovation.

Outside of work during the early years During Uni I found my love of coaching rowing.  In total I spent 20 years by the river with various crews all of which taught me a huge amount about the learning process.  I was proud to see any of my crews win their races and learnt a lot from the high performance coaching I ultimately ended up with coaching at Cambridge University and with one of the crew who made it into the GB squad.      Following this I also coached the GB Endurance Horse Riding team.   This had many fascinating learning parallels as one of the key team members can’t talk 🙂 

Outside of work in 2020
I love spending time with my wife Pilar and my kids Maya and Hugo.   I also enjoy doing chores in our garden, keeping fit from running, and keeping handy by restoring “antique” miniature garden tractors.