Writing
Build It, or Buy It?
•TechnologyThere is an active debate right now about whether companies should build software in-house or buy it. Vibe coding makes building look easy. But the real question is not whether you can build it. It is whether you can maintain it.
Product–Market Fit Is Not One Leap
•EntrepreneurshipProduct–market fit is not binary. Early-stage product development is better understood as a chain of intermediate stages — problem validity, pain and priority fit, mechanism fit, proposition fit, adoption and value fit — and only then true PMF. Each failure demands a different response.
AI as Product Strategist
•TechnologyWe taught AI how to build. The next question is whether it can help us decide what is worth building in the first place.
Why AI Needs A New Funding Phase
•EntrepreneurshipAI companies are stalling in a post-build, pre-scale phase. The bottleneck is not capability but integration, behaviour change and trust — and no single source of capital is built for it.
Creative v Machine Interaction Gap
•DesignMost AI tools still begin with the prompt box, asking everyone to translate what is in their head into text before the machine can do anything useful. But natural language is much broader than words, prompt systems carry a cultural bias, and the best AI products will meet people in how they already communicate.
Simulating, Testing, Iterating
•TechnologyAI is changing not just how fast we build products, but how fast we can learn what is wrong with them. Simulated data, workflow runs and AI evidence at the decision stage let founders test and iterate before any real-world exposure — front-loading iteration and shortening the path to product-market fit.
The Next Big Consumer Brand
•EntrepreneurshipThe next big consumer brand - MercuriDash, the tech company I founded, is a platform that helps launch brands quickly to market, and to decide which products to push.
Design POV
•DesignIn an age of vibe coding and quick prototyping it becomes ever more important to have a design or branding point of view.
Morning Pages
•EntrepreneurshipOn the power of three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing every morning — and why a 20-minute investment in clarity pays off for the rest of the day.
Building MercuriDash
•EntrepreneurshipOver the last couple of years, I've been building — creating, refining, iterating — a platform that I believe is a genuine game-changer for creative consumer brands.
Be A University Dropout
•EntrepreneurshipI went to Oxford. A world-class university — and it was even more of an accomplishment at the time because I went to a state school in an inner-city London borough that was ranked bottom of its league tables.
Lessons On Legacy
•EntrepreneurshipWith the new MJ movie out one thing you can't deny is the impact of excellence on legacy. Yes people have other things to say that contaminate the purity of that particular story, but just as you cannot divorce the allegations from the legacy, you can't divorce the excellence.
Meta Layer Of Product Design
•DesignBuilding an enabling system for creative consumer brands has stretched my design thinking in entirely new ways — from individual products to categories to the underlying patterns that connect them all.
Passion & Habit
•EntrepreneurshipPassion gets you over the initial hump. Habit takes it from there — quietly turning effort into ritual until discipline is no longer required.
Happiness Is Momentary, Suffering Is Default
•EntrepreneurshipWhy long-haul entrepreneurs flip the usual script: suffering is the default, and happiness is the temporary state.
Things Happen When You Don't Need Them
•EntrepreneurshipThere's a scene in The Shawshank Redemption that captures one of the strangest truths about ambition: the things we want most often arrive only when we stop needing them.
The Detachable Heel
•DesignA smart idea on paper that somehow never went mainstream — and the open questions about why.
Product Strategy vs Design Strategy
•DesignProduct strategy decides what to build and why it wins. Design strategy decides how it feels and why people stay. The best companies treat them as one conversation, not two departments.
You Don't Need To Start With A Great Idea
•EntrepreneurshipPeople think they need a great idea from the jump. The truth is, you just need something with potential — and then you keep pulling on the thread.
Category Products Vs Additive Products
•EntrepreneurshipWhen you create a category product — a new way of doing things — expect it to be hard and uphill. But isn't everything new and trailblazing hard, and ultimately worth it?
Simple Still Wins
•DesignI used to love a basic productivity tracker that no longer exists. Years later, nothing has replaced it — and that says everything about the power of simple, frictionless design.
Women Raising Capital & Building Wealth
•EntrepreneurshipOne of the ways subconscious bias operates in venture capital is in how investors evaluate male and female founders differently—and why it matters.
The Rise of the Product Designer Founder
•DesignInvestors have long recognised two startup archetypes—the nerd and the visionary. But with AI, a third type of founder is emerging: the product designer.
Why Uneven AI Integration Risks Structural Inequality
•TechnologyAI is no longer constrained by technical capability. The real challenge is integration — and uneven adoption risks becoming structural inequality.
Selling Today Vs Building For Tomorrow
•EntrepreneurshipOne of the hardest decisions for an innovation-led company isn't what to build. It's who to build for.
The Support You Need
•EntrepreneurshipThe support you receive as an entrepreneur is absolutely critical. Here is the type of support you need — and why even one person who offers it gives you a real advantage.
Your Business Is Your Mirror
•EntrepreneurshipHow you do one thing is how you do everything. Your business reflects your values, boundaries and beliefs back to you — in hard data, real figures and undeniable truths.
What I Told MBA Students About Building an AI Startup
•EntrepreneurshipYesterday I spoke at ARU to MBA students about my journey as an unlikely entrepreneur and how to build an AI startup — from learning on the job to understanding what really creates defensibility.
Why Every Exchange Needs to Be Mutual
•EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurs are natural givers — but over-giving without clear expectations leads to value extraction. Here's what I've learned about setting terms for non-monetary exchange.
The AI Adoption Curve
•TechnologyAI is a disruptive technology that will change many industries. But we are in an awkward space where adoption is filtering through from early adopters to the mainstream — and that requires patience.
Constant Innovation Is Not An Option Anymore
•EntrepreneurshipWith technology moving fast and execution easier than ever, the bar has been raised. Small, agile teams can now beat companies that used to dominate by sheer size and scale.
The Power of Product-Led Strategy: Building a Defensible Business Through Phased Innovation
•EntrepreneurshipThe true value of a business lies not in rushing to market but in building something defensible — something that gets stronger, smarter, and more valuable over time. This is where a product-led strategy and iterative innovation become critical.
Problem V Pain
•EntrepreneurshipThere is a difference between identifying a genuine problem and figuring out whether the problem is one that your customer persona desperately wants to solve. Only the latter gives rise to a business.
Pivots & Passion
•EntrepreneurshipThe very things that make entrepreneurs great — passion, tenacity, resilience — can also be their undoing if they are not prepared to be agile and move in a different direction.
Execution
•TechnologyWhy domain expertise creates an unbeatable moat in AI-driven ventures—and what it takes to build genuine consumer insight.
Believe
•EntrepreneurshipBelieve even when it seems hopeless, when no one else believes, when not even your loved ones believe. Believe in your mission even when you don't believe in yourself.
Why Timing Matters More Than You Think
•EntrepreneurshipBeing too early is just as bad as being late. When talent meets the right moment—supported by technology, market readiness, and cultural zeitgeist—startups can scale rapidly.
Be Prepared To Answer This Question
•TechnologyAs we are having AI take over more and more tasks that humans used to do, it won't be long before this question is asked of people in interviews in less and less subtle ways: What can you do in this role thats better than AI?
Find A Pain
•EntrepreneurshipThink about your biggest failure. It might contain the seed of your next business idea - a problem that needs solving.
Games
•DesignI've been thinking about freemium and how difficult it has become to make "free" work—especially if you don't have much money. We now live in an era defined by gamification, and in this context, games offer a far better go-to-market strategy than traditional freemium.
Freemium
•TechnologyIn many ways, we're still relying on frameworks from the last golden age of tech, when the internet was young and people were excited about downloading new apps. That was the era when freemium fueled rapid scale.
Just Talking
•EntrepreneurshipGo to market isn't complicated - it's just finding people who might be interested and talking to them.
Chicago Town Pizza
•EntrepreneurshipIf you ever want a great example of how to distil your key product information and get to the nuts and bolts of features, benefits and USP, go and buy...
The Animal That Is UX/UI
•DesignGreat UX/UI is like a an animal - or any living, organic thing. It must flow, it must have a harmony, it must feel natural to the environment and wor...
An Era Of No Excuses
•TechnologyThe world of no-code prototyping and website builders like Lovable means no-one has an excuse to delay starting a business. You just need an idea and...
The Entrepreneurship Litmus Test
•EntrepreneurshipA quick way of knowing whether you are destined for entrepreneurship and whether you would even be suited to it on a fundamental level is to ask yours...
Families & Culture
•EntrepreneurshipThe story of the Patels in America is one of the most remarkable examples of what shared culture and values can achieve. Starting with little capital...
Ideas Are Important
•DesignPeople love putting the ideas person down. They say anyone can come up with an good idea. It's all about the execution, they say. Of course, execu...
Cheap Seats
•EntrepreneurshipIn the days of Vaudeville, the row of cheap seats at the very back of the theatre was known as the Peanut Gallery. Peanuts, being the cheapest snacks,...
Three Marketing Fundamentals: Offer, Persona, Channels
•EntrepreneurshipBefore you touch a single growth lever, you need to lock in and completely understand these three building blocks: Your Offer — A real solution to a...
Habits
•EntrepreneurshipIn my experience, there are two kinds of habits - survival and growth. You need to cultivate both to become a successful entrepreneur. Survival habit...
Not Pret
•DesignThe best lesson in USP I ever saw was a coffee shop that had a sign outside it with two words: Not Pret. A masterclass in audacity, creativity and si...
Productivity For Creative Minds
•EntrepreneurshipWe live in a world that glorifies speed, multitasking, and the constant hustle. But true productivity isn’t about doing more in less time — it’s about...
Black
•DesignTwo things about black. The 'new black' is still always black. Someone once said to me black is black - never say that to someone who love design. T...
Your Thing
•EntrepreneurshipYour passion - the area that fits you like a glove - may not be something with a regular pay cheque. It may not pay 6 figures. Or anything at all....
Change Yet Stay The Same
•EntrepreneurshipNo-one is just one thing. To embrace a fluidity in how you present in different environments shows emotional intelligence, empathy and social sophist...
Clone Yourself
•TechnologyTechnology has been advancing at an unprecedented pace in recent years, with new breakthroughs in things like deepfake technology making us question e...
The Future of Creativity
•TechnologyIn every era, new tools redefine creativity — from the paintbrush to the printing press to Photoshop. But today, the convergence of AI, blockchain, extended reality (XR), and generative design isn't just changing how we make things — it's changing what it means to create.
The Metaverse as Mirror
•TechnologyWe often talk about the metaverse as a new world — but perhaps it's better understood as a mirror. A place that reflects what we value, and what we avoid, about reality.
Intentional Design
•DesignLazy design makes me very sad. Why do we need to co-exist with things that are ugly or boring or lacking harmony when we can make them interesting or...
Design Is Strategy
•DesignDesign isn't the final step of strategy. It is strategy.
Creative Systems
•DesignThe most successful founders don't wait for inspiration — they design conditions where creativity can thrive.
Authenticity Inflation
•DesignIn a world of infinite imitation, the most valuable currency is authenticity.
The Next Social Era
•TechnologySocial networks began as bulletin boards for our lives — places to share what we did or wore. But what's coming next isn't another feed; it's a feeling.
Simple Not Easy
•EntrepreneurshipAny worthwhile goal is usually simple, but not easy. It's simple to lose weight. You just eat fewer calories than you burn. But is it is easy? Not fo...
Fashion Is Art
•DesignI love the definition of art as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination. When I think about that, it opens up a vast and almost unlimited range of possibilities for what can be considered art.
From Side Project To Sustainable Business
•EntrepreneurshipNot every side project needs to become a business. But if you want yours to, here's what nobody tells you about the transition.
The Art Of Saying No
•EntrepreneurshipEvery entrepreneur faces an endless stream of opportunities. Partnerships, features, pivots, expansions—the list never ends. The difference between those who succeed and those who burn out often comes down to one word: No.
Designing For Empty States
•DesignEmpty states are design's most overlooked opportunity. They're not just blank canvases—they're crucial moments in the user journey.
Why Every Designer Should Code
•TechnologyI used to believe design and code were separate disciplines. I was wrong.