Fractional CTO Services

Tag: entrepreneur

  • Are you too old to start a business?

    Interesting question, isn’t it? There’s this stereotype we’ve all seen – the college dropout in their 20s with nothing but a laptop, big dreams, and maybe a hoodie. Think Zuckerberg, Page, and Brin. The narrative is that young entrepreneurs are the ones building billion-dollar empires from dorm rooms. But is it actually true? average age…

  • Do you always finish what you start?

    It’s a tricky question, isn’t it? When I’m reading a book or watching a film, I usually finish. Even if the book is tough going or the film is a bit of a slog, I push through. Why? Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the guilt of seeing an unfinished book staring at me from…

  • Three Lessons from 20 Years of Starting Businesses

    If I could jump in a time machine and visit my first startup 20 years ago, I’d have a few choice words for my younger self. That business was the WordPress equivalent of its time – no-code software to build simple websites. The problem? We spent too much time building and not enough time understanding…

  • I was made redundant. Twice.

    OK, apologies for the clickbait… but it’s true. 🤣 The first time was awful – completely unexpected and terrible timing. I had a young family and half the rest of the IT industry seemed to be in the same boat. I had no Plan B, and the shock hit hard. What followed were weeks (though…

  • The Three Pillars of a Successful Startup

    I’ve often wondered what makes a successful startup. Based on my own experience, I believe it comes down to three core pillars that must come together for a startup to thrive.Let’s start with each pillar: 1. The Technical-First Startup: This is the startup that has a solid idea and the technical ability to create a…

  • Early journeys into entrepreneurship

    One of my earliest journeys into entrepreneurship, around 20 years ago, was with a friend. We had been asked to do websites for clients, but we were getting bored of doing the same thing repeatedly. This was in the early 2000s, and we decided – naively – to create a platform that allowed clients to…

  • Why I stopped worrying about being a generalist rather than a master?

    I often struggled with the fact that as a general technologist, I couldn’t label myself with a particular mastery or skill. Before leaving my last “proper job” I found it hard to find roles that fitted my more generalist approach which led me to reflect on my experience and think that perhaps I would have…