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The Playbook open on the studio table at night under one red anglepoise, at chapter one: a large red 01 and Small Heath, Birmingham.
The Playbook · Coming soon

Ten rules.
Learned by doing.

Lessons from a life in technology and entrepreneurship, for founders finding their way. Read the headlines here. The £10 book is coming soon.

Read the rulesHear when it’s out
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Chapter one

Nobody taught me. I learned anyway.

Chapter three

Take the long way round.

Learned the hard way. Written down for you.

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The ten rules

  1. Nobody taught me. I learned anyway.

    I learned business from Dragons’ Den and the news, and saw it as the way out.

    Small Heath, Birmingham

  2. Make your own luck.

    I kept looking for the next challenge, and the chances came: my first solo project and team by 2014, a very large programme by 2016.

    First team · 2014–2016

  3. Take the long way round.

    I joined through the standard graduate route, as a software engineer on an internal project. The route was ordinary. What I did with it wasn’t.

    The graduate route · 2012

Embrace the absurd. Crazy sells.

Why the odd idea, the strange name and the unlikely product get remembered and bought.

  1. Fail fast. Pivot quicker.

    At Milkfloat: five days to solve a customer’s problem, five more to build something real.

    Milkfloat · 2018

  2. Design the operating model first.

    When COVID capped the team at around six, we went remote-first overnight and kept delivering, entirely over video calls.

    Milkfloat · 2020

Will this work? Can we keep up?

I felt I’d learned enough and needed to go it alone. The fear was money, and being back in a job within six months. Instead, the question became how to deliver the work we’d won.

2025 · Going it alone

  1. Fail forward. Let it propel you.

    How to use a failure as fuel rather than carry it as a weight.

  2. Launching is easy. Adoption is the job.

    At Microsoft I led innovation across the UK public sector, including rolling out Copilot in some of the biggest government departments. The technology was ready long before the organisations were.

    UK public sector · 2020–2025

Relationships rule everything.

“He’s given us hands-on technical support, identified areas we should be focusing on, and opened doors to the right rooms and events.”

Faron & Callum Mughal · Co-founders, DaitaFix
Read my story Where all ten were learned, from Small Heath to Dubai.

The short book

Ten rules free, book coming
£10

Let’s talk.

A technology decision, a story worth sharing, or a tech venture taking shape? Let’s meet over a free coffee in Dubai, or on video. A chance to get to know each other, with no obligation. Confidential by default.

Still inside a big company and thinking of building a tech company? Building an app on the side, with no budget yet? The coffee’s for you too.

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