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© 2026 Halcyon

Selected work

What I have built, advised on and been part of.

Scaling through a downturn

2024 · Advisory retainer

Scaling through a downturn

A company that had to grow revenue and shrink headcount in the same eighteen months.

  • —18-month retainer
  • —Monthly with the exec team
  • —Revenue grew; headcount did not

Series B software company

The second layer

2024 · Advisory project

The second layer

A founder team that had never built a management layer beneath itself.

  • —6-month engagement
  • —11 new managers supported
  • —Founder escalations down sharply

Scale-up, 400 people

Non-executive seat

2023 · Board

Non-executive seat

Three years on a board through two funding rounds and one change of chief executive.

  • —3 years, ongoing
  • —Chair of the remuneration committee
  • —Two funding rounds

Marketplace business

The reorganisation that did not happen

2023 · Advisory project

The reorganisation that did not happen

Brought in to design a restructure, and recommended against it.

  • —6-week engagement
  • —31 interviews
  • —Recommendation: do not restructure

Professional services firm

Strategy is not the problem

2025 · Keynote

Strategy is not the problem

The talk the whole argument is compressed into, given about a dozen times a year.

  • —40 minutes
  • —Given 30+ times
  • —Available as a board session
The essays

2019 – present · Writing

The essays

Around a hundred and forty pieces, every other Sunday, for six years.

  • —140+ essays
  • —28K subscribers
  • —Six years, no missed fortnight

Services

Work with me

The three ways people usually bring me in.

Advisory retainer

A standing monthly session with a founder or an executive team.

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Format
Monthly, ongoing
Length
Half a day a month, reviewed every six months
Price
Guide: monthly fee, agreed for six months at a time

Who it is for — Founders and executive teams between forty and five hundred people.

  • A half-day session each month with the team or the individual
  • Availability between sessions for urgent decisions
  • A written note after each session, for you rather than for a file
  • A six-monthly review where either side can stop

Non-executive seat

A board seat, taken seriously, for a small number of companies at a time.

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Format
Board seat
Length
Minimum two years
Price
Guide: standard non-executive terms

Who it is for — Companies between rounds, and boards short of operating experience.

  • Full board attendance and committee work
  • Time on site between meetings
  • Availability to the chief executive between boards
  • Standard non-executive terms and equity

Speaking

A keynote, a board session, or a workshop for a leadership team.

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Format
Keynote, board session or workshop
Length
40 minutes to half a day
Price
Guide: fee on application; reduced for non-profits

Who it is for — Conferences, boards and leadership teams.

  • A forty-minute keynote, or a half-day session
  • A call beforehand to make it about your situation
  • Slides and notes shared with attendees afterwards
  • Reduced fees for non-profits and public sector
Read the writing

Get in touch

A paragraph about the situation is more useful than a formal brief. I will tell you within a couple of days whether I can help and what it would look like.

Work with me

Get in touch

Work with me