PinnedMember-onlyInteresting propositions I discovered in 2021My 5th annual list of new business ideas. — I started doing these lists because I just can’t help myself collecting new business ideas, and thought I might as well share what I find. I’m facinated by new business ideas that offer imaginative solutions to unmet customer needs, and say something about the way things are going. I also…Innovation7 min readInnovation7 min read
Dec 7, 2020Member-onlyInteresting propositions I discovered in 2020This year some people noticed that, for the last few Decembers, I’ve published a round up of the most interesting new business ideas I came across that year, so now I’m feeling pressure to keep it up. Here then is my list for 2020. Also this year the nice people…Innovation7 min readInnovation7 min read
Jul 6, 2020Member-onlyMaking Bionic’s first TV advert, during lockdownAbout Bionic Bionic is a PE-backed growth company that I joined as Chief Customer Officer, after 20 years in brand, creative and innovation agencies. We’re transforming the business from a white-label call centre for energy switching, to a tech-enabled service that makes it radically easier to run an SME. At the end…Advertising5 min readAdvertising5 min read
Dec 9, 2019Member-onlyInteresting propositions I discovered in 2019For the last couple of Decembers I’ve published a list of the most interesting business ideas I discovered that year, so it’s nearly a tradition. Here then is my list for 2019. As always it’s in no way exhaustive or complete (or in any kind of sensible order), it’s just…Investing4 min readInvesting4 min read
Dec 9, 2019Member-onlyBeing Bionic: What I’ve been doing since AlbionLong story short, we shut Albion in April 2019 and I immediately went to work at our last new client, Make It Cheaper. You’ve never heard of Make It Cheaper, because we had an awful, forgettable name and got the vast majority of our customers from white label partnerships. But…Customer Experience5 min readCustomer Experience5 min read
Dec 14, 2018Interesting propositions I discovered in 2018A year ago I published a list of the interesting propositions I discovered in 2017, and a few people seemed to like it, so I thought I’d do it again for 2018. I’ll repeat the same caveat: It’s in no way exhaustive or complete (or in any kind of sensible…Innovation4 min readInnovation4 min read
Published inAlbionites·Dec 11, 2018Tea time is overAfter 13 years Albion is moving out of the Tea Building in Shoreditch. So I thought I’d take a quick look back at our time there, what the building has meant to us, and what’s next. 2006–2010 Albion had started a couple of years before, in a shop unit on Great…Startup5 min readStartup5 min read
Published inAlbionites·Nov 14, 2018Old-school retail stores are just bad warehousesThe high street is alive and well in Marple. New openings in my local town — vape spots, cupcake classes, yoga studios — show that shops are becoming places to do stuff as well as buy stuff. Stockport’s high street is a 10-minute drive from Marple but couldn’t be more…Retail3 min readRetail3 min read
Oct 30, 2018Fintech is still far from mainstream, but one player is finally showing how to get thereDespite a decade of hype and billions in funding, fintech is still only used by early adopters. But one startup has finally got the right strategy to crossover to the mainstream — by not trying to be for everyone. Fintech funding moves into the growth stage CB Insights recently reported that total fintech funding has hit $77.6bn…Fintech5 min readFintech5 min read
Published inAlbionites·Jun 21, 2018How innovation is maturing, creating new kinds of firms that disrupt the professional services marketThis a version of a talk I gave at Google Firestarters — a forum for agency strategists — one of four provocations on ‘how the innovation landscape is changing, and how agencies and consultancies are adapting’. I’ll argue that innovation practice is maturing, moving from the edge to the core…Innovation11 min readInnovation11 min read
