I spend my time backing people and ideas I believe in — as an investor, chair and adviser. I am interested in work that is long-term, consequential and often hard to categorise.
I founded Firetail and remain its chair. Over time, my focus has moved from advising to backing the ideas, people and organisations I believe can create lasting value.
Investing
I invest selectively in very early-stage start-ups, with current interests spanning life sciences, biodiversity, agtech, insurtech and related fields.
I invest through New Atlantis Ventures, backing science-led founders working on problems of real consequence. The name comes from Francis Bacon’s 1627 essay imagining a society built on knowledge and discovery.
Earlier work
For over twenty years, I have worked with governments, foundations, companies and civil society on questions of strategy, futures and change. The common thread has been an interest in meaningful impact over long time horizons.
Selected writing
I write occasionally, on strategy, long-term thinking and purpose.
- “Do you have a Futures Gap?” – Association of Professional Futurists, Compass April 2025
- “Philanthropy needs more disconfirmation bias” – Stanford Social Innovation Review, September 2024
- “What’s your Theory of the State?” – Firetail, November 2022
- “When straight line planning doesn’t work” – Stanford Social Innovation Review, November 2016