Kicking this off
Some background, and a framework!
How did I get here?
Well, as I sit in a Merchant City Cafe on a damp Friday morning in Glasgow, I wonder the same thing!
Reaching my mid-40s definitely makes you more reflective. As someone who has had a career in the tech industry for the best part of thirty years (I can't quite believe this) and find myself thinking hard about their next steps, I thought I would experiment with a place to refine my thinking and share the experiences and learnings I have had over those years.
What will I write about?
I am sure it will develop over time, but I intend to write about my thoughts, learning, and experiences related to leadership, business growth, team dynamics, focus and personal productivity.
Why?
Firstly, it scratches an itch I have had for a long time - to develop a discipline around writing.
I have always found long-form writing a structured and calm way to refine my thinking. But in the cut and thrust of business and family life, it takes a back seat. It's time to reclaim the clarity!
Secondly, I am sure that the many things I have learnt through my experiences may be useful to others—or at least mildly interesting! I have gained these experiences by learning from many fantastic people and companies and making my own mistakes along the way.
Who exactly am I?
Well, you already know I am in my mid-forties and Scottish! I am also a husband, father, engineer, nerd, commercial specialist, business leader, F1 fan, lover of spreadsheets, fitness fanatic and hobby cyclist. Oh, and on account of my Lego hobby, I am a 'man-child' - at least according to my teenage daughter!
I always wanted to work in tech, and for me getting into a career in technology was no accident. From mid way through secondary school I was fascinated by the legends of the early home computer industry (Commodore, Atari and Apple) and, yes, I was that guy who fiddled with databases, dot matrix printers and gaming at home on my Amiga.
The term 'nerd' was well-earned!
Scotland at the time was rich with computer manufacturing, and I selected my university degree largely based on its connections with that industry - at eighteen, my tech journey started with the award of a five-year sponsorship from IBM. IBM was prolific at the time; it was emerging from its near-death experience in the early nineties and was fast reinventing itself with its 'solutions for a small planet' and 'e-business' mantras. They also employed over six thousand people in Scotland at their premier EMEA manufacturing plant in Greenock.
It was a dream - they made everything here.
Thinkpads, servers, PowerPCs, monitors, and circuit boards. My five years of placements across the plant included heavy engineering projects and customer engagements. It was easy for me to want to continue with them when I graduated, so I enthusiastically accepted the offer and negotiated my way onto their graduate sales programme—moving down to the southeast of the UK.
A pivot into a commercial career was deliberate - manufacturing was leaving the UK, and I enjoyed solving problems and interacting with people. A successful career in sales also seemed to underpin many tech executives’ early professional backgrounds - I was ambitious!
It turned out to be the most exciting decision I would make - opening up the worlds of commercial deal-making, business growth and a career adventure that took me into Microsoft, a tiny Scottish software startup that was later acquired (twice, ultimately by Paypal), a career in scale-ups that took me to Revolut and then into a general management role in a fortune 500 business, leading four hundred people in a circa $300m division.
A whirlwind.
During that time, I was married, had three children, recovered from a brush with cancer and relocated from the southeast back to Scotland.
This blog and newsletter are my collective musings, insights, and learnings over that time—hopefully, they will bring some interesting reading and 'usefulness' to your inbox.