Fieldnotes for Founders
Commercial insights for founder-led businesses
Pattern recognition from real commercial work inside founder-led B2B businesses turning over £1m to £15m. Frameworks, case patterns and straight answers, not theory.
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Why is my website attracting the wrong prospects?
You are attracting the wrong prospects because your proposition tells everyone they are welcome. When a page does not say who it is for, the wrong buyers enquire and the right buyers quietly leave without contacting you. A clear fit line, including who you are not for, filters out the wrong enquiries and gives the right buyers confidence to get in touch.
New here? Start with these
The three ideas everything else builds on
01 · Where you areThe 7 Plateaus: where is your business stuck?
The seven stages every founder-led business moves through, and the ceiling at each one.
02 · What to buildWhat is commercial infrastructure?
The systems that let revenue grow without the founder at the centre of every decision.
03 · Who builds itWhat is a Fractional Commercial Director?
Senior commercial leadership one to two days a week, and when it is the right move.
All insights and case patterns
What Co-Leading a Merger Taught Me About Commercial Culture
In 2022, the business merged with its biggest competitor of the previous 15 years, bringing together two market leaders with different systems, client models and cultures. As part of the new Senior Leadership Team, I worked with the MD on a plan built on five priorities: people, culture, clarity, client value and growth. The combined business expanded into claims management, consumer credit, healthcare and funeral planning, and former competitors began collaborating.
How a Standing Start Became a Market-Leading Platform
In 2007, e-learning barely existed in UK insurance, and firms had no structured way to assess or evidence the competence that regulation expected. We built our own platform, The OBELISK, combining knowledge gap assessment, over 500 learning modules and Open Badge verification. From a standing start, it became the market-leading learning platform in UK general insurance and trained tens of thousands of intermediaries. When technology and purpose align, transformation follows.
Newsletter on LinkedIn
The Commercial No. 2
For founders who need a commercial number two. One idea per edition, straight from the work.
Reading is useful. Knowing where you are stuck is better.
The 7 Plateaus diagnostic takes five minutes and comes with a written report.