I’ve been building software companies since 2001. That’s not a flex — it just means I’ve made most of the mistakes already and have strong opinions about which ones are worth making.

I started writing code aged nine, on punch cards, at a local college on weekends. Then took a sensible break for a couple of decades. By the early nineties I’d taught myself Pascal, C++, Objective-C, and eventually Ruby — plus the full front-end stack that the internet made unavoidable. Full-stack developer is the current term. We just called it “doing it yourself.”

I’m the founder of ZonMaster.com — an email automation platform for Amazon sellers that grew to over 10,000 users and multi-million dollar revenue, built mostly alone, working a few hours a day. Also LotteryCanada.com, which has been running since 1996 and is the longest-running lottery website in Canadian history, which is a strange thing to be proud of and I am.

Previous companies include FilmAmora (online DVD rental for Spain), CostaFilma SL (independent film distribution and production), BookMatchClub, and PodChuck. In 2011 I co-founded Toygaroo — the Netflix of toys — which was funded on Shark Tank. That story is more complicated than the pitch. I’ll tell it properly in a video someday.

In January 2025 I completed my MBA. I already had an MFA in film from Staffordshire University via Raindance. I’ve also been a professional musician on and off since the 1980s. At some point I stopped trying to explain the combination and just leaned into it.

I’m based in rural Japan. Solar-powered house, no commute, no hustle gospel. I built my life deliberately and I think that’s more interesting than most of what passes for founder advice.

Right now I work with developer-founders — people who can build, but are drowning in optionality or quietly unsettled that they’re building the wrong thing. I run Founder Clarity Intensives (90-minute sessions) and a 30-Day MVP to First Customer program. Neither is a course about tools or tactics. The problem I fix is scope.

Read a piece that the wonder Elaine Pofeldt did on me that appeared on Forbes.com: A Digital Nomad Brings E-Commerce To A Maori Community