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Deep-tech is having a well-deserved moment, and I love it. Some of the most rewarding parts of my career have been working in product and engineering-led businesses solving genuinely difficult problems. Recently, one pattern I've noticed from speaking to founders and VCs is that many deep-tech ventures reach institutional funding with exceptional technical capability but relatively immature commercial operating capability. That's completely understandable. Building breakthrou

Volkswagen's planned workforce reductions made me reflect on something I first noticed almost 20 years ago. I left the automotive industry in 2008, frustrated by how slowly product decisions were being made, which I saw as critical to brands’ success. Product strategy and business economics seemed disconnected. Today, the industry has changed. Companies such as BYD have combined rapid product development, vertical integration and disciplined execution, while Tesla proved tha

What's the first question you would ask when acquiring a business? I've been having some interesting conversations recently with people in the private equity ecosystem, and this subject keeps coming up: proactive value creation. The discussion often gravitates to initiatives like: cost reduction, leadership and organisational changes, systems integration, sales growth, new reporting etc. All of these are important of course, but before deciding what to do, there are more fund

I don't think product complexity gets talked about enough. In fact, I'd argue it's one of the biggest silent killers of profitability in product and engineering-led businesses. It rarely happens because someone makes a bad decision. It happens because lots of sensible decisions accumulate over ti me. For example: "Let's add one more feature." "We can create a variant for that customer." "This market needs a slightly different version." "We'll keep the old platform running for

How do companies successfully design products and services which connect with customers through an amazing product experience and a great business model, a theoretical win-win state of affairs? Some considerations: Too many times I feel companies dilute product or service design and functionality to hit perceived business objectives, failing to account for the potential upside that could be created through a truly great product in tandem with an innovative business model de

Do you ever see products or services launched that you look at and think to yourself, ‘who let that out of the design studio?’, or ‘who's the customer for that?’ I do. Often it’s the basics. Difficult UI/UX, form/function misalignment, performance gaps, unclear market, vague value proposition or positioning. Sometimes it’s clear it was rushed. In software, Marty Cagan’s product mindset has become gospel. Empowered teams, customer-centric discovery, iteration, and continuous l