Builder, starter, tinkerer, consultant. ⛑️ ResponseHub (AI automation for security questionnaires) 👨🏻✈️ Applied AI consultant 👷 Product dev
London
Joined December 2008
- Tweets5.9K
- Following2.2K
- Followers1.3K
- Likes5.6K
Neil retweeted
Did you know that people are having 60% fewer picnics now than in 1975?
Or that the number of Americans reporting having zero close friend grew 300% between 1990 and 2021?
These are some of the reasons I posed the question: 'how might we create more thriving communities?' in the first @cosycommunities event at Ramen Space – a new meetup to help each other learn the art & science of community building.
Rosie Sherry taught us how to harness proprietary data, build our own community platforms and the beauty of gamification with her talk 'The Billion Dollar Community Engine' (waiting on 'Badge-as-a-Service!), proven by her success with Ministry of Testing (now with it's own 'MOTaverse'). I can't stop thinking about her catchphrase 'don't let social networks have all the fun'.
Tom Ross shared his hard won insights on building successful community businesses through, among other things, embracing IRL meetups for stronger connections (even when most of you are online), simplifying things to reduce overwhelm, and harnessing the power of your members with 'The Ultimate Membership Community Playbook'.
Thanks to our wonderful speakers, and the our highly interesting, inquisitive attendees. The questions never stopped coming!
From one audience member: 'I didn’t expect to leave feeling so inspired, with so many ideas and questions to explore.'
If you missed out, I added all the presentations, community resources (shared by the attendees) and pictures here for you: drive.google.com/drive/u/0/f…
What next? Well, if you're as appalled as I am about the decreasing picnic numbers worldwide, then come to our next event (RSVP here: luma.com/ldsgk0gj). Details and speakers being announced soon.
Let's figure this out together. ✌️
Neil retweeted
I may be looking for a new contracting role from this summer 🤔
Preference would be for interim CTO/Head Of Engineering or even CPTO given that I like getting involved and Product direction.
London, remote/hybrid would be best!
Neil retweeted
After a 2 year hiatus, The Ramen Club podcast is back!
We interviewed longtime member @_baretto on growing Tiiny Host to $400k ARR.
We asked him his frameworks for identifying startup opportunities, choosing the best marketing channel for your startup, what he'd build if he started now, plus much more.
Episode in next post. 📈
Neil retweeted
I could imagine a younger version of myself being permanently down on the UK given the current context - seeing it as an inevitable death spiral.
Neil retweeted
It is testament to the UK’s world-class education system that four of this year’s Nobel prize winners (so far) were born and educated in the UK. They are Johnson and Robinson for economics, Hinton for physics and Hassabis for Chemistry. This is cause for pride and celebration. But it is also profoundly depressing that to fulfil their extraordinary potential, all four felt obliged either to move to North American universities (Johnson, Robinson and Hinton) or take US megabucks (from Google - Hassabis, and to a lesser extent Hinton). In other words their success shows both the success and the weakness of the UK. We create the so-called human capital, but the fruits of these outstanding brains are routinely reaped by other countries and economies, usually the US. Any British government should surely focus on what needs to change to retain great British talent, and the commercial revenues their ideas spawn, at home
Neil retweeted
Blog post: back to work. TL;DR: hire me to write #rustlang code (databases, dist systems, dev tools, ...) or to help you do #rustlang better! ncameron.org/blog/back-to-wo…
Neil retweeted
Wonder how much of the Silicon Valley political realignment is explained by this?
Neil retweeted
🚨 THE NEW CABINET 🚨
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has appointed his cabinet.
This new cabinet marks a historic moment in British politics, with a record number of state-educated Ministers and the lowest proportion of privately educated Ministers since 1945 🧵👇
Neil retweeted
You could make this the last full week of the Tories.
Vote for change with Labour next Thursday.
ALT image description: Rishi Sunak soaked and downtrodden outside 10 Downing Street with text reading 'Make this the last full week the Tories are in power. Change will only happen if you vote for it. Vote Labour Thursday 4 July.'
Neil retweeted
96% of pensioners are registered.
Only two thirds of young people are registered
One million of you need to register by the end of today.
REGISTER TO VOTE
STUDENTS: REGISTER TO VOTE RIGHT NOW!
The law is as follows.
1. You can register at home AND at your term-time address, if that's more convenient for you.
2. You can CHOOSE on the day where to vote.
3. But you can ONLY legally vote in ONE place on the day.
electoralcommission.org.uk/v…
Neil retweeted
In January you wonder why anyone would want to live in England and in May you wonder why anyone would want to live anywhere else.
Neil retweeted
I'm currently in Paris for a few days and would love to meet with fellow builders in the AI/AI Agent space.
Anyone free for drinks/coffee (one me!) this evening (Thu May 16th 2024)?
Please share this post so that it can reach as many people as possible!
Neil retweeted
In a tech industry where much fewer companies grow as fast as in the past (headcount-wise), how do software engineering practices change?
I'll start with a few:
1. Microservices becoming less popular. They are a good patch to unblock for hypergrowth - but much less need w/o
