The adventures started after I finished studying psychology in Bristol, when I spent a year driving with a couple of uni mates across Africa in a Land Rover in the mid 80s (through 17 different countries - meeting my Northern Irish wife Mary in Malawi). Then having qualified as an accountant in London with KPMG, I wanted to get involved in business; so founded Sift with Andrew Gray and David Gilroy in 1996.Since then it's been a challenging, fun and satisfying journey. I've learned a lot, worked with hundreds of people, talked to thousands about business ideas. Still excited about growing businesses and launching new products; and not done taking risks!More recently, I’ve taken on some outside roles, so as well as still chairing Sift (still focussed on the accounting sector), I’m chair of BDG (a platform & data company in which I'm also an investor, Bristol’s visionary payment platform Bristol Pay and also Bristol’s wonderful arts venue St George’s. In due course I want to step down from chair roles and spend more time on conservation & rewilding projects.Specialties: Online communities, Online publishing, Social networks, Entrepreneuring