As a seasoned Silicon Valley veteran, with a career spanning over twenty years in startups, I am passionate about developing both people and software. I have demonstrated a solid track record of managing both individual contributors and engineering managers, with an emphasis on the importance of fostering learning cultures within dynamic, well-balanced teams. I firmly believe in the value of knowledge transfer and the exchange of expertise between senior and junior engineers. Leading by example, as a patient mentor, I have built environments that facilitate information sharing and skills development.My journey in technology began humbly, at the age of ten when I taught myself to code on an Apple II computer, armed only with pirated and misprinted Apple manuals and a lot of enthusiasm. That same Apple II sits on my desk today as a reminder of where I started.I graduated with a degree in Physics from the University of Leeds in 1995, following which I worked in enterprise IT roles in London. Notably, in 1997 I took over running the IT Service Desk for Halliburton Brown and Root. I took over a struggling function and built, led and transformed it into a high-performing team of over 40 technical staff, resulting in substantial cost-savings for the company.Since venturing to Silicon Valley in 1999, during the height of the dot-com boom, I have experienced all aspects of building high-tech startups. As a serial founder, I successfully raised investment from private and VC investors, achieving one exit via acquisition. Around 2009/2010 I returned to my roots as a first-generation computer nerd and immersed myself back into the world of software engineering. I have worked as a software engineer and in software engineering management roles exclusively, since then, at startups including: Teespring (now Spring), Enjoy Technology (IPO 2021), Voy (Surf Air, IPO 2023), SnackNation (now Caroo) and Xclaim.Most recently at Liscio, I spearheaded the transformation of the engineering team, steering it away from a three-year struggle with off-shore development that resulted in a lack of key feature releases. In this process, I assembled a new team of seasoned engineers. I also re-architected the software, in order to overcome one of the worst code bases and data models I've encountered. Additionally I went to meet with key enterprise customers with the CEO, in order to reassure them about our future technology direction.