Ventures

A journey of resilience, growth, and building ventures that matter

The beginnings of my entrepreneurial journey

Early ventures

I grew up financially poor but rich in love and support from a brilliant mum. From an early age, I was determined to change the direction of the Waller family for generations to come. Like many entrepreneurs, I sometimes share stories of my early ventures — selling things at school to make a bit of pocket money. But the truth is, I’m not a big fan of those tales. They can make it sound as though success was easy or that I was somehow “born an entrepreneur.” It wasn’t.

A Journey of resilience and fortune

Entrepreneurship has been tough — more than thirty years of lessons, risks, and relentless effort. There have been plenty of setbacks along the way, but I’ve been fortunate to win more times than I’ve lost. Every challenge has taught me something new about leadership, persistence, and the importance of building ventures that truly matter.

Building my first major venture

I launched my first business at 16 with more enthusiasm than experience. Those early attempts didn’t always go to plan, but they taught me lessons I still rely on today.

In my early twenties, I built a company that I scaled over 15 years before selling to one of the largest companies in the world in 2016. Along the way, I spun out and later sold its technology arm in 2017 — experiences that taught me as much about resilience and timing as they did about success.

Since then, I’ve gone on to start new ventures, acquire others, and sell a few along the way. In some cases, I’ve invested in businesses I believe in, helping founders and teams grow and create their own opportunities. Today, I manage a portfolio of companies spanning the UK, the US, and Australia — each one focused on solving real problems and building lasting value.

30+

years of entrepreneurial experience

years of charity trustee experience

global business schools attended: Stanford, Berkeley, The London Business School, and Cranfield

businesses started from scratch

businesses sold

Education and lifelong learning

Although I left school at 16 without any qualifications — my dyslexia made traditional education almost impossible — I’ve always been curious about learning. That curiosity eventually led me back to the classroom later in life, where I studied at Cranfield, Berkeley, Stanford, and London Business School. I began, but didn’t complete, my Executive MBA — a reminder that learning doesn’t always follow a straight path. Each of these experiences, in their own way, helped shape how I think, lead, and build.

For me, ventures have never been just about profit or transactions. They’re about building things of substance, solving real problems, and creating opportunities for others to thrive.