Writing

Personal

The Bubble that Broke Britain: A Dystopian Horror Story for Halloween 2025

Author’s note: The below essay is a piece of speculative fiction. It’s not reportage, it’s not a prediction, and it’s not intended to describe, depict, or accuse any real political party, public figure, broadcaster, department, policy, or event. The policies, quotes, characters, and actions in this story are entirely invented for narrative purposes. What I’m trying to explore is how ordinary people — people like the characters you’ll meet — could end up accepting things we’d currently call unthinkable. Treat this as a near-future ghost story about economics, belonging, and what we’re willing to normalise when we’re scared.

Tech Culture

Toward a Fairer AI Economy

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, it’s becoming clear that many of today’s most powerful models have been trained on the collective output of the internet: blogs, articles, forums, books, podcasts, and countless other forms of media — all without consent. Unlike traditional creative industries, where reuse often comes with licensing fees, attribution, or royalties, AI’s use of this material has so far operated in a grey area: one that assumes participation without permission and generates value without compensation.

Tech Culture

The Sycophant in the Machine: When we test our best ideas on AI, are we learning—or just looking for comfort?

In the old world of offices, ideas were stress-tested in real time. You’d float a notion over coffee. Riff in a meeting. Share a half-formed theory to a colleague by the printer. If the idea had merit, it might gather momentum. If not, it usually died a quiet death. Either way, there was something grounding about the exchange. It was social, improvisational, and crucially, unpredictable.

Startups and Investing

The Vanishing Series A: The money hasn’t disappeared, but the pathway is getting harder.

There was a time when the journey from Pre-Seed to Series A felt almost linear. Raise a small pre-seed round, build a great product. Develop some momentum. Raise $2–5M Seed. Hone your GTM. Hit $1M ARR. Tell a good story. Raise again.

Startups and Investing

Why Most Founder Outreach Fails (and How to Fix It)

Every week, my inbox fills with cold outreach from founders. Some are thoughtful, sharp, and immediately spark curiosity. Others—most, if I’m honest—read like product brochures.

Tech Culture

AI and the Mangrove Problem

Walk along a tropical shoreline and you’ll find thickets of mangroves where the sea meets the land. Their roots form a knotted shelter where juvenile fish hide from predators. Strip those mangroves out and the reef looks fine for a while. But without nurseries, young fish never reach maturity. A few years later, the reef collapses.