An exciting announcement...
Breaking radio silence to share an exciting project I've been working on.
It’s been quiet here. Perhaps I’m flattering myself to think some of you might be wondering why.
The short version is I’ve been busy working on a project that I’m finally ready to start sharing with the world: a software startup I’ve been building with a small group of friends and colleagues, called Ciclo Strategy.
Building it has been tremendously fun. And, of course, mildly terrifying. There’s something exhilarating about designing and building outside the scaffolding of a large organisation. No inherited rituals. No dire process. No consensus-by-committee. Just some ideas, a bit of ambition, and weekly pizzas.
The project, in essence, is about a familiar pain for leaders and execs: the space between strategy and execution. That gap shows up in almost every organisation I’ve worked with in my career.
Bold, expensive plans that cough and splutter into half-baked implementation. PowerPoint decks that shrivel and die. Aspirations that never quite metabolise into action.
So we decided to build something.
We think it’s something that doesn’t just make strategic planning possible, but practical and durable. Something that supports the long tail of strategy — not just the launch, but the life of it.
And yes, it’s AI-driven. I say that with a bit of a wince, because it’s 2025 and of course it is.
But when you’re trying to make sense of sprawling, unstructured, messy organisational data, you need help. And AI, at its best, is VERY helpful. It makes connections we’d miss and surfaces patterns we’d ignore, and it’s only getting better.
It’s early days, still. But I’m proud of what we’ve built. Nervous, too. Because putting something into the world is always a tremendous learning experience. As the saying goes, everyone has a plan till they get hit in the face.
So, if you’re part of a company that wants strategy to be more than just an annual offsite… if you’ve ever squinted at a plan and wondered what happened to it… if you’re a leader who wants to know what’s working, what’s moving, what’s not — I’d love for you to try it.
This won’t turn into a product blog. But I will start sharing more. Some of the small victories and the inevitable fuckups.
Anyway. I just wanted to say hello again.
And to say: I’ve been building something. And I’d love for you to check it out.
Get in touch if you want a demo. I’m super keen to hear your feedback.
