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Kelly Criterion – behavioral edge vs analytical and information edge in investing
I’ve always been fascinated by how professional gamblers approach decision making under uncertainty and how these methods can be applied in business. I’m reading a great book at the moment called Fortune’s Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street by William Poundstone. I had already been Continue reading
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The Wheel of Fortune: Boethius runs a Start-up
When I was a student I remember reading Boethius (I think in a bid to avoid doing the engineering work I was suppose to be doing). He was a 6th century Roman philosopher, whose concept of the Wheel of Fortune (not the TV show) has really stuck with me as compelling metaphor for the unpredictable Continue reading
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Talk at the Royal Academy of Engineering Awardee Excellence Community Launch
I was delighted and honored to be invited to talk at the inaugural RAEng Awardee Excellence Community programme. Here is a write up of the day by Pete Lomas FREng, Director of Engineering at Norcott Technologies and link to my talk below. Continue reading
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The difference between today problems and tomorrow problems and why Indiana Jones had the right idea
When I was a kid I loved Indiana Jones. In the Last Crusade there is a scene where he enters a chamber which is booby-trapped with a series of deadly obstacles and I often think of it when I’m in meetings and discussing start-up ideas. The first obstacle is a series of long, sharp blades Continue reading
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Marketing Automation and Selling to Scientists
Recent talk I gave at the The Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing. How we use Marketing Automation to help sell our equipment to scientists. Continue reading
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When Vince Cable Came to Town – The Value of Mentors
This is the text of short talk I gave at the SJIC when Vince Cable came to Cambridge to launch the Growth Accelerator Our company makes microchip gas sensors. As three young engineers, when we got started we knew something about building a microchip, but nothing about building a business. In our first pitch to Continue reading
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A Sales and Marketing ‘Traveller File’
At Owlstone we manufacture complex instrumentation, with lots of parts, and lots of people involved at each step in the process. We have a file of information called a ‘manufacturing traveller’ that starts empty and at the end of the manufacturing line, is full of documentation and test results. At each step in the build Continue reading
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Quick and Dirty Data Appending
With internet based marketing you generally don’t want to ask for too much information on a webform. One common practice is to take the minimum amount of information on the form and use a ‘data appending’ service e.g. Jigsaw, InsideView or LinkedIn to build out the details for a new lead e.g address and company Continue reading
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Pragmatic Problem Solving
There are many ways to come at a problem ranging from thorough analysis through to use of simple heuristics and rules of thumb. I always like it when people can get to an answer by looking at it slightly differently. I came across this one in Baeyer’s book, Information. Samuel Morse, of Morse code fame, Continue reading
About Me
An entrepreneurial engineer driven by patient impact. C0-founder and CEO of Owlstone Medical with a company mission to save 100k lives. I also try to support engineers and scientists and their start-up ideas.
Recent Posts
- Kelly Criterion – behavioral edge vs analytical and information edge in investing
- The Wheel of Fortune: Boethius runs a Start-up
- Talk at the Royal Academy of Engineering Awardee Excellence Community Launch
- The difference between today problems and tomorrow problems and why Indiana Jones had the right idea
- Marketing Automation and Selling to Scientists
Billy Boyle Blog 