The road from coding to starting a business
If you're an entrepreneur, you don't need to build the next unicorn straight away. Step out of your comfort zone, try something different and keep it simple.
I started programming when I was 10, living in McLean, Virginia. My dad was a telecoms engineer, and an early adopter of computers, so there was always a machine nearby. At 12, with the help of my computing teacher, I built my first game, called “Tank”. The graphics were so pixelated you could count the squares, but it was fun to play. This is the teacher who made me draw flowcharts on the board, which I hated, but it forced me to think through the user journey before writing any code. Looking back, I think that was my first real lesson in product design.
During my time at uni, I signed up for weekend courses in graphic design, video editing and music production. Stuff I loved doing, but always saw more as complementary skills than anything else. During one of those courses, I came across a quote on the wall, something from Mark Twain that I really liked:
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
So at 24, I launched my first company with my sister, who was an expert in 3D Studio MAX and AutoCAD and knew the interior design industry inside out. We wanted to transform the furniture business by turning printed catalogues into memorable multimedia experiences. The 3D added the wow factor. That’s where I really started to understand how to sell a product, by listening to business owners, figuring out what they needed, what problems they were dealing with and turning that into something they’d actually pay for. But while the tech side was easy, getting paid wasn’t, and that’s where I learned my first real business lesson. Some customers have cash flow issues, try to delay payments, change the scope or vanish when it's time to pay. That's why contracts, clear payment schedules and upfront deposits are so important.
After that, I chose to travel and explore the world: Barcelona, Palermo, Amsterdam and eventually London. I didn’t stay for the rain, but because London is the city where the web revolution began! Little did I know that one day I’d be at the BBC, sitting next to Sir Tim, talking about the future of the web. London adopted me and it became my home. Here, I built eCommerce sites for companies like Atari, L’Oreal, Energizer, Nissan, Johnson & Johnson, Bupa and Links of London, as well as web, mobile and TV apps for Marie Claire, NME, CNN, BBC, Sky, Global, Warner Media, Discovery and Eurosport.
I’ve built many tech products in my career, but only one physical one: Meeting Warm Up, a team-building game designed to improve team dynamics and encourage collaboration.
Let me tell you a bit more about my amazing product (which earned both “Best Seller” and “Amazon Recommends” badges, but hey, who asked?).
In 2021, after years of helping clients set up their own eCommerce platforms to sell their products, I figured it was time to launch something myself, to truly understand the real challenges they were facing. So I asked a friend, who’s the COO of a successful tech company, what advice he’d give to someone wanting to start their own business and sell their own products.
He said: “If you really want to understand business, build and launch as many products as you can in a short period of time. Hands-on experience is the fastest way to learn. The products don’t need to be complex or fancy, or even digital, just something people would see enough value in to buy. Design it, build it, ship it and sell it. Each launch will teach you something new.”
That advice stuck.
That same week, I came up with loads of random ideas and ranked them by complexity, feasibility and cost. I did some research, checked out the competition, looked for gaps in the market and that’s how my first idea came to life: an office game, an icebreaker for people in tech, an industry I knew well.
I registered a domain, took out a £10K loan, and started building a team. I reached out to developers, designers, and social media experts in the UK and Poland, then expanded my search to India and Singapore. In 10 days, while designing the product, I assembled the team, and even hired a copywriter and standup comedian from Manchester. I wanted humour to be the secret sauce of my first product. And just like that, Meeting Warm Up was born.
And the video editing course finally paid off!
After requesting loads of quotes and product samples, I found a company in China that could deliver the quality I was after at the right price. I had to learn fast: regulations, supplier negotiations, IP, contracts, imports, logistics and sales. Once the product was ready, I shipped it from China to 10 Amazon fulfilment centres across the UK and managed to automate the whole supply chain using Amazon Seller. I also put together a pricing strategy, launched a website and an online campaign across LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and became a black belt in Amazon’s keyword bidding game (gamification at its finest). I was completely out of my comfort zone, working 18-hour days and loving every second of it.
Subscription model vs One-off sales
A lot of entrepreneurs see the “big win” as building one successful product, something that brings in recurring revenue. VCs love the subscription model because it gives them predictable returns. What they don’t often say is that several smaller revenue streams through one-off sales can help founders raise money for their next venture.
Subscription model: recurring revenue, predictable returns and potential to scale. Great for raising VC money.
One-off sales: more revenue streams, limited by one-time purchases, less predictable and harder to scale. Great for raising your own money.
Most founders lean towards the first option because they need to move fast in markets where speed is everything, or because the product requires heavy upfront investment.
Something worth mentioning: tech products and physical products are very different. With physical stuff you hit a one-time purchase ceiling, once people have it, they don’t need another for a long time. Digital products get updated and improved all the time, which makes it easier to offer new features and get customers to pay monthly.
What I did to validate my idea was run a survey to see if people would actually use it, then take out a small loan to test the market and find out what really worked. If the market turned out to be too small, I moved on and looked for a different product or market. The idea was not to guess, but to set clear KPIs and track what works. (See: Measure value: The foundations of product analytics)
A few things to watch out for when building physical products:
Selling on Amazon using their fulfilment centres can end up being extremely expensive. You learn fast when it’s your own money on the line. Between service fees, ads, and paying for product placement in the top results, Amazon can end up taking around 40% of your revenue. I recommend using other channels to reduce your dependency on Amazon and improve margins, for example: Etsy, Shopify, TikTok and Instagram. In other words, don’t put all your eggs in one basket unless you own the basket.
Partnering with event organisers also worked really well for me. It ended up bringing in almost half of my revenue.
Sometimes a product sells well, but the market isn’t big enough or doesn’t have room to grow, so it’s not worth turning into your life’s work. That’s why every VC tells you to solve a real problem in a new or growing market. That’s where the real opportunities are.
Margins get eaten up fast. By the time you pay for manufacturing, ads, fulfilment, logistics and product placement, 40-50% of your revenue is already gone.
Products that create a new behaviour, like an office game, are more expensive to sell. Not because they need more explanation, but because people aren’t searching for things they don’t know exist. If you’re first to market, you’ll face this challenge.
Competitors monitor reviews, pricing, sales channels, stock and traction. If your product shows potential, someone will try to clone it fast. Focus on building connections, trust and experiences they can’t copy.
It doesn’t matter how good a product is if no one knows about it.
To get the product inside offices quickly, I had to get creative. One of the things I tried was standing outside a venue during an exclusive event for engineers and running a quick survey. Just two questions: which company do you work for, and are you happy with their culture? Anyone from a well-known startup or big tech company got a free product. I said: “Here’s a gift for you. Thanks for building such an amazing product!” They walked away with a smile, a sense of pride and my product in their hands.
The cards encouraged people to scan QR codes, which they did, and some of those cards unlocked Easter eggs (who doesn’t love those?). I came up with that idea myself, and it gave me a new metric to measure engagement. Not surprisingly, a year later, other companies started copying the idea of adding QR codes to cards.
Taking a year to build and sell my own physical products pushed me in ways I didn’t expect. It helped me learn by doing and see how business really works. It also gave me a much better understanding of what my clients go through.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t need to build the next unicorn straight away. Step out of your comfort zone, try something different and keep it simple. Focus on solving real problems or building something that people actually find useful. Research the market, don’t waste time chasing ideas that sound good but have no real need. Your short-term goal should be to make a profit. Once you have the experience and confidence, you can aim to build something scalable. But start with something real.
That’s how you grow 🚀