New piece for @every on how AI changes what gets worked on. Knowledge work pools wherever measurement is easy, where progress shows up on a dashboard. Making progress in less legible spaces has often been much harder, but researchers, journalists, designers, strategists and others have spent years finding their way through them. AI is about to do a lot more of the measured work, and I'm interested to see what the people who've spent years making progress without legible metrics do next. every.to/thesis-statements/c…

There's a shape of person I've met over the years, and more often in the last year or so: a scientist or engineer with a serious technical idea, a problem they keep circling, or the ambition to take on bigger problems in their field. There are fewer on-ramps for that in Scotland than elsewhere. So one of my projects for the next six months is finding a handful of these people and working one-to-one on what that could become (a startup, a spinout, a BBN, a FRO, a public good) and whether it's worth taking further. The full overview is in the link below, whether that's for you or for someone who came to mind. soft-soul-368.notion.site/Ta…

A few months ago I set off to experiment. I've set up Tanis Labs as a small home for this, somewhere to hold the building, the advisory work, the writing, etc. Here's what that looks like so far: Building - I've been deep in Claude Code. The way I work has completely changed, a big part of my day is in the terminal now. I've built tools for problem framing, hypothesis development, go-to-market research, narrative development, and fundraise workflows. A lot of it comes from what I've seen across hundreds of early-stage companies, and feeds into the hands-on work I do with founders. A couple of things are public too. Tools I built around Lenny Rachitsky's and Every/Dan Shipper's podcasts. It's been cool to see people using them, and they've led to some really interesting conversations. Advisory - Part of the experiment has been working with founders and research teams. Breaking down what needs to happen for this to be big, designing experiments to test it, and refining the narrative as they learn. Writing, thinking, talking about - Antimemetic ideas: insights that resist spreading. - What's actually happening to knowledge work. - Why the way companies get built is changing faster than the advice around it. Link to Tanis Labs in the bio.

Thrilled to announce we @TechstartVC co-led a £313k pre-seed investment in @reath_id Reath is building digital infrastructure that empowers organisations to switch from linear production & delivery methods to more sustainable circular methodologies♻️ 👉bit.ly/3ym27m1

Excited to announce that @TechstartVC has invested £300,000 in @rufflyhq's pre-seed round. Ruffly helps teams estimate, plan, and communicate a project’s scope as it changes 🛠 Read more in the @UKTNofficial piece 👇 uktech.news/news/scottish-fi…

Delighted to be backing @HeySummit as they power the next generation of Virtual Events for the Passion Economy. 🌍 4,500+ Summits, 1.9M attendees! The $1M round included ourselves here at @TechstartVC, @activecapitalvc, & @ankurnagpal Learn more 👉 bit.ly/35iz1HG

I've blocked out some time over the next few weeks to hold Office Hours sessions. I'm thrilled to say that we've recently invested in one startup and just issued a term sheet to another on the back of Office Hours sessions! More info and apply 👇 bit.ly/3gZq2Pf

Check out the latest @TechstartVC newsletter below - Includes details of 10 recent investments including: @Adinmo_media, @continuum_ind, @picojar, @BellaAndDuke and @Prodsight 🔥 Link 👉 tinyurl.com/y78cy85n

Excited to share that we have completed an investment in @picojar. We’ve known @SiweiKang for a while and are thrilled to be going on this journey with her. Great to invest alongside @gareth_o_ insider.co.uk/news/former-am…

Over the last few weeks, I've been running remote Office Hours sessions for founders based in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Last week, we issued a term sheet to a startup that we met via Office Hours More details on the setup and link to get in touch below 👇 techstart.typeform.com/to/sW…

I'm blocking out some time over the coming weeks to run remote Office Hour sessions. If you're based in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and looking to raise a seed round over the next few months then please feel free to get in touch👇 techstart.typeform.com/to/sW…