From Sheffield to Silicon Valley: My Journey in Tech and Entrepreneurship

This is by no means a deep dive, and I’ve glossed over many of the boring and painful moments that make up my journey. But I hope it gives you some insight into mine—what I've learned, how I've grown, and the challenges I've faced along the way. Maybe, just maybe, it will inspire someone else to take their own leap into the unknown.

You can find some photos and the timeline I touch on through this article in the deck below.

Growing Up in Sheffield: Finding My Path

I grew up in Sheffield, a city shaped by its industrial roots and a working-class ethic, which heavily influenced my own upbringing. My grandparents lived in a council house, and my parents worked hard to make ends meet. My mum was a gynae nurse, and my dad worked as a highways engineer. We didn’t have a lot of money, but I never felt deprived. The work ethic that my parents instilled in me was clear from a young age—they worked hard, and we were provided for.

Being the middle child between an older brother and a younger sister, I shared a room with my brother. Our house was small, and life wasn’t always easy, but it was normal for us. We lived in a neighborhood near to some of the most deprived areas of Sheffield. School wasn’t always a safe place—I was bullied occasionally. One memory sticks out from Year 7 when a group of older boys grabbed me, each taking hold of a limb, and threw me down a hill. I landed on my head, and yes I can see the funny side of this all now. But, despite the challenges, I came through relatively unscathed.

The Burden of Expectations: Academics and Finding My Place

As a kid, I never felt like I fully fit in. I went to Hinde House School and later Longley Park Sixth Form in Firth Park. While I had friends, there was always a sense of being out of place. Maybe it was because I was the youngest in my year group, born in August, and always felt behind developmentally. School wasn’t easy—I was intelligent, probably above average—but I didn’t apply myself the way I could have. My older brother, who was super academic and went on to study at Oxford, set a high bar. While I respected his achievements, it created a sense of comparison that left me feeling like I had something to prove.

I've had a chip on my shoulder ever since, compounded by multiple experiences, snide comments and potentially my own projections over the last decade. I have an unattainable goal to prove myself to someone, anyone, or maybe it's just to prove to myself and I'm my own worst judge. Maybe it doesn't matter but deep down this is what drives me every day.

I was more into video games and computers than textbooks. When it came time to choose a path after Sixth Form, I gravitated toward something I loved—web design. So, I applied to Northumbria University to study web design and development, not fully knowing where it would take me but excited by the possibilities.

University Realizations: The Importance of Self-Directed Learning

I graduated with a 2:1, just three marks away from a first. In hindsight, I could have achieved that first if I had understood one crucial thing earlier: university is all about self-directed study. I went into it thinking it would be like school, with a set curriculum and plenty of support, but I quickly learned that what you get out depends on what you put in. I was lazy and coasted through. The degree itself got me a job, but the real learning came after university when I entered the real world.

The Early Days: Building Moltin

After university, I took a job at a web development agency in Gateshead. The pay was low—definitely not what you’d expect as a fresh graduate—but it gave me the opportunity to work alongside two developers, Chris and Jamie, who had built a homegrown platform called FireSale. This would become the foundation of what we later developed into Moltin, an ecommerce API platform designed to make ecommerce development as simple as an API call.

We founded Moltin in 2013, inspired by the success of platforms like Stripe and Twilio. Our mission was to take the heavy lifting out of ecommerce, making it easier for developers to build online stores without getting bogged down in infrastructure. We joined the Ignite100 startup accelerator that same year, where I first met Doug Scott, an angel investor who would later play a key role in our journey.

Ignite100 gave us the time and space to focus solely on building Moltin, but the road wasn’t easy. I quickly realized that while I could read and understand code, I wasn’t a natural developer. I found myself drawn toward marketing, sales, and customer success—areas where I could leverage my instincts, even though I had no formal experience. It was trial by fire, but it felt right.

The Rollercoaster Ride of Fundraising and Growth

By the end of 2013, we had launched a duct-taped version of Moltin, and we were starting to gain traction. We raised ￡100k from angel investors, including Doug Scott and EU-backed investors, which kept us afloat. But challenges remained. Our first customer was in New Zealand, while our codebase was in Ireland, which led to latency issues. Still, receiving positive feedback from developers who loved our product validated what we were doing.

Despite early traction, we struggled with commercialization. We were running out of money, so we headed to London to pitch to VCs and angel investors. Back in 2014, no one really understood what an API was, let alone an ecommerce API. But then we met Gil Dibner , a VC who understood our vision. Gil encouraged us to leave Newcastle and pursue opportunities in Silicon Valley.

Y Combinator: A Life-Changing Opportunity

We applied to Y Combinator (YC) in 2015, one day before the deadline. Against all odds, we secured an interview, and the next thing I knew, Jamie and I were on a plane to California. I didn’t even have a passport at the time and had to rush to get one. The experience of pitching to YC was intense, but that night, we got the call—Moltin was in.

YC was an eye-opener. We were surrounded by some of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and it was a truly supportive but competitive environment. We worked nonstop for three months, waking up and going to bed thinking about Moltin. I had to push myself to deliver a public demo at the end of the program, battling severe anxiety and nerves.

Scaling Moltin and Personal Struggles

After YC, we came back to the UK, determined to grow the business. We raised more funding and built a team in Newcastle, but scaling Moltin came with its own set of challenges. We faced technical scaling issues, and we hadn’t fully figured out our commercial strategy. We were coming into our own though, Matthew Foyle started selling 6 figure "enterprise" deals through live chat. Eventually, we raised a Series A round, but by this point, the founding team was beginning to fracture and we were beginning to suffer burn out. Startups are a marathon, not a race, we made sacrifices and we gave everything to the dream.

We brought on a new CEO and shifted our focus to a sales-led approach, which, in hindsight, was a naive mistake. We had always been developer-led, and moving away from that core philosophy hurt us. Over time, the culture began to deteriorate, and my co-founders, Jamie and Chris, left the company.

I moved to Boston to try and fix things, but it was too late. The company was sold to Elastic Path in 2019. This was one of the toughest periods of my life. My relationship with my girlfriend and wife was always strained throughout Moltin. Time I will never get back. I struggled for years with mental health and I blocked out every emotion. Moltin consumed everything, I poured my energy and soul into it.

A New Chapter: Rediscovering Myself After Moltin

Returning to the UK just before the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself in a strange place. For seven years, Moltin had been my life, and untangling my identity from the company was difficult. We moved in with my grandmother-in-law, squeezing our family of four into two small rooms for the next two years.

During that time through the pandemic, I started to appreciate the simple things in life—walks with my kids through fields full of sheep, reflecting on the journey I had been on. I also began consulting for various companies and found a role at Amplience, where I helped build their marketing function. This is where I discovered product marketing—a natural fit for someone who had worn many hats as a founder.

Reconnecting with Doug Scott and Giving Back

One of the most meaningful reconnections was with Doug Scott, who invited me to work on (or as he calls it, "play") new projects with him 2 years ago. Doug has given me the freedom to create and solve problems without the pressure of constant funding pitches, politics and board rooms, which has allowed me to rediscover my love for building things from scratch. I love going from zero to one. I work from home remotely now and it's great but you can't help but be aware of the bubble you're in.

Doug introduced me to Mike at PDYP.org recently. I went to see him this week and spoke at Doug’s old school in Meadow Well, one of the most deprived areas in the UK. It reminded me of my own roots in Sheffield, and I’m excited about the work we’re doing to give back for the next generation. It was a lovely surprise to catch up with Deborah McGargle , watch this space! :)

Key Lessons

Looking back, the last decade has been a rollercoaster of the highest highs and lowest lows. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way, in no particular order of importance:

1. Everyone is faking it and put on fronts like they know everything. You need to trust your gut on the bullshit.
2. It pays off to be persistant. Everyone will tell you no, don't do that, it's risky. It's not normal. No one is normal and it's ok to take risks.
3. Put yourself out of your comfort zone to grow. It'll suck but you'll look back and think, "I did that".
4. Surround yourself with the smartest people you can find. You'll feel dumb but that's ok.
5. Play to your strengths, understand and embrace your weaknesses.
6. Tech isn't just for those that can code, and it's becoming easier to create something than ever before.
7. The only limit is your imagination. You can do anything and be anything you want.
8. The path we all navigate is hard, the steps to get to where you want to be are going to be unknown. You might not even know where you want to be and that's ok. You just need to give yourself permission. The voice inside your head that says no I can't do that because XYZ, you can tell it to shut the fuck up. It's ok to take a leap of faith. Think through the worst things that could possibly happen and break it down, it turns out that even if things don't work out, you'll be ok.
9. Blocking out emotions is the way I deal with things, but it's probably not good in the long run and I really don't recommend it. It's ok to ask for help from others.
10. Live in the present, not a potential future. Appreciate every moment.

Living through the last 10 years has been tough, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Every experience has shaped me into who I am today, and I’m looking forward to the next 10 years of this unpredictable journey.

There are too many people to mention in this post that I have met and worked with in my journey. You are not forgotten and it's great to look back at the memories we created together. I'd like to take a moment to thank every one of you.