Flexport

Business Development

Forward Advances

Built and scaled a venture backed B2B FinTech lender. Delivered 150% QoQ growth for over two years. Raised £15M in debt & equity. Reported to the board of a listed entity.

Venture CEO

Forward Partners

Sat on the leadership team of an early stage investor.

Managing Director

Earnt.It

Bootstrapped and launched a consumer FinTech enabling early wage access.

Founder

PayPal

Led a $10b card product and launched new lending businesses through strategic partnerships.

Product, Business Development and GTM

Scaled Buy Now Pay Later and Revenue-Based Financing products to a £2b originations run rate.

Head of Operations

HSBC

Program Manager

Bank of America

Head of Projects

British Army

IT and Telecommunications Engineer

Fractional operator for Founders & Innovative Corporates | Follow for insights on business and leadership

I've built and scaled fast-growing FinTech products as a founder and operator.

- Scaled PayPal’s Buy Now Pay Later and Merchant Lending business in the UK to a £2B annual originations run rate.
- Bootstrapped a consumer FinTech, enabling customers to access wages early.
- Founded and scaled a venture-backed FinTech, providing revenue-based financing to digital businesses.

I’ve developed expertise in early product validation, go-to-market strategy, growth, and operations.

Along the way, I've just been following my interests and solving problems for customers.

Oh, and I love riding motorbikes and climbing mountains.

Hasam Silva

Excited to announce the launch of The Trade Leaders Table.

This is a small, invite-only dinner exclusively for CEOs and CFOs of businesses over $100M in revenue who are focused on simplifying global trade in 2026.

It’s two hours, under the Chatham House Rule, focused purely on knowledge exchange.

You’ll be joined by other business leaders and a specialised group of experts in customs, freight, and finance.

The goal is simple: share the practical knowledge needed to simplify global trade in 2026.

The first date is on 15 January 2026.

#globaltrade #supplychain #customs #workingcapital #fintech

FinTech GTM & Growth | Scaling Flexport Capital in EMEA

SAS Environmental Services Ltd

At SAS Environmental Services we use our unique microemulsion technology and 20 years experience in oil waste treatment to solve oil waste problems, treat oil waste sludge, separate oil mud waste and cleanup oil waste in general. Our mission is to clean up the oil waste around the planet until we can honestly say it is Done. We have some ways to go and we would love you to work with us, clean up the oil waste and do so economically, quickly and to the highest standard.

The Moonshot Factory

Director ZCL - The Moonshot Factory

SAS Production Services

Non Executive Director

Craft Prospect

Craft Prospect develops AI systems for cubesats and space based Quantum Key Delivery technology.

Non Executive Chair

Entrepreneur Business School

Business Mentor - Technology Startups & Growth Companies

Surface Active Solutions Ltd

Develop and implement international sales & marketing strategy.

Commercial Director

Edinburgh Napier University

Development of microemulsion systems for use in pesticide formulation and exo-toxicity testing. 

Development of unique chemistries for safe sheepdip formulations.

Formulating new chemistry for use in mining operations.

Research Assistant

CEO at SAS | Creating Moonshots

As a seasoned entrepreneur and CEO at SAS Environmental Services, I have devoted my career to the development of innovative oil waste treatment solutions for environmental remediation projects. With over two decades of experience, I have led SAS to become a global leader in reducing energy consumption and carbon footprints in oil waste treatment. 

Beyond SAS, I mentor and train technology companies & founder teams as part of the Moonshot Factory.  

I am always open to connecting with like-minded professionals and exploring new opportunities. Feel free to reach out if you are interested in discussing innovative waste management, entrepreneurship, or business growth.

In the Moonshot Factory we provide transformational mentoring and training programs to incubated companies at the Higgs Centre for Innovation in Edinburgh. Collaborating directly with founder teams, managing directors, and investors, we enhance the strategic direction and execution of early-stage ventures. 

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working closely with founders and startups across a diverse range of industries, including pharma & medical technologies, space tech, renewables, environmental, and energy. As a trusted advisor, non-executive director, or through program-based engagements such as Edinburgh Innovations (Edinburgh University), Planet Positive Lab (Oxford), the Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Fellowship Awards, Converge Challenge, or iCure, I am committed to driving success and empowering transformative ventures.

Mark Zwinderman

People ask me sometimes, now that my life is roughly 50/50 In Scotland and The Netherlands (and a wee bit in England), do I feel Scottish or Dutch?

All it takes is the last 30 minutes of watching a football match to know the answer 😄 . I aged 20 years last night.

Legends.

Strategic Architect | Designing Systems for High-Ambition Leaders, Organisations & Ecosystems

Scotland has another report (a good one). Now Scotland needs a Moonshot.

The Scaling Scotland report identifies many real issues. These include talent gaps, funding gaps, lack of successful, scaling companies.

But what the report lacks is focus.
Without a single, galvanising mission, even the best recommendations do not develop momentum.

Here is one version worth committing to:

By 2035, Scotland will create 50 new £100M+ companies headquartered here. These will be built on strong foundations, led by world-class talent, and powered by long-term capital.

Built on world-class research. Led by world-class talent. Powered by long-term capital.

They could generate:
•	30,000 high-value jobs in deep tech, life sciences, and technology
•	45,000 total jobs when including suppliers and services
•	£2bn+ in annual wages across Scottish communities
•	Approaching £1bn in annual tax receipts - before VAT

To get there, we don’t need twenty priorities.

We need three powerful levers that compound everything else. These are the following.

Foundations for Scale
Get venture structure right from day one. Equity alignment for growth, governance, commercial clarity. Foundations that enable building companies that can scale and choose to stay. You can’t build a skyscraper on weak foundations. Startups and spinouts in Scotland need structure for future success.

Talent Magnet
Develop, attract, and retain leaders who know how to scale. Make Scotland a career destination, not a stepping stone. Reward talent in equity and cash. Incentivise  people and businesses for success.

Long-Term Capital
A £500M fund for Scotland based innovation businesses. Patient growth capital for 7-10 year journeys from lab to market. Business growth follows money.

One Moonshot goal with three levers.

If we focus policy, efforts and behaviours we will get effectively use these levers. Better lives for all through effective scaling of innovation.

Report link: https://lnkd.in/ejBUuJVN

You are not too old.

Springsteen, age 63, Leeds.

No excuses. Just go do it.

If you are 50 or over and struggling for success in the job market; be a commercial champion, set up a business, learn how to sell, go for 50 coffees, it’s all good.

No alternative text description for this image

The entrepreneurial ecosystem is complex, hard to navigate, and confusing for founders.

Do we need a single access door for founders to the ecosystem to make it easy to get the right support?

Usually the proposed solution is another website, AI platform, regulating advisors and incubators to some standard, advocating for a single approach to entrepreneurship.

A healthy ecosystem is messy, chaotic, filled with good, bad, ugly, and full of experiments and strange and wonderful people.

A healthy ecosystem can be accessed from all sorts of angles. By air, land and sea. Maybe you can tunnel in. Use a parachute. Perhaps if you pull the candlestick on the fireplace a secret doorway opens. There’s many ways into entrepreneurship and that helps democratise access. 

Single doors and standardisation are designed to keep people, and competitors, out. Hadrian’s Wall was not designed to make it easier for Scots to shop in England.

A single door access ecosystem is not an ecosystem, it’s Disneyland.

If we want business and founders to flourish and grow, we need to treat them as grown ups. The world is not a single access door place. 

Figure it out. Find what approach works for you. Work hard. Grow resilience by spades.

#Entrepreneurship #Business #Scotland #Oxford #Startups

The future is not random.
 
There’s a group of people who are convinced technology will magically fix everything. There’s another group who are convinced technology will destroy everything.
 
Both perspectives are wrong.
 
The future is created, by us, and not one future is inevitable.
 
Progress happens when four things align:
• The physics allows it
• The economics trend in our favour
• The technology becomes usable
• Society is willing to adopt it
 
Moonshot thinking is a structured approach to co-creating a “preferred future” and pulling it forward.
 
Breakthroughs rarely come from a single invention. They come from convergence of different areas. For example AI plus robotics, biotech plus materials, energy plus storage.
 
If you are building something ambitious, the real challenge is designing the adoption pathway.
 
Make it cheaper, easier, faster, and safer than the current alternative, and adoption accelerates.
 
Future thinking is about taking actions today that compound into impact over the next decade.
 
If you are looking to be part of building our future and based at Oxford University, join us and other Moonshot driven founders at the ground breaking Oxford Moonshot Programme.

🗓️ 11 November, 12:30 – 13:30
💻 Register for the online information session: tinyurl.com/mry5ny6x
🚀 Ready to apply? enspire.ox.ac.uk/moonshot

#Moonshot #Enspire #Oxford #Entrepreneur #Startup Greg Jones Dora Handrea #Enspire

Open article: The Oxford Moonshot by enspire.ox.ac.uk

I was at Rhodes house for an Oxford Venture Angels dinner and a few pitches this week. Home to many Rhodes Scholars over the years since 1928.

How does this relate to Moonshots and the Oxford Moonshot Programme?

Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon was twice rejected for a Rhodes Scholarship.

Because he was rejected, he ended up in a different career. One that would ultimately make him part of the Apollo 11 crew, and the second man to walk on the Moon.

Follow your Moonshot. Start right here in Oxford.

🗓️ 11 November, 12:30 – 13:30
💻 Register for the online information session: tinyurl.com/mry5ny6x
🚀 Ready to apply? enspire.ox.ac.uk/moonshot

#Moonshot #Enspire #Oxford #Entrepreneur #Startup Greg Jones Dora Handrea

In 1949, American actor Sam Wanamaker arrived in London searching for Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. He found only a blackened plaque on an unused brewery wall, incorrectly placed.

Most people would have shaken their heads and walked away.

Sam spent the next 23 years making the impossible possible.

He founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust in 1971, then fought bureaucracy, skeptical colleagues, and hostile local councils. He poured his own earnings as an actor and director into the project. He navigated fire regulations that hadn't allowed a thatched roof in London since 1666. He battled developers who wanted high-rise housing on the site.

Many called it his "great obsession." The project was declared impossible.

Sam died in 1993, while the building was still under construction.

But The Globe Theatre opened in 1997. An indoor theatre bearing Sam's name opened in 2014. His vision transformed cultural expectations and redefined what "impossible" means.

This is what every moonshot requires

→ A vision so compelling it survives decades of rejection 
→ Personal sacrifice (Sam invested his own money when others wouldn't) 
→ Relentless focus despite shifting obstacles → The ability to inspire others to join an "impossible" mission

Sam never saw the finished theatre. But he saw the first performance in 1993, while builders were still working around the actors.
That's the moonshot mindset. You don't wait for perfect conditions. You start. You persist. You inspire others to believe.

You start. Others will join you.

I architect Moonshot programmes for leaders, enterprises, and regions

Moonshot thinking isn’t about  coming up with big goals.

It’s about:
– clarity
– sequencing
– systems
– capability
– long-term momentum

They didn’t manage to reach the moon by “thinking big.”
It was reached by designing Mercury → Gemini → Apollo.

Moonshot is a method, not a dream.

Big goals don’t create capability.
Capability creates big goals.
Moonshot thinking builds both.

A powerful post. The line that stood out to me was “we keep acting as though politicians — rarely trained in complex delivery — should fix everything”

This is exactly the pattern I see across universities, industry and government projects. We keep outsourcing the mission. We hand the problem to a single actor and then wait. In Scotland it is usually Scottish Enterprise who are handed the role of the cavalry. Expected to come up over the hill with some magic.

Moonshot thinking suggests a different model.
If you want to change an ecosystem, you build the capability around government, not inside it.

Government sets direction and delivery belongs to the wider system.

That includes founders, researchers, operators, investors, implementation teams, people willing to pull things into reality. Business leaders. Business networks.

Some nations have figured this out. The UK hasn’t yet. But the ingredients are all here.

Before we ask “what should Government do”, we should ask a question.

What is the mission, who owns which piece, and what architecture lets that mission scale?

That’s the work we need if we want more than reports and we want results.

Global Presenter & Moderator | Strategic Connector for Founders, Funds & Change-Makers | Co-Founder of Impact Ventures

🌍 Whatever happens in the Budget on Wednesday, I'll be leaving the country.

Only for a few days - a business trip to Riyadh.

Being away from the UK is always a chance to reflect on a country which, despite its enormous attractions, spends a lot of time doubting itself.

We have remarkable resources, problem-solvers and solutions at our disposal.

Deciding who should be doing what is part of our problem.

Imagine for a moment that all “Charity” is a failure of the state.

Now imagine that all “State”, all “Government”, is a failure of charity - or more broadly, of community.

This confusion about roles and responsibilities has been on my mind.

I recently read a UK House of Lords report on funding technology companies and realised the people best placed to deliver its recommendations weren’t in Government, but across all sectors.

Too often we read such reports and say to Government: “over to you”.

We keep acting as though politicians - uniquely untrained for complex delivery - should fix everything.

When business people see problems, they often fire missile-shaped letters, petitions and policy demands into the heart of Government, as if this were the only route to change.

Instead, reviews could spark cross-sector implementation teams, charged with doing, not talking - inspired by Government, but not confined to it.

My two years on the Council on Social Action at 10 Downing Street taught me that even the most powerful address in the land doesn’t possess a mythical “lever room” where change happens. Seeing its limits was disappointing, challenging, and ultimately inspiring.

I remain in awe of anyone who runs for public office and grateful to those who serve their “tour of duty”.

But imagining Government’s role begins and ends with Government activity misses the point.

The opportunity is to connect, galvanise and inspire new collaborations - to oversee a national social-innovation A&R centre that spots and backs what works, and isn’t afraid of big bets.

The power to convene does not begin and end with a few receptions. Not every social problem has a policy-shaped answer.

In the past month, I’ve been in companies, world-famous recording studios, art galleries, and both Houses of Parliament. 

Each visit reinforced that we lack the institutions needed to drive 21st-century change.

One day, we'll have a House of Solutions.

Until then - whatever the Budget brings - let’s imagine futures where Government does nothing, and ones where it does everything.

Then, let’s build a world in between.

                                                    *****

#HouseOfSolutions

Decide today to apply for the Oxford Moonshot. 

Are you are ambitious?  
Do you want to have an impact on the world?
Are you ready to take action?

Apply for the Oxford Moonshot. A brand new programme launched by University of Oxford to build on the extraordinary legacy of innovation, science, and world changing inventions that have originated from Oxford.

This programme applies the methodology used by some of the world's most successful business leaders, not to mention the original Moonshot that landed a man on the Moon.

Cut out the noise and distractions and find out where your focus needs to be.  

Contact:
Greg Jones – greg.jones@admin.ox.ac.uk
Apply:
Ready to apply? enspire.ox.ac.uk/moonshot

A brand new programme for founders with real ambition and drive to do something special.

And why would you not?

🚀🌙 Oxford Moonshot Applications Closing: T-Minus 5 Days 

The countdown is on. Don’t miss your chance to join the Oxford Moonshot Programme - an initiative designed to support bold innovators tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges, from cleantech and medtech to AI, fintech, and beyond.

Through expert-led workshops, founder talks, industry clinics, and one-on-one mentoring, participants develop the focus, confidence, and investor readiness to take their ventures further - culminating in a Demo Day with £30,000 in equity-free prizes and pathways to continued support.

👩‍🚀 Who’s eligible - University of Oxford:
DPhil candidates 
Early Career Researchers
Alumni within 2 years of graduation

👉 Don’t miss your launch window. Apply now by 21 November: enspire.ox.ac.uk/moonshot

Greg Jones | Dora Handrea | Mark Zwinderman | Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre | Oxford University Innovation | Careers Service, University of Oxford | Enterprising Women Oxford | MPLS Researcher Training and Development | The ZERO Institute - University of Oxford | Oxford Edge

Just one more.

“According to the British Geological Survey (BGS), when Kenny McLean scored from the halfway line to seal a breathtaking 4-2 win over Denmark, which are ranked 18 places higher in the world than Scotland, the reaction at Hampden Park was equivalent to a very small earthquake”

What if Steve Jobs had been into Lego?

How do you keep the dust off the nice Lego sets you have? It’s impossible. They are great designs and dusting them is hard.

Amanda proposes automating the process. A tiny robot that cleans your Lego sets while you sleep.

With Lidar, spider web removal tool, air puffer, hoover, and a dog kennel shaped charging station.

Bonkers? Or really quite Brilliant?

We debate and imagine the future of Lego cleaning. 

EP7 of Brilliant or Bonkers is out! The Lego cleaning robot.

https://lnkd.in/ebgFUY7g

Brick creeper - The tiny roomba for your Lego set

AI used to create job descriptions and AI used to create thousands of job applications and CVs.

Then AI filters select the most fitting candidates. Who are interviewed by AI avatars. The candidates using AI to help them answer the questions.

Nobody gets hired.

Government and house builders using AI to speed the process to build more homes.

Local people using AI to create objections.

Government using AI to scan objections and create replies and ways around the objections.

It’s going really well isn’t it?

First social media, dating apps (a whole generation staying single), now AI.

It’s time to go back to communities where people talk, laugh, debate, argue, compromise, think, solve problems, muddle on.

The answer is in people coming together like we have done for thousands of years and working, ever so messily, together to do stuff.

Open article: AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn — The Guardian by apple.news

AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn — The Guardian

Applications close tomorrow for the First Launch of the Oxford Moonshot. 

This will be different.

Ana Stewart is right in saying that founders are the unsung heroes of the economy, but the real question is not so much if Scotland supports founders.

The question we need to ask is how well our system is architected to scale with them.

Both the Scaling Scotland report and Ana’s ISBE address highlight the same truth from different angles.

I don’t see an ambition problem.
I do see that Scotland has an architecture problem.

A founder-first mindset matters. Support through incorporation, early traction, and first customers matters. But scaling, true scaling, is where the fractures in the system show up.

leadership capability, governance, commercial architecture, international readiness, long-term capital, and confidence in the next decade.

If Scotland genuinely wants to unlock the potential £20B annual uplift and 100,000 high-value jobs, (not to mention the associated jobs in the community) the solution is not just “do more”.

We need to be building a coherent scale-up system. This means we need clear sequencing for companies as they move from startup → scale-up → global player.

Leadership communities that reduce isolation and increase capability. 

Long-term capital that can stay with a company through the difficult middle years. 

Governance and commercial depth that match our technical excellence.

A talent architecture that keeps experience flowing back into the ecosystem.

We need to design the system that makes scaling predictable, repeatable, and durable.

The two reports together give Scotland exactly that dual perspective.

Bottom-up: founder resilience, confidence, clarity.

Top-down: structure, capital, governance, national ambition.

Combine them, and Scotland has a blueprint for a world-class scale-up ecosystem.

A Moonshot architecture for national economic transformation.

But the real power comes when all three align; culture + talent + long-term capital inside a coherent architecture.

That’s the future Scotland deserves.

Partner at Harper Macleod advising entrepreneurs and investors

“Follow our founders,” supporting them from the idea stage to global expansion, and championing entrepreneurs as “the economy’s unsung heroes.” - Ana Stewart
 
At Harper Macleod LLP, this isn’t just a ambition - it’s what we do everyday. Our founder-first approach means being more than legal advisers. We partner from incorporation to international expansion because scaling isn’t just about capital and talent - it’s about confidence, clarity, and having the right team behind you. That’s where I genuinely believe we differ. We want to work with you at all stages of your life cycle. We’re there to support you from the very beginning right through your scale up journey. We’re not just waiting for you to make it big. 

Scotland’s potential is huge: scaling effectively could unlock £20 billion in annual revenue and create 100,000+ high-value jobs. That’s the ambitious vision laid out in the Scaling Scotland Report by Shane Corstorphine & The Scottish Scale Up team. This report alongside, Ana Stewart’s new growth blueprint in her speech at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference offers a founder-focused roadmap to make scaling-up a national priority.

🤝 A Shared Vision

1. Building a Scottish Powerhouse: Scotland must evolve from a start-up culture into a thriving scale-up ecosystem, unlocking high value jobs, and driving long term prosperity.

2. Global Competitiveness: both reports emphasise the need to expand international market access, boost export readiness and position Scotland as a magnet for global talent and investment.

3. Measurement & Accountability: Transparent reporting and progress tracking are highlighted as essential to ensure impact and accountability.

❌ Where They Differ

1. Approach: Stewart’s plan is bottom-up and is founder-centric, prioritising mental health, resilience, and tailored support. Scaling Scotland takes a top-down view, focusing on systemic changes in governance, funding, and culture.

2. Funding Reform: Stewart prioritises capital access and tailored interventions but Scaling Scotland estimates a funding gap between £217 million and £1.5 billion for Scottish scale-ups, particularly at mid-to-late growth stages and stresses the need for investment that supports businesses over extended periods.

3. Governance: Governance is central to Scaling Scotland’s roadmap, identifying leadership and board capability as critical barriers.

These two reports offer complementary solutions - one for immediate action, the other for long-term transformation. Aligning both could unlock Scotland’s full scale-up potential and drive sustainable growth.

At Harper Macleod LLP, we’re ready to play our part by following our founders - because when they succeed, Scotland succeeds.

👉 If you had to choose one lever to shape Scotland’s future, which would it be - funding, talent, or culture?

➡️ Read the report: https://lnkd.in/egPdZ73h 

#ScaleUp #Entrepreneurship #Scotland #Innovation #GrowthStrategy

Open article: Shane Corstophine - Non-Executive Director by nowscaleit.com

Shane Corstophine - Non-Executive Director

Running a business often feels similar to flying a spacecraft being hit by lightning. 

When Apollo 12 was hit by lightning on launch, every instrument lit up like a Christmas tree.
Mission Control was silent for a few seconds, nobody knew what to do.

Except one young engineer in a back room.

He remembered a simulation over a year ago.

“Try SCE to AUX.”

The commander flipped the switch.
The spacecraft rebooted.
The mission continued all the way to the Moon.

Big missions don’t survive because everything goes right.
They survive because someone knows the system deeply enough to reset it when everything goes wrong.

Every project has an “SCE to AUX” moment. A small action that saves the mission.

Do you know yours?

Moonshots. The world needs people with ambition who take action.

Every successful Moonshot that had a positive impact on our world started with a few people, a few pints, some empty crisp packets, and one person saying “you know, why don’t we do it?”

Do it. You’ll meet great people, learn a bunch of stuff, and just maybe change the world in small or big ways.

You need a business plan.

Like you need a DVD player in 2025.

Map out what you need to do. Head out into the world.

The world needs people who are willing to make the effort and make it a better place. This programme has the goal of supporting a small group of people like this.

Not just support, make sure they move forward. Create momentum.

If you are at Oxford University follow the link below and see if this is the Moonshot you need to pursue.

taplio

The Battle

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Mark Zwinderman

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taplio

The Battle

Hasam Silva

Mark Zwinderman

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Hasam Silva's LinkedIn Performance

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