James Dixon

Connectd

Head of People

Team Leadership Coach

Senior Performance Acquisition Manager

Performance Acquisition Manager

GBG Plc

New Business Development Manager, Loqate

Playrcart

Business Development Manager

GSMA

International Digital Sales Manager 

The Drum - Modern Marketing and Media

Senior Sales

Haymarket Media Group

Senior Sales Executive

Digital Account Manager

Digital Executive

Sales Executive

Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Ltd.

Sales Assistant

St Mary’s University, Twickenham

Studying the nutrient in foods and how the body uses them. Developing a knowledge of the structure, function and metabolic processes of the body and how nutrition supports its health. The important areas of IT and data handling skills related to this field.  Investigating the effects of diet on health and wellbeing and exploring the nutritional needs throughout the lifecycle, from pre-conception through to old age. 
Examples of modules studied include:
•	clinical nutrition
•	sports nutrition
•	sport in the media
 •	research project (below - 1st class)

Sports Science with Nutrition Student

Wickes

Wickes is part of the Travis Perkins Group and was recently voted Britain's favourite DIY Store, by leading market research company Verdict, for the third time in four years. During my time at Wickes I was responsible for:
Ensuring the store is ready for business each day.
Pro-actively approaching and assisting customers.  
Replenishing the store with stock to ensure maximum availability.
Adhering to company Health and Safety standards.
Ensuring compliance to procedures in all areas of responsibility. 
Applying merchandising and promotions to company standard.
Assisting in stock control checks.

At Connectd, we work with fractional executives looking to build careers through fractional c-suite, non-executive and board advisor roles with high-growth startups across the UK and US. 

Through the Connectd platform, we help current and aspiring fractional executives access opportunities, CPD-accredited training, mentoring, and exclusive community access within our growing community. Key focus areas include:

Facilitating pro bono placements with startups & scaleups
Learn the fundamental skills, behaviours and attitudes of a board advisor, fractional and NED roles across this 8-module programme
Work with expert mentors spanning over 60 sectors, matched to your skills
Upskill through webinars, roundtable discussions, and thought-leadership sessions

Interested? Send me a message to explore more about your eligibility for Connectd.

Connectd updates:

1. Professionals favoring fractional work surged by an impressive 181% 🤯 
   
2. Achieved 27th place in the prestigious Deloitte Technology Fast 50 for 2025

3. Successful launch events in Austin & Dallas 🇺🇸
   
4. Proud nominees in the Barclays Scale Up Company awards & collaborated on an event with NatWest 

5. Massive partnership with HubSpot, benefiting both customer bases

... all of that just last week!

Looking forward to what the remainder of 2025 has in store 🚀

Jim Dixon

Head of People | Performance Coach | Empowering organisations and talent to transition into and succeed in the future of fractional work

Wouldn't it be great to read stuff like this in the news...

Founder of 1% Better™ | Former accountant, future author | Follow me for the best self-development content on LinkedIn

5 ways to actually practice gratitude in your life:

1. Look for glimmers
Glimmers are the opposite of triggers. They're those tiny moments in your day that make you feel joy, peace, or gratitude. Once you train your brain to be on the lookout for them, they start appearing everywhere.

2. Snap a joy photo
Take one picture per day of something that brought you joy. A cup of coffee, a funny street sign, the way the sunlight hits your desk. Not for social media—just for you.

3. Say it when you feel it
When someone does something you appreciate, actually tell them. Doesn't have to be profound. Just: "I'm glad you're in my life" or "Thanks for always making me laugh."

4. Practice future nostalgia
Throughout your day, pause and ask: "Will I miss this moment someday?" Your current morning routine, the commute you complain about, even your kid's phase of asking "why?" fifty times a day.

5. Add an upside to your complaints
If you catch yourself venting about something, tack on one small silver lining. "This weather is awful…but at least I get to wear my favorite jacket."

What is your favorite way to practice gratitude?
💾 SAVE this to refer back to.

Image credit: unknown

Great list here... forgot to start my day with number 1 so I'll finish it with my daily gratitude: 

Working with Spyros Balampekos FCCA, Claudia Stankler, Paola Matos Albers & Deel to supercharge our business this past few months.

30 short habits with a massive return on life:

What would you add to this list?

30 short habits with a massive return on life 

Throughout my time at Connectd, I keep hearing the same thing from founders:
Once they bring the right advisor on board, something shifts.

Sometimes the impact is obvious. Their pitch tightens up, the story finally lands and investor meetings feel completely different. Other times it is more subtle, but you can sense it. They show up with more clarity and direction, and investors pick up on that straight away.

If you’re getting ready for a round, we’re running a session on 26 November at 2PM GMT / 9AM EST about how advisors can help founders raise with more confidence.

 Save your spot → https://lnkd.in/eZh2fXU4

Global Board Member & Advisor, Speaker, Mentor & Consultant at O.H Degani Consultants - helping businesses create & implement profitable growth strategies, through leveraging innovative Digital & Customer Experience

Happy & proud to end my first year with Connectd on a high note, by becoming a Mentor in the Transition To Portfolio programme, which will allow me to help more great people with their journey moving from executive full-time roles to flexible portfolio work, as many are doing these days in growing numbers.

It's funny actually as more mentoring wasn't even one of the reasons I originally joined Connectd (it's what I've been doing the longest), and I love it (always looking to honestly share from my experience and help others), so very happy with the additional opportunity, and it was a nice reminder for me that good things happen when you're around good people, even when you don't expect them :)

Which brings me to looking back on why I joined Connectd and what I did during my first year to achieve that, which is something many people have been asking me about, so speaking of sharing, trying to reflect & summarise below (and show in the photos):

- I wanted to take the next step in my journey, which meant more paid Board Advisor and Board Member / Non-Executive Director (NED) roles, and my approach to this strategic investment has been to go "all in" in order to maximise the value I get out of it, in a holistic way.

- Did the online training properly & quickly and got my Board Advisor certificate 

- Got my mentor, which wasn't easy for me as I'm not used to being the mentee, but I knew I needed it to challenge myself and indeed he did exactly that! 

- Attended every event I could, online and in person in London, which got me to meet founders, other advisors and the Connectd team (lead by the impressive & ambitious Roei Samuel, always supportive & full of energy!), and also listen to people with far more experience who openly shared their stories, advice & tips

- Got my placement as a Board Advisor at Lydia, which has been a great match for me (done fully by the Connectd team!) as I really enjoy working with their founder Nok Orrason, a special person

- Spending time on a weekly basis finding the most relevant opportunities on the platform, reaching out and having good conversations with the founders

- Reached out to the very supporting team with every question (and I had a few!), especially to George Kimpton-Moss who got me on board, and the super-responsive Jon Teale!

- Interviewed to share my story which was featured on the website

- Leveraged all the above on LinkedIn (updating my profile, liking, commenting, posting, connecting, messaging)

As a result, I am happy to be on track to achieve my strategic goals, with some paid & blended Board Advisor roles agreed and some in progress, on the Connectd platform and outside it, and not least important (maybe more), better knowledge & understanding of this tricky space, clarity of my own way, and stronger confidence.

Too many people to thank here so please see the comments!

Looking forward to my second year, where the focus will be on paid Board Member / NED roles - bring it on :)

How to do a hard reset on your life before 2026:

How to do a hard reset on your life before 2026

What are you doing about collecting mentors in your career? I view them as absolutely essential to growth, especially the ones who are skilled at asking the right questions of you & not just teaching via their own experience. 

I've been really lucky to have several key figures that have helped to guide and shape my journey. I've even become a mentor myself in recent years, which is an unbelievably fulfilling way to invest time. 

The trick is to figure out who's got what you need for whatever the next stage of growth is, not an easy task and can require some luck and persistence.

Connectd helps take the guesswork out of the process for many with mentor matching. Our community does much more than this with thousands aligned on growth mindset. 

Challenge to anyone reading this, put yourself out there today for either side. You won't regret it!

What if the career “safety net” was the thing holding you back?

Volker Ballueder, one of our mentors, learned this after years in corporate and a few redundancies that forced him to rethink what “security” actually meant.

What started as a small fractional role turned into something better, more freedom, stability and the confidence that comes from multiple income streams.

More people are making that same shift, and startups are driving the demand faster than ever.

Swipe through to see how he did it 👇

Finding freedom in building a fractional career

Well calculated, planned & executed risk is still better than no risk at all. Personally I'd always start with coaching, gain clarity on your plan then go for it without hesitation. 

As we near the end of the year lots will be thinking about what next? I suggest the very next thing is read the post from Tim below, and ask yourself why you're doing any of it? Some will carry on, others need to make a drastic change.

Aussie writer with 1B+ content views in 10 years | I teach people to use writing online to create career opportunities | Let's connect: tim@timdenning.com

The safe career path is the riskiest decision you'll ever make.

Playing it safe guarantees you'll die with regrets.

━━━━━

Met a 58-year-old accountant last week. Same desk for 22 years.

Never asked for a promotion. Never changed companies. Never tried anything new.

"I played it safe," he said. "Now I'm too old to take risks."

He's not old. He's institutionalized.

━━━━━

The myth of the safe path:

Stable job = Security
Same company = Loyalty pays off
Avoid risks = Avoid failure

Reality check:

That stable job? Gone in the next layoff.
That loyal service? Means nothing when profits drop.
That risk avoidance? You already failed by never trying.

━━━━━

Know what's actually risky?

Being 50 with one skill that's becoming obsolete.
Having a resume that shows zero growth in a decade.
Realizing you spent 20 years building someone else's dream.

The biggest risk isn't taking chances. It's taking none.

━━━━━

Two people from my network:

Sasha: Stayed at IBM for 15 years. "Safe" job. Laid off at 45. Can't find work because her skills are dated.

Mark: Changed jobs 5 times in 10 years. Started two failed businesses. Now runs a $5M company because he learned from every risk.

One played it safe. One's set for life.

━━━━━

Every risk-taker I know started terrified:

The lawyer who became a baker. Scared for 6 months. Now owns 4 locations.
The director who quit to freelance. Ate ramen for a year. Makes triple now.
The analyst who started a podcast. Everyone laughed. 100K downloads monthly.

Fear is the entry fee. Pay it or stay stuck.

━━━━━

The compound effect of playing it safe:

Year 1: Comfortable
Year 5: Bored
Year 10: Trapped
Year 15: Desperate
Year 20: Dead inside

Each year you don't risk, the cage gets smaller. Until you can't even see the bars anymore.

━━━━━

Take the f*cking risk.

Apply for the role you're not qualified for.
Start the business while you have a job.
Move to the city that scares you.
Launch the project everyone says won't work.

Worst case? You fail and learn.
Best case? You build the life you actually want.
Likely case? You surprise yourself.

━━━━━

Your deathbed won't care about your stable career.

It'll care about the chances you didn't take.

What risk have you been avoiding? 👇
♻️ Repost if playing it safe is playing to lose

If you want to level up your career faster, then join my unconventional Substack newsletter with 163K others: https://lnkd.in/gMkRFmj9

Antler

Entrepreneur in Residence

Boltd Solutions

Advising tech startups and enterprises on AI/ML product strategy and digital transformation

• Generated $600K+ annual revenue with focus on health tech and B2B SaaS sectors
• Developed AI agent trained on 10K+ solar/battery specifications, reducing commercial off-grid system quoting time by 80%
• Drove 60% revenue increase for health tech client through product-market fit optimization
• Delivered $500K annual savings for HVAC enterprise through digital transformation
• Identified $300MM market opportunity through TAM/SAM/SOM analysis influencing Seed strategy
• Helped 3 portfolio companies secure $2MM+ funding through product vision refinement
• Developing health AI platform connecting wearables/biomarkers to behavior change; targeting B2C wellness market

Strategy Product Manager | AI Agent & Business Transformation

Stan

Creator Economy B2C SaaS Platform ($35MM ARR, 65K+ Creators) - Brought in to drive rapid results

• Architected AI-powered customer reactivation system, recovering $600K ARR in 30-day sprint
• Built multi-agent AI system using Claude and GPT-4 APIs for personalized journey optimization, improving engagement 34%
• Led cross-functional initiative with engineers and product managers to build Spotify + LinkedIn partnership integration
• Designed PLG features enabling creator niche expansion, driving 40% adoption increase
• Ran 12 A/B tests in 8 weeks with average 15% conversion improvement

Lead Growth Product Manager | GTM & Partnerships channels

Branch Energy

Series A Clean Energy Startup ($10MM raised, $42MM valuation) - Company pivoted to B2B model post-departure

Employee #1 who built and scaled consumer product from zero to $7MM revenue, leading team of 15.


As Founding PM (Nov 2020 - oct 2021):
• Scaled product from idea to $7MM revenue achieving PMF with 1,000 customers in first 90 days
• Built platform architecture serving 6,000 customers with 3-person ops team (2000:1 efficiency)
• Built proprietary AI pricing algorithm and recommendation engine processing 100K+ data points daily
• Shipped 3 products: B2C energy marketplace, automated audit tool, B2B hardware/software solution
• Designed automated systems handling 80% of customer inquiries, achieving industry-leading NPS

As Head of Product & Growth (Oct 2021 - Apr 2023):
• Scaled B2B SaaS product from beta to $200K MRR in 5 months
• Managed $500K acquisition budget achieving CAC:LTV of 1:4 (industry standard 1:2.5)
• Built viral referral program generating 30% of new customer acquisitions
• Hired and managed 6 Product Managers across 5 squads, implementing 30-60-90 day onboarding playbooks
• Positioned company for strategic pivot with scalable systems enabling smooth B2B transition

Founding Product Manager → Head of Product & Operations → Head of Growth

Just Energy

$4B revenue energy retailer | 1M+ customers (residential & commercial) - Executive product leadership role.

Led enterprise-wide business systems transformation and product strategy across 10+ product lines, managing 30 direct reports and 50+ cross-functional team members.

• Drove $30MM impact through product optimization and digital transformation
• Migrated 1M+ customers and 1000+ employees from legacy systems to modern stack (Amazon Connect, Salesforce), with zero downtime, reducing operational costs by 70%
• Managed product strategy across residential and commercial segments serving 1MM+ customers globally
• Aligned 3 VPs and 8 Senior Directors on unified product vision, accelerating roadmap delivery from 2 years to 3 months

Chief of Staff to President | Group Product Manager

Amaris

Global Technology Consulting (6,000+ employees)

Rose from IC to partner track in 18 months, leading North American engineering center and strategic client engagements.

• Generated $1MM+ monthly revenue through 6 new product/service offerings and strategic partnerships
• Managed 20-30 engineers across Fortune 500 implementations (Zimmer Biomet, PointClickCare)
• Influenced critical decisions in $85M acquisition through technical due diligence
• Established partnerships with SAP, Salesforce, Oracle driving $3MM+ annual revenue
• Launched North American delivery center achieving $60K monthly revenue from day one

Technical Product Manager → Associate Partner

Engagement Manager - Lead Consultant

Technical Product Manager

Engineer IT Consultant

McKinsey & Company

- Contributed to digital transformation strategies for Fortune 500 clients
- Developed analytical frameworks still used in current product work

Consultant Internship

Rugby Club Toulonnais

- Developed elite performance mindset and discipline that directly translates to leadership

Professional Rugby Player

Product & Business Leader | Scaling Growth & Digital Transformation | Ex-Pro Athlete Applying Sports Principles to Drive Business Excellence | Leadership & Peak Performance Advocate

Product Manager with 8+ years building AI/ML, digital and SaaS products from 0→1, and scaling product and teams from 1→10, with proven ability to scale operations 1000%+ while maintaining lean teams. Track record includes $600K ARR recovery in 30 days, scaling from 0 to $7MM revenue with 3-person ops team, and driving $30MM+ enterprise impact.

Specializing in product-led growth, operational excellence, and AI-powered solutions for health tech, B2B SaaS, and Utilities Industry.

Known for systems thinking, collaborative leadership, and high-velocity execution. I bring customer obsession to every product decision, with proven platform thinking that scales from startup to enterprise.

Currently: Building AI-powered health and longevity products to gain hands on experience with Agentic products.

Let's connect - I specialize in making the impossible look inevitable.

Robin Ayme

Most health founders I know are unhealthy.
Sounds crazy. But it's true.
Was joking about this with Scott Marcaccio the founder of Myo recently.

We're building companies to help millions get healthier.
While burning ourselves out in the process.

The irony isn't lost on me.
When I coached founders and CEOs, I saw the same pattern every time:
They'd come to me wanting to optimize performance, high achievement and pro-athlete mindset level. Get that last 1%.

Then a few weeks in:
"Robin, I actually have two problems:

1 - My health is falling apart
2 - My relationship with my wife and kids is broken"

My answer was always honest: "I can help with #1. Still figuring out #2 myself."

Here's what I learned from working with top performers (people advising Meta executives):

Congruence is everything.

If you sleep 4 hours, run on stress, but your company preaches wellness?
You're not building a brand. You're building a lie.

Now I'm back in the builder seat with my own longevity venture.
And I'm doing it differently this time.

My bet? I need to be my hardest customer.
I need to build this company while:
-> Running a startup
-> Training for Hyrox (Yes, moving away from Rugby ...)
-> Trying to be the best dad and husband possible 
-> Actually having a life

If my product can't work for me when life is chaos, it won't work for anyone else.
Most health products are built for perfect conditions.
But we're human. Life is messy.
I focus on the human behind the body.

Because what's the point of winning if in 20 years I'm asking someone:

1 - Can you help me with my health?
2 - Can you help me save my relationships?

That's not ambition. That's insanity.
I'm building this company the right way. Or not at all.

-------
BTW - If you're near a Myo clinic. 100% worth your time.

Building AI Health & Longevity Products | Cross-functional Leader | 0→1 + Scale Expert | Ex-Pro-Athlete

More data doesn't make you healthier.
As a pro athlete, and then in my business career, I learned something important:
We collected tons of data. But we only obsessed over metrics that had:

-> High leverage/correlation to the outcome
-> Clear action we could take

Everything else? Ignored.

Now I see health tech making the opposite bet—collect ALL the data, figure it out later.

But that's backwards.

Data without a clear path to action is just noise.

People chase the 143rd biomarker when they don’t do anything about their lack of sleep, and eat processed food like candies … 

I’m not here to sugarcoat the truth: the next biomarker will not change anything in your life, you’re just procrastinating. 

Same concept as people chasing the next information, waiting to “be ready” to start. 

Start with what you have, the basics will already bring you to the top 5%.

That's what I'm building into my next venture. 

Ruthless focus on what moves the needle. Cut the rest.

Already in closed beta with longevity clinics and high-end gyms.

Consumer launch coming soon.

Want early access? Drop a comment or DM me to join the waitlist.

For years, people told me I was “too scattered.”

Journalist. Coach. Athlete. Founder. Systems nerd.

“Pick a lane, Robin.”

Then AI happened.

And suddenly, being a polymath became my edge.

Here’s my morning now:
☕ Coffee
📋 Assign Notion tickets to my Claude Code agent
🚶 Walk to office (20 min)
💬 Arrive to Slack: “Done. Tests passing.”

Code written. Reviewed. Ready to ship.
Before my first meeting.

All those years going deep on productivity systems, automation, research methods?

Felt like procrastination at the time.

Now it’s the foundation for orchestrating AI agents.

The new leverage isn’t being specialized.
It’s knowing enough about everything to direct AI that does the rest.

Polymaths used to be scattered.
Now we’re dangerous.

No alternative text description for this image

If you're in the top 1% of health ... read this.
If you're tired of them ... read this.

Ever talked to someone obsessed with fishing?
They hit you with line weights, drag systems, tippet sizes, moon phases...

And suddenly, you have zero interest in trying it.
Health is the same.

You're passionate. You love the deep dive. 
You spend weekends reading studies on NAD+ and Zone 2 training.
That's great ... for you.

But here's the problem: most people don't want a PhD in longevity. 
They just want to feel good and live longer.

When you overwhelm them with details, you lose them.
Your job isn't to show how much you know.

It's to make health fun and approachable.
Teach people how to fish - and make them actually want to do it.

I'm sure you once loved a subject because the professor teaching it made it fun and approachable - I did (Quantum Mechanics - nerdy on paper, one of my professor made it memorable .. a story for later). 

PS - I consider myself in the top 1% of health. So that's a letter to myself ;)

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