Building great businesses from great ideas
I work with early-stage founders - typically pre-revenue to Series A - who are brilliant at what they do but are finding that building a company around it is a different challenge altogether. I help them build the structures, processes and commercial foundations that turn a great idea into a functioning business.
About me
I've spent 20 years building things from scratch across the public, private and third sectors. Most recently I co-founded and led a Cambridge University spin-out from a three-person team within a research institute to a 15-person company, handling everything from spin-out negotiation and investor relations to first hires, financial systems, and winning first contracts.
That experience, of taking an idea and making it a functioning organisation, is what I now offer founders as a fractional COO, strategic advisor, and mentor.
Recommendations
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"I invited Ruth to deliver a webinar for NHS Innovators on understanding user needs, a topic where credibility really matters to the audience. She brought genuine first-hand experience of building a company in the health space, which meant her advice landed differently to the usual consultant perspective. It was a really valuable session and I wouldn't hesitate to work with her again."
Mindy Simon
Co-Director - NHS Innovation Accelerator -
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"Ruth is unwaveringly focused on impact and creating real-world outcomes. She is a brilliant operator able to build teams, take decisive action, and to navigate complex systems in order to get innovations into the hands of people who need them. She has a huge amount to offer as a sounding board for academic founders and social entrepreneurs."
Dr Emma Salgård Cunha Commercialisation Director (DeepTech and Software) - Cambridge Enterprise
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![The image is of Penny Pereira. She has short dark hair, glasses and is wearing a black suit]()
"Organisation change comes with a whole spectrum of technical, strategic, practical and people challenges. Ruth brings a set of invaluable entrepreneurial leadership skills, grounded in experience and public sector values. We very much enjoyed collaborating with her and her team."
Penny Pereira Managing Director - Q
