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Tell me what you need to change, what your team has already tried and when you’d like to start.
Discuss a similar projectI work across strategy, design, engineering, marketing, sales and operations. Over more than a decade, that has included work for Groupon,
Vouchercloud, AWIN and
The Motley Fool, product engineering for
Framer,
Contra
and
STRV
, and founding and selling three software businesses of my own.
I’m good at taking a complicated business problem, making the work clear and seeing it through. That can mean deciding what to build, designing the experience, writing the software, finding customers or improving how the business runs. I work with colleagues across those disciplines and take responsibility for the work myself.
In my own businesses, product decisions, customer acquisition, sales, revenue and day-to-day operations have all been my responsibility. I bring that same connected view to client work, from shaping the offer to building the product and measuring whether it works for the business.
…
On 24 September 2026, the Benson repository was an empty Turborepo starter. Ten days later, on 4 October, I relaunched Benson at trybenson.com with a Shopify app, a WooCommerce plugin, a dashboard, a marketing site, a press release and a series of explainer films behind it. By the end of the second week, the repository held 836 commits, 44 product specs and about 655,000 lines of TypeScript, with 785 test files among them.
The original roadmap for the same scope estimated 14 to 18 weeks. I built it with a team of AI agents doing most of the typing while I did the deciding.
Benson is still a work in progress. It's also the piece of work I'm proudest of, because it's the first time I haven't had to cut an idea down to fit the hours I had.
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In November 2024, Dinners With Friends was a revived idea and a napkin sketch. By the start of September 2026, it had welcomed more than 500 guests across 50 dinners. Dates were routinely selling out six to eight weeks ahead, and nearly all of the remaining 2026 calendar was booked.
Pamela Silkstone first ran the concept twenty years earlier: put people who have never met around one table, give them a host, and make the first conversation easier. I took the relaunch from idea to first version, first paying customers and a business with more demand than seats. Along the way I built the brand, website, booking system, internal tools, mobile app and the search programme that now brings new people in.
The search programme delivered 5,530 Google clicks in June–August 2026, up 66.1% on the previous three months, alongside 381,345 search impressions. Building and maintaining a library of local guides gave the business a way to be discovered by people looking for food, activities and places to meet across Exeter and Devon.
…

Hosted dinners that help people make friends
CTO · Built the brand, booking platform, apps and search programme
Read the full case studyDinners With Friends brings people together to make friends over hosted meals at local venues across South West England. As CTO for the relaunch, the role covered the website, mobile apps, bookings, payments and host tools, alongside the brand, customer acquisition and analytics needed to run the business.
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“Doug was incredible to work with. He operated quickly & efficiently … 10/10!”
Allison NultyHead of Product @ ContraContra ↗Reacquired and rebuilt with AI agents in ten days. Shows ecommerce stores which coupon extensions and AI shopping agents are in their sessions, and what they cost.
Dinners With FriendsA social events platform for people who want more from their social life: hosted dinners where strangers become friends. More than 500 guests so far.