James

About Me

I work as a strategic partner to companies, helping them identify and implement the right strategies for growth.

My diverse career has enabled me to develop a broad but deep skill set covering proposition and product development, strategy, software engineering and finance.

I started my career at PwC, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in their Business Recovery and Debt Advisory practices.

I then learnt to code, taking two iPhone games from concept through to sale with one of them achieving over 20m downloads worldwide.

Most recently I spent 6 years working in strategy & innovation consulting, supporting clients across multiple sectors to identify growth opportunities, develop new business models and take their products to market.

I pride myself on being authentic, straight talking, dependable, diligent and curious in everything I do.

Who I’ve Worked With

I’ve worked with, or for, some of the world’s leading companies across multiple industries

Areas I Can Support With

Turning ideas into
viable businesses

How should my idea work?
Who are our customers?
What are the benefits for customers?
How do we design a great customer experience?

Assessing viability
& market size

Can our idea make money?
What should our business model be?
What assumptions have the biggest impact on revenue and costs?
How big is the market?

Creating business cases & investor financials

How do we articulate our business clearly to investors?
How do we get stakeholders bought into our business?
Why should someone invest?

Building prototypes & bringing ideas to life

How can we showcase our idea to customers and investors?
How do we rapidly gain customer feedback?
How can we test willingness to pay?

Piloting & launching new products & services

How do we test our product or service in the market?
How do we reach our customers?
What partnerships should we consider?

Identifying new opportunities for growth

What should we pursue to drive growth?
How are customer needs evolving?
How is the market changing?
What are competitors doing?

Key Skills

Ability to rapidly synthesise complex information and learn new skills

Presenting and explaining complex information in an easily understandable way

Rapidly building empathetic connections with colleagues, clients and customers

Shifting between expansive & reductive thinking modes seamlessly and at the right time

Being proactive and making things happen

Creating innovative solutions to complex problems

How I Typically Work

Advice & Training

My broad experience can be applied to a specific problem. I can be a sounding board, provide light-touch advice and also upskill you or your team.

Typically my advisory and training work will transform into larger, more in-depth support.

Discrete Requests

I deliver rapid progress to drive your idea or project forward. These engagements work best when there is a specific need, deliverable and deadline in mind.

Working independently, or ideally, as part of your team, I work collaboratively towards achieving specific outcomes.

Fractional Support

I provide strategic and operational support, typically to founders or C-suite execs, over a longer period of time. I typically spend 2 days across a week, split between strategic initiatives & operational support, as required.

These engagements provide the benefits of a long term relationship with the flexibility of time & scope.

JAMES SHRAGER