I work with leadership to turn strategic ideas into acquisitions, partnerships and new revenue lines.
I do it at disruptors I think will end up leading their category, while that category is still taking shape: fintech, then crypto, then AI. Twice, at Revolut and at Lovable, I was the first corp dev hire and built the function from zero.
Building it from zero means deciding what it's for. Most corp dev teams are really M&A execution teams. I think that's too narrow. The best ones originate: they use the products, know the founders early, and bring leadership the move they hadn't considered, whether it ends up as an acquisition, a partnership or a new vertical.
Then they kill most of those ideas, as we did with Ledger's infrastructure push, and make the right one actually happen, like Revolut Stays.