Founder, Inside Startups
I'm Ben Sheppard.
I build with founders when the next customer, the next decision, or the next turn in the business needs someone senior in the room.
The record
22 years in business, twelve of them in startups, four companies built, one exit, one wind-down of my own, a missed product-market fit, a pivot that reached $1M ARR in twelve months, founders advised through their own exits in the last year.
My story
I have done the hard part too.
I'm a four-time founder with one exit, ventures launched across Hong Kong, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK, and millions raised from US and European investors. I've negotiated hundreds of millions in enterprise deals and led companies from idea to revenue across AI, infrastructure, SaaS, and deep tech.
I have advised founders through their own exits and a founder buyout in the last year. I learned that discipline a decade earlier in infrastructure, finance and M&A, including as buy-side advisor on a $67M acquisition. The mechanics do not change much with the number of zeros.
I work with founders and leadership teams at the moments that matter most: scaling, turnaround, and exit. I work on the business and the people running it at the same time, because when both evolve together the results are faster, stronger, and they last.
Why Inside Startups exists
The business and the person building it.
Every founder I have worked with has, at some point, hit the same wall. The customer that churned or the competitor that appeared are expected. The harder moment is when the pressure of building starts to affect judgement, health, relationships, and ultimately the business itself.
Most support addresses the commercial layer. Strategy, operations, go-to-market, and funding all matter. I built Inside Startups to answer the question underneath them: what does the human running the business need when the pressure exceeds their current operating system?
The people I work with are on the Work with us page.
Work with us