Dorian Spackman.
Strategy · Product · Fractional leadership

A founder
in your corner.

Strategic advice, product direction and fractional leadership for pre-seed and seed-stage founders. I help you find the focus and practical support to move your business forward.

Find your next step

For pre-seed & seed-stage businesses.
Based in Cornwall. Working beyond it.

Dorian Spackman
Dorian SpackmanFounder. Product thinker. Hands-on partner.
Experience built through doingTechnology & SaaSRetail & retail mediaMedia & broadcasting
01 / How I help

Clearer decisions.
Practical momentum.

01

Strategic advisory

Proposition · Positioning · Commercial priorities

A sounding board for the decisions that shape your business. Get clear on who you serve, why they should care and where to focus your time and resources.

02

Product direction

Customer needs · Validation · Roadmap

Turn an opportunity into a product people have a reason to buy. Challenge assumptions, define the first useful version and decide what to build next—and what can wait.

03

Fractional leadership

Embedded support · Team alignment · Delivery

Experienced leadership for a defined priority, without a full-time appointment. I work alongside you and your team to connect the commercial ambition with the day-to-day work.

02 / The person alongside you

I know what it means
to have skin in the game.

I’m Dorian, an entrepreneur and the CEO of Colateral. My experience spans technology, retail media and broadcasting: shaping products, developing commercial opportunities and bringing people together to make things happen.

I bring a commercially minded founder’s perspective, with a practical understanding of what customers will actually buy, built through developing and launching products myself. I help early-stage teams connect that understanding with clear product direction and commercial priorities.

“Would someone buy this?”
A simple question. A useful place to start.

Experience behind the advice

From an opportunity
to something people buy.

Products and businesses I’ve helped bring to market across broadcasting, local media and retail technology.

01

Red Fig

Product launch · Broadcast technology

I launched a control layer for audience interaction across multiple platforms in live broadcasts. The product was used by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and MBC in the Middle East, among others.

Over £6m in product sales after launch.

A practical example of connecting a product proposition with the needs of major broadcasters.

02

Local television & publishing

Business launch · Acquisition · Content

I launched a local internet television business in the UK, then acquired a small publishing business to create a content proposition spanning online video and print.

The aim was to bring complementary channels together around a local audience, extending what the business could offer readers, viewers and advertisers.

03

Colateral & Turbyne

Founder leadership · Product strategy · Acquisition

As founder and CEO of Colateral, I’ve built a retail technology business connecting store-level information with campaign delivery and retail media.

The acquisition of Turbyne brought complementary retail media planning, selling and execution capabilities into the business, expanding the product proposition.

03 / Working together

Start with the decision
in front of you.

01 / A conversation

Understand the challenge.

Where are you now? What are you trying to achieve? What’s keeping you from moving forward?

02 / A clear focus

Agree what matters.

Define the priority, the outcome and the kind of support that will be most useful to your business.

03 / The right involvement

Get to work.

A focused project, ongoing advice or a fractional role. Shape the engagement around what you actually need.

04 / Notes & perspectives

Thoughts from
building businesses.

On understanding customers, making product decisions and finding your way as a founder.

Strategy & positioning

When the market changes the meaning of your business

An existing product can become valuable for a different reason. The challenge is recognising the shift without losing your focus.

Read the article ↗Productivity & founder life

AI makes starting easier. Finishing still needs a decision.

A useful tool for turning thought into action can also become an endless source of new directions.

Read the article ↗
Let’s work out what comes next

What are you building?

If you’re working through a strategic decision, shaping a product or looking for experienced support, let’s start with a conversation.

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