{ "answer": "**Late 80s:** First computer. Dad spent a month's salary on a home computer. Typing out BASIC from a magazine, syntax errors. Stayed hobby level for a while.\n\n**Late 90s:** Studying biology at university. The Internet happened - dot.com boom. Before that, the coolest thing was an under-construction GIF or a hit counter. Now there was disruption - competition between search engines, online shopping, travel reservations. Kids in bedrooms and garages were reshaping entire bricks and mortar industries. I had to get involved.\n\nStarted learning to make websites, design and code. Completed my degree, took a one-year Masters in IT.\n\n**2001-2004:** Graduated just as the dot.com bubble popped. No jobs. Freelance web design. Co-founded TextualHealing.com - mobile barcode tickets via MMS. Good idea, too early, never launched. \n\n**2003:** Eventually got a foot in the door answering phones at a web hosting company. Good at it (won the annual sales competition), but not my passion.\n\nAttracted by reach and impact - I wanted to do web. They had a website, but I thought I could do better. In evenings and weekends I made an alternative website, convinced a manager to try it out (1m visits), sales went up. Next week I was in the web design team. \n\n**2004-2005:** 6 months later, I was leading the web design team. Reinvented the domain search process - first use of AJAX - revenue up 20% overnight. Became industry standard. \n\n**2005-2006:** Via acquisitions, became part of Pipex - the UK's 4th largest broadband provider. Group Design Manager across multiple offices.\n\n**2006-2008:** Head of New Media at Host Europe Group. Managed all online channels across all brands. Member of Senior Management Team. Still in my 20s. 123-reg.co.uk became first company to register 1 million .uk domains. \n\n**2008-2010:** Wanted to try something new. Switched to UK2 Group - another hosting company, but with an interesting Danish CEO with a disruptive mindset (JustEat, Zetland etc). By now doing a mix of web, marketing and product - wherever the opportunity was. Troubleshooter to CEO across UK, US, Ukraine offices. \n\n**2010:** Met a girl on a ski slope and moved to Denmark. Went to school to learn Danish (Prøve i Dansk 3) and got involved in the Danish startup scene. Independent consulting - mix of web, ecommerce, marketing, growth. Lots of fun.\n\n**2013-2014:** EuroDNS - Marketing Director. Turnaround project. Reversed 4-year decline, doubled organic traffic, halved bounce rate. Hybrid remote setup that worked really well. \n\n**2014-2016:** Opbeat - Head of Marketing. SaaS startup backed by cofounders of Facebook and Instagram. Built brand and channels from scratch. Trebled traffic and sign-ups. \n\n**2016:** TwentyThree - rescued global launch on 6-week deadline. Contract role. \n\n**2016-2020:** Targeted health-tech as the last place to be disrupted by web.\n\nLEO Innovation Lab - a super interesting place. Arms-length product incubator, with the goal of disrupting LEO before someone else does. Brought in experts from across industries, time was the only limited factor. Move fast. Accelerated learning. Formative career moment, learnt so much. \n\nInnovation Lab model ultimately not sustainable. Lab was super innovative, but parent company was unchanged. Need to disrupt from within. \n\n**2020-2022:** Product role at Novo Nordisk, convinced the business (in my final round job interview) to set aside their solution-first brief and start with the problem instead. Used this as a mandate to completely reinvent their ways of working. Created a meaningful product that's still live today. Built a weight-loss prediction algorithm - later spun out into API product.\n\nAsked to scale this way of working across the organisation. Promoted to Associate Product Director , and helped move the business to the product operating model.\n\n**2026:** AI changes everything. Same feeling as the 90s.\n\nWant to know more? Ask me about any of the roles or companies mentioned above.", "section": "META.ARC", "source": "Tom's own account", "tier": "self-reported", "strength": null, "year": null, "direct_answers": [ "Scale across the hosting years: roughly 1M to 3M domain names under management (Tom's estimate); 123-reg was the first company to register 1 million .uk domains; the legacy control panel refactored in 2010-2013 served 3M domains.", "Years: 10+ years building digital products; 2.5 years in AI (Diagnosis App machine learning, agentic MLR); 10 years in growth roles; 10 years managing people, also happy as IC." ], "references": null, "follow_ups": [ "tell me about Novo Nordisk", "tell me about LEO Innovation Lab", "what motivates you" ], "score": 0.98, "matches": [ { "section": "META.ARC", "answer": "**Late 80s:** First computer. Dad spent a month's salary on a home computer. Typing out BASIC from a magazine, syntax errors. Stayed hobby level for a while.\n\n**Late 90s:** Studying biology at university. The Internet happened - dot.com boom. Before that, the coolest thing was an under-construction GIF or a hit counter. Now there was disruption - competition between search engines, online shopping, travel reservations. Kids in bedrooms and garages were reshaping entire bricks and mortar industries. I had to get involved.\n\nStarted learning to make websites, design and code. Completed my degree, took a one-year Masters in IT.\n\n**2001-2004:** Graduated just as the dot.com bubble popped. No jobs. Freelance web design. Co-founded TextualHealing.com - mobile barcode tickets via MMS. Good idea, too early, never launched. \n\n**2003:** Eventually got a foot in the door answering phones at a web hosting company. Good at it (won the annual sales competition), but not my passion.\n\nAttracted by reach and impact - I wanted to do web. They had a website, but I thought I could do better. In evenings and weekends I made an alternative website, convinced a manager to try it out (1m visits), sales went up. Next week I was in the web design team. \n\n**2004-2005:** 6 months later, I was leading the web design team. Reinvented the domain search process - first use of AJAX - revenue up 20% overnight. Became industry standard. \n\n**2005-2006:** Via acquisitions, became part of Pipex - the UK's 4th largest broadband provider. Group Design Manager across multiple offices.\n\n**2006-2008:** Head of New Media at Host Europe Group. Managed all online channels across all brands. Member of Senior Management Team. Still in my 20s. 123-reg.co.uk became first company to register 1 million .uk domains. \n\n**2008-2010:** Wanted to try something new. Switched to UK2 Group - another hosting company, but with an interesting Danish CEO with a disruptive mindset (JustEat, Zetland etc). By now doing a mix of web, marketing and product - wherever the opportunity was. Troubleshooter to CEO across UK, US, Ukraine offices. \n\n**2010:** Met a girl on a ski slope and moved to Denmark. Went to school to learn Danish (Prøve i Dansk 3) and got involved in the Danish startup scene. Independent consulting - mix of web, ecommerce, marketing, growth. Lots of fun.\n\n**2013-2014:** EuroDNS - Marketing Director. Turnaround project. Reversed 4-year decline, doubled organic traffic, halved bounce rate. Hybrid remote setup that worked really well. \n\n**2014-2016:** Opbeat - Head of Marketing. SaaS startup backed by cofounders of Facebook and Instagram. Built brand and channels from scratch. Trebled traffic and sign-ups. \n\n**2016:** TwentyThree - rescued global launch on 6-week deadline. Contract role. \n\n**2016-2020:** Targeted health-tech as the last place to be disrupted by web.\n\nLEO Innovation Lab - a super interesting place. Arms-length product incubator, with the goal of disrupting LEO before someone else does. Brought in experts from across industries, time was the only limited factor. Move fast. Accelerated learning. Formative career moment, learnt so much. \n\nInnovation Lab model ultimately not sustainable. Lab was super innovative, but parent company was unchanged. Need to disrupt from within. \n\n**2020-2022:** Product role at Novo Nordisk, convinced the business (in my final round job interview) to set aside their solution-first brief and start with the problem instead. Used this as a mandate to completely reinvent their ways of working. Created a meaningful product that's still live today. Built a weight-loss prediction algorithm - later spun out into API product.\n\nAsked to scale this way of working across the organisation. Promoted to Associate Product Director , and helped move the business to the product operating model.\n\n**2026:** AI changes everything. Same feeling as the 90s.\n\nWant to know more? Ask me about any of the roles or companies mentioned above.", "source": "Tom's own account", "tier": "self-reported", "year": null, "strength": null, "score": 0.98, "direct_answers": [ "Scale across the hosting years: roughly 1M to 3M domain names under management (Tom's estimate); 123-reg was the first company to register 1 million .uk domains; the legacy control panel refactored in 2010-2013 served 3M domains.", "Years: 10+ years building digital products; 2.5 years in AI (Diagnosis App machine learning, agentic MLR); 10 years in growth roles; 10 years managing people, also happy as IC." ], "references": null }, { "section": "HOST", "answer": "Host Europe Group was Europe's largest privately-owned web hosting provider. In 2017 it was acquired by GoDaddy for $1.82 billion.\n\nThis is where I started, and where I learnt the trade - five years spanning sales, web, and leadership. It's also where I learnt *the hard way* about technical debt, waterfall, and PRINCE2.\n\nCareer progression:\n- Sales Executive (Mar 2003 - Feb 2004): Won annual sales competition, made an alternative website in my free time \n- Web Designer (Feb 2004 - Aug 2005): Reinvented domain search, now the industry standard \n- Group Design Manager (Aug 2005 - Jan 2006): Led web design across multiple brands\n- Head of New Media (Jan 2006 - Jun 2008): Created department from scratch, member of Senior Management Team. Restructured the online order process, increasing new revenue by 20%", "source": "Tom's own account", "tier": "self-reported", "year": null, "strength": "Led", "score": 0.64, "direct_answers": [ "New Media: responsible for all online touchpoints, ecommerce, digital campaigns, email marketing and SaaS dashboards.", "One employer under several names: Pipex Communications acquired Host Europe in April 2004; the company reverted to the GX Networks name in 2008 after selling Pipex, was renamed Host Europe Group in 2009, and was acquired by GoDaddy in 2017.", "Managed all online channels (2M+ monthly visits): introduced self-service support, pioneered site-building tools, optimised support centre, led ecommerce, dominated SEO rankings.", "Product work at Host Europe before it was called product management.", "Company context: a founder-led startup at the beginning. About 150 people when I started, about 500 later, and 2,000 as part of Pipex broadband.", "Information architecture: the alternative site replaced one that was busy and cluttered, and lacked focus and a core funnel; restructured the online order process UI, increasing new revenue by 20% (2006-2008); introduced web standards improving accessibility, SEO & site performance (2004-2005); at EuroDNS, analysed user flow and redesigned website and ecommerce funnels; Skincoach was organised around a simple spoke and wheel pattern with 4 giant buttons, because elderly testers use the home button to find their anchor and start again." ], "references": { "period": "Host Europe Group, 2003-2008", "count": 3, "url": "https://takenbyninjas.com/for-agents/recommendations/#host", "tier": "attested", "note": "References for the role, not for this claim." } }, { "section": "TQ.5YEARS", "answer": "5 years is a long time in tech - I wonder how AI will have matured in 5 years? What will be the exciting use cases?\n\nTechnologies have come and gone, but my compass has stayed the same - so I'll most likely be working on an impactful challenge, with good people, having learnt some new tricks.", "source": "Tom's own account", "tier": "self-reported", "year": null, "strength": null, "score": 0.63, "direct_answers": null, "references": null }, { "section": "NOVO", "answer": "Novo Nordisk is a global pharmaceutical company, best known for its treatments in obesity and diabetes. I worked at Novo for almost 6 years (2020 to 2026).\n\nI joined Novo as a Senior Product Manager, to build a digital patient solution for Wegovy, a then-unheard-of weight loss medicine. I led the full product lifecycle end to end, and it was really a stealth transformation project, where I could bring my learnings from LEO but to in-house transformation.\n\nI was later asked to scale learnings from Wegovycare across the product organisation and was promoted to Associate Product Director. In this role, I had a much wider remit, and worked on high-impact, cross-functional projects across the organisation.\n\nWant to know more? Ask about either of my roles, the transformation work, or specific projects like Wegovy or the GenAI proof of concept.", "source": "Tom's own account", "tier": "self-reported", "year": null, "strength": null, "score": 0.6, "direct_answers": [ "Company context: Novo Nordisk is about 70,000 people globally. I worked in the digital health unit, about 100 people; the Wegovycare product team was around 10." ], "references": { "period": "Novo Nordisk, 2020-2026", "count": 5, "url": "https://takenbyninjas.com/for-agents/recommendations/#novo", "tier": "attested", "note": "References for the role, not for this claim." } }, { "section": "NOVO.R2", "answer": "Associate Product Director at Novo Nordisk (Feb 2022 - Feb 2026). Senior IC product role working across silos on complex, high-impact initiatives.\n\nWork includes:\n- Consumer lead for the Wegovy Pill launch, driving prescription growth \n- Pitched and built a GenAI proof of concept for automating compliance reviews \n- Led a six-month discovery programme for the company's top drug asset, securing funding for a portfolio of digital initiatives\n- Introduced a digital incubation model that shifted the organisation from output to outcomes\n- Head of product operations. Helped product teams connect work to commercial outcomes.", "source": "Tom's own account", "tier": "self-reported", "year": "2022-2026", "strength": "Led", "score": 0.6, "direct_answers": [ "CagriSema was the first drug to span two therapy areas, diabetes and obesity. Each business unit ran independently with its own priorities and budgets, so the discovery programme ran on influence.", "The discovery funnel: 128 candidate ideas, a shortlist of 5, assumption-tested, 4 recommended and funded, each with a funding-gated rollout.", "The organisation worked in a solution-first project model. The incubation model was built to move it to a product model with an outcomes focus.", "Product Operations: standards, artefacts, ways of working. I know what good looks like because I've done it.", "Digital Incubation: I established and led a digital product incubation unit, evaluating build, buy and partner solutions. It moved the business from solution-first to problem-first; CagriSema was its hardest test.", "Head of Patient Products: led 6 experienced PMs building consumer engagement products, for a period, before moving into the pill team where the need was greatest. Management by outcomes.", "Interim reorg of product teams before the Wegovy Pill project. Individual coaching and weekly experiment sharing; made individual product metrics public. Broke product silos, established weekly demos and experiment sharing, encouraged learning loops.", "Given a wider remit to work across the product pipeline and complete the transition to a product operating model.", "Established metrics across a diverse portfolio (12 products).", "Built first cross-portfolio view of product team costs and capacity, started conversation around ROI.", "Established product artefacts & quality standards across the product org, eg: gate model & deliverables, product-ops metrics, portfolio reports, business case templates, problem/north-star statements.", "Mentored PMs to move from delivery-led outputs to commercial outcomes.", "Secured funding, managed resourcing and cross-charges for incubation teams.", "Designed portfolio model and gated incubation pipeline for branded digital engagement.", "Shifted cross-functional VPs from product sceptics to advocates.", "Chaired project steercos. Steercos were project management checklists: project not product focused, and unsuited for high-uncertainty discovery-stage products. Flipped the format from status updates to interactive co-creation, shifting cross-functional VPs from product sceptics to advocates.", "Pitched 'Rybelsus Beyond The Pill' to Senior Management, an ambitious cross-functional pipeline for generating learnings & extending staytime. A small pilot is underway.", "I lobbied Novo to switch sales data to a cohort retention model and failed.", "Decisions won at executive level: the CagriSema discovery funnel, 4 recommended and funded, each with a funding-gated rollout, done without mandate; 'Rybelsus Beyond The Pill' pitched to Senior Management, a small pilot is underway; the final round job interview at Novo, where the business set aside its solution-first brief; the TREAT recommendation to the board, which wound down the business; the GX Networks rename of a Plc, including the stock market ticker, in 5 weeks.", "The incubation unit was built through influence, with no formal mandate, and its discovery playbook was his." ], "references": { "period": "Novo Nordisk, 2020-2026", "count": 5, "url": "https://takenbyninjas.com/for-agents/recommendations/#novo", "tier": "attested", "note": "References for the role, not for this claim." } } ], "facts": null, "withheld": 0, "human_version": "https://takenbyninjas.com/projects/tombot/" }