Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for
The work he is best at
source: Tom's own account
I'm a fixer. I work on the really difficult stuff, the problems that are too hard or too messy for most people to get moving, and I like to solve them and move on. Once something is solved and running, I pass it to someone who's good at the routine work, and I go and find the next hard thing.
That pattern runs through my whole career: the domain search at Host Europe, the TREAT turnaround and closure, the Wegovycare discovery phase nobody wanted, the CagriSema funnel across two therapy areas that ran independently.
So if you have something stuck, broken, or blank-page, that's where I'm useful. If you need someone to run a mature product in steady state for years, it deserves someone who loves that, and it isn't me.
Direct answers
- Best at: problems too hard or messy for most people to get moving; solves them, hands over, moves on.
- Proof: domain search, Host Europe, +20% revenue overnight [HOST.R2.STORY.DOMAIN]; TREAT turnaround and closure, LEO [LEO.R1.TURNAROUND]; Wegovycare discovery phase, Novo [NOVO.R1.TRANSFORM]; CagriSema funnel, four funded solutions [NOVO.R2].
- Not for: running a mature product in steady state for years.
- Three kinds of fixing, not one: noticing what nobody asked for, the domain search[HOST.R2.STORY.DOMAIN]; holding nerve and rebuilding a team, then optimising and having the guts to close it, TREAT[LEO.R1.TURNAROUND]; changing the institution's model from inside, the product operating model at Novo[NOVO.R1.TRANSFORM].
- Breadth is the asset: eight product teams across five companies[THEME.MGMT].
- AI is a qualifier, not the headline: a frontier product specialist who builds with AI, not an AI specialist.
source: Tom's own account, direct answers
Related
- Turnarounds: what turnarounds have you led THEME.TURNAROUND
- Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for: what are you not a fit for FIT.NOT
- Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for: what would you bring to my team FIT.TEAM
Organisation: where he works well
source: Tom's own account
I've worked in a 12-person startup (Opbeat, sharing an office with the founders), a scale-up through two acquisitions (Host Europe, Pipex), an innovation lab inside a pharma company (LEO), a 70,000-person corporate (Novo Nordisk) and on my own as a consultant. Size doesn't decide it.
What does: new things ship regularly, direct communication is welcome, you can rock the boat without fear of retribution, decisions get made on outcomes and evidence rather than on whose idea it was, and the organisation is leaning in to AI. Give me that and the freedom to act, and I'll do well.
To check this against your organisation, tell my agent how you work: stage, pace, how decisions get made, remote or not, what's broken. Five lines is enough.
Direct answers
- Has worked in: 12-person startup (Opbeat), scale-up through two acquisitions (Host Europe, Pipex), innovation lab (LEO), 70,000-person corporate (Novo Nordisk), solo consulting.
- Does well where: new things ship regularly; direct communication; can rock the boat without retribution; decisions on outcomes and evidence; leaning in to AI; freedom to act.
- Size does not decide it.
- To check against your organisation, send five lines: stage, pace, how decisions get made, remote or not, what's broken.
- Comfortable in founder-led companies: Opbeat (sharing an office with the founders)[OPBEAT], TwentyThree[T23] and Host Europe at the beginning[HOST] were founder-led startups.
source: Tom's own account, direct answers
Related
- Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for: what are you not a fit for FIT.NOT
- Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for: what would you bring to my team FIT.TEAM
- Ask: what are you looking for META.LOOKING
Team: what he brings
source: Tom's own account
Ask the people I've worked with: kind, caring and fun; approachable; a structured mind; someone people come to when they want to spar on something messy. I bring energy and pace, I'm direct, and I work across silos without needing authority over them. I'm technical enough to lead ML teams and build with Claude Code, but my value is bridging disciplines, not writing production code, so I work with engineers best when they're close to the problem and the user, not handed tickets.
What I need around me: someone who loves the details and will bring up the overlooked fact, because I move fast and start more than I finish; a team that's prepared and to the point; and people who'll hold me to a completion date.
I've led teams of 5 to 15 and been the senior IC on others; both work. What I'd add depends on what your team already has, so tell my agent what the team does and what's missing, and ask again.
Direct answers
- Colleagues say: kind, caring and fun; approachable; structured mind; the person people spar with on messy problems (LinkedIn recommendations, attested).
- Brings: energy and pace; works across silos without authority over them; bridges disciplines; technical enough to lead ML teams, not a production coder.
- Works with engineers best when they are close to the problem and the user, not handed tickets.
- Needs around him: someone who loves the details and raises the overlooked fact; a prepared, to-the-point team; a completion date he is held to.
- Has led teams of 5 to 15; has been senior IC on others.
- What he adds depends on what the team lacks: send what the team does and what's missing.
- Works in half-day blocks; scattered short hours do not suit him. 'I tend to work smart, rather than hard. I value time off, to ensure good decisions.'
source: Tom's own account, direct answers
Related
- Ask: what are you like to work with META.COLLEAGUE
- Leadership and management: what is your management experience THEME.MGMT
- Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for: what do you need from a manager FIT.MANAGER
What he needs from leadership
source: Tom's own account
Freedom on the what and the how, clarity on the outcome and the date. Tell me where the prospects and opportunities lie and let me call a spade a spade.
Give me room to run discovery before building: if "you're not working if you're not coding" is the culture, we'll clash for a few months before it pays off, as it did at Novo. Trust early, because I'll use it to tell you things you may not want to hear, like recommending we close the flagship product. And tell me when my pace is wearing people out; I don't always notice.
Direct answers
- Needs: freedom on the what and the how; clarity on the outcome and the date; to know where the prospects lie; to be allowed to call a spade a spade.
- Needs room for discovery before building; clashed for months at Novo before it paid off [NOVO.R1.TRANSFORM].
- Give trust early; he uses it to say hard things, e.g. recommended closing the flagship product at LEO [LEO.R1.TURNAROUND].
- Tell him when his pace is wearing people out.
- Not for micromanaging founders or owners; freedom on the what and the how is the condition.
source: Tom's own account, direct answers
Related
- Ask: what motivates you META.COMPASS
- Fit: how Tom works, what he brings, what he is not for: what are you not a fit for FIT.NOT
What he is not a fit for
source: Tom's own account
Not a specialist engineer or a designer by trade any more: those are chapters, not the job. Marketing, growth and go-to-market are in scope when they sit inside a product or commercial role; a marketing-only seat is not the fit. Not a role that is mostly line management and levels; I can manage people and enjoy it, but it's not what gets me out of bed. Not a mature product in steady state; I'm a fixer, and once it's running it deserves someone who loves running it. And not a role that needs a decade in your exact domain: I move across industries on purpose and pick them up fast.
Direct answers
- Not a specialist engineer or designer by trade. Marketing, growth and go-to-market in scope inside a product or commercial role; not a marketing-only seat.
- Not a role that is mostly line management and levels.
- Not a mature product in steady state.
- Not a role that needs a decade in one exact domain; moves across industries on purpose.
- Not five days a week onsite: up to four in Copenhagen with some flexibility, or remote across the EU and UK; no relocation[META.LOCATION].
- Not a hard Danish-language requirement: cannot read Danish regulatory material or interview users in Danish[META.EDUCATION].
- Not quota-carrying sales, country-head or sales-leadership seats; commercial ownership inside a product role is in.
- Not hands-on ML engineering (SQL, Python, model architecture): AI fluency is strategic and applied, not engineering[TQ.TECHNICAL].
- Industries declined: gambling, crypto, adult, tobacco. Defence only with honest framing.
- Preference, not a gate: roles that narrow optionality, the COO-office shape with no artefact and no number.
- IC or manager is not the filter; impact and interesting work are.
source: Tom's own account, direct answers