I’m delighted to share that I’ve recently become an investor and fractional advisor to POCA Audio.
It’s also been great to see the Pine speaker launch onto Boots last week, with more major retailers already in the pipeline. For a young product business, that’s a brilliant milestone and a strong sign of early momentum.
I genuinely enjoy investing in and working alongside early-stage product businesses, particularly when the founders are product people themselves.
In my experience, the best products often come from people who are obsessed with solving a problem, refining an experience, and continually asking how something could be done better. That mindset matters. It usually leads to stronger products, better customer experiences, and businesses with a clearer sense of purpose than those simply chasing a market opportunity from a spreadsheet. POCA is a good example of that.
At first glance, you could easily think it’s just another Bluetooth speaker. But what caught my attention was the clarity of the proposition and the thought that had gone into the product itself. Swappable batteries. Power bank functionality. Rugged portability. A product designed specifically for travellers, beachgoers, campers and festival-goers. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, the team have carved out a clear niche and built around it.
Some of the world’s most successful product companies didn’t invent entirely new categories. They simply took products people already used and made them significantly better through better design, sharper positioning, more thoughtful features, and a clearer understanding of the customer. Apple is the obvious example, but the principle applies far more broadly than consumer electronics. That’s part of what appealed to me here.
I like businesses where there’s a clear overlap between product thinking, customer experience, brand, positioning and commercial execution. Particularly in connected or physical products, success rarely comes from one thing alone. It comes from getting a lot of moving parts right at the same time: the proposition, the product detail, the route to market, the retail relationships, the brand story, the pricing, the marketing, and the long-term roadmap.
The team behind POCA have the creativity, energy and product focus I love seeing in founders, and I’m excited to support them as they continue to grow.
Over the coming months I’ll be helping where I can across product strategy, positioning, marketing, sales, and exploring future opportunities in Europe and North America.
Congratulations again to the whole POCA team on getting Pine launched onto Boots. A brilliant milestone for a young company, and hopefully the first of many.
If you’re after a great portable speaker for summer, whether that’s the beach, a festival or a camping trip, you can check out Pine here: POCA Audio Pine Speaker
