Over the years, so many ideas, products, and prototypes have passed through the lab. If I had my time again, there are a few we absolutely would have raised investment for and taken to market. But as they say — opportunity knocks, and if you hesitate, it often slides by. That’s what I’d tell my younger self: act when the moment’s hot.

Here are a few highlights from our “what could’ve been” back catalogue:

HotSpot – A web-based clickable prototyping tool, built before Figma was even a thing. It offered simple, visual ways to show user experience flows using image-based interactions. It worked beautifully — but we didn’t push it further.

MyMaskFit – We took equity in this Covid-era startup, and developed some genuinely clever tech (and probably valuable image recognition IP). The concept had legs and was even featured by BBC news on TV and online, but when funding dried up and Covid restrictions lifted, the momentum vanished and the code started gathering dust. Read more in the blog.

The Hub – A powerful internal tool we built combining CRM, HR, password management, timesheets, and project management. We used it daily and loved it. Our clients wanted it too — but client work pulled us away before it became a product.

Hub Phone System – After building a bespoke, web-based call centre system for our client Ethicall, we realised we’d made something far better than anything we could buy. But again, we missed the window to refine and release it as a standalone product.

Airbus - We developed a couple of proof-of-concept apps for Airbus, focused on image recognition technology. The concepts worked well, but commercial traction proved difficult — airlines were already investing in their own in-house tech solutions, making it harder for Airbus to scale innovations like these externally. We learned a lot and had fun though.

If you have an R&D project you wish to partner on, then please speak to me about grants and investor opportunities.