In October 2006 I started Erskine Design - based in Nottingham, UK - that grew to become an eight-strong team of creative web designers and developers who are afraid of nothing. Some people say we're one of the best agencies out there, and our clients include major magazines, government stuff, software companies - and polar explorers.

Moons ago, I was a successful visual artist, and I founded an independent arts org and annual arts festival, putting my degree to some use at least. Then I caught the interwebs bug.

As lead web developer at Agenzia from 2002 to 2006, I worked on numerous web projects for major record labels (such as Poptones, Universal) and bands (including The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things, Beta Band), visual artists and illustrators (Jon Burgerman, Paddy Hartley, Lucy Orta, NOW Festival), businesses, community, and voluntary sector orgs, passionately ensuring everything was accessible and complied with current web standards.

I also write books about CSS, XHTML and web standards for US publishers Apress and Friends Of ED. I do a bit of public speaking here and there, and will generally do anything for a biscuit and cup of tea, but prefer hard cash.

I have lived in many cities, including London and Reykjavik, but have now settled back in my beloved Nottingham, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. I also drive a 31 year old car, and have a stupid cat called Bearface.

Andy Budd is a designer turned investor, advisor, and coach. For many years he ran Clearleft, an award-winning design consultancy that pioneered the field of user experience design in the U.K. During this time he helped clients like Just Eat, Farfetch, Rapha, Funding Circle, Mozilla, Virgin Atlantic, Penguin Books, and Burberry make the most of their digital experience. Andy sold Clearleft in 2020 and joined Seedcamp—one of the most successful and best-known early stage venture funds in Europe—as a venture partner. As well as helping source and review new investments, Andy uses his knowledge of Sales-, Marketing-, and Product-Led Growth to help portfolio companies prepare for Series A and beyond. His latest book—The Growth Equation—was born out of that experience: witnessing all the things startups get right (and occasionally get wrong) about early stage growth.

In addition to working for Seedcamp, Andy advises a small number of founders on the concepts found in his book. He also runs a syndicate of design and product angels who love nothing more than supporting Design- and Product-Led founders. In his spare time Andy—a former dive instructor and “shark wrangler”—loves exploring underground cave systems and tropical atolls. As a recently qualified pilot, when he’s not under the water he can be found soaring over the Sussex countryside in a rented Cessna 172.