For me, the traditional hierarchy of Mission, Vision, and Values is inverted. I see Purpose as the cornerstone from which everything else flows. To paraphrase John Lennon, "You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m hoping I’m not the only one."
My Purpose
I worry deeply about the world my daughter is inheriting. The challenges we face are immense and go beyond climate change or the life-threatening issue of plastic pollution. We're witnessing a growing concentration of wealth, the rise of digital serfdom, the threat to human purpose from AI and automation, and an increasingly divided society that feels under siege from all directions. All of this is happening while we remain fixated on economic ‘growth’ on a planet with finite resources.
When we talk about the purpose of business, many prioritise financial profit. For me, financial sustainability is essential, but it shouldn’t be the primary goal. Instead, the fundamental purpose of business should be to foster social cohesion—providing meaningful employment that contributes to local communities and promoting peaceful international trade.
Interactual’s Purpose
As the founder of Interactual, I realise there’s only so much I can do directly to tackle these global issues. However, we can make small but significant contributions through the way we do business:
Direct employment: Fulfilment comes from being part of a team that works toward shared goals.
Nurturing talent: Encouraging our team to adopt a shared purpose of making the world a better place.
Helping small businesses: Innovating to solve small parts of big problems. We want businesses that improve the planet to thrive.
Localising production: Encouraging clients to bring production closer to home and redistribute the means of production.
Our Values
While it’s inspiring to have a larger purpose, we need guiding principles that inform how we work on a daily basis:
Working with "rockstars" and "superheroes": Whether clients, external specialists, or homegrown talent, it’s always easier (and more fun) to collaborate with the best in the business.
Client trust: Our team is committed to clients' goals, even if it means asking tough questions that aren’t always in our immediate interest.
Integrity & Respect: We cultivate a culture of honesty and transparency with clients, suppliers, and within our own team.
Agility: We’ve developed an agile approach to hardware development that allows us to move further, faster, and with less risk.
Meaningful work: Projects don’t need to save the planet directly, but we politely decline anything that conflicts with our core purpose.
Joy & Passion: Work should be fulfilling and fun—for everyone. We make sure our team has what they need to succeed.
Our Vision for Innovation
Having spent most of my career creating physical products, I set up Interactual when I realised that what I had been doing was mitigating risk in the new product development process. Along the way, I’ve gained deep knowledge of NPD strategy, from user research to funding and business structure.
My vision is for Interactual to become the go-to partner for physical verification, offering not only verification services but also helping customers create strategies that reduce risk and increase the likelihood of successful, meaningful innovations.
Our Mission
Our mission is simple: to help more viable, purposeful innovations achieve commercial success. Equally important, we aim to rapidly expose any project shortcomings to give our clients the opportunity to pivot early. All of this while ensuring that new products have a positive impact on both the planet and society.