About

My story.

I'm passionate about empowering founders to have the opportunity to
build a business that could change their lives.

I’ve helped hundreds of first-time founders turn early ideas into validated, fundable businesses.

But of course, I didn’t start here.

I was very lucky. I grew up watching my dad build a small publishing company. That early exposure showed me something powerful: starting a business was possible - and it showed me that it was something I could do too.

In my early 20s, I started Deeson, a digital agency and spent over a decade growing it. We scaled to a 35+ person team, delivering complex digital platforms for clients like Johnson & Johnson, the Royal Household and ITV - generating millions in revenue, all without outside funding. After years of building and leading the business, I successfully exited the agency to TPXImpact plc.

That experience evolved into my next venture: OpenDialog, a conversational AI platform I co-founded with Ronald Ashri. What started as a series of Lean Startup experiments became a standalone company - and it grew into a venture-backed business with enterprise clients in financial services and healthcare.

I’ve seen the highs - winning big clients, raising funding, scaling products.

And I’ve seen the lows - burning out, making bad calls, seeing how funding dictates strategy


That’s what drives me. I was fortunate to see the entrepreneurial path up close. My mission now is to help more people access the opportunity I was given - to give them access to the knowledge, network and capital they need to succeed. Especially first-time founders trying to make the right decisions for them in a noisy, hype-driven world.

That’s why I co-founded IfWeRaise, and now focus on championing Seed-strapping - a capital-efficient approach that blends Lean Startup thinking with smart building and strategic funding.

Over the last five years, I’ve:

Coached 700+ founders through early-stage validation and funding
Angel invested in early stage startups
Taught Lean Startup skills across leading UK founder communities
Advised ambitious startups and mission-led founders

Now, I help founders:

Validate before they spend
Fund exactly what they need
Grow deliberately, with control and confidence

If you’re trying to figure out how to build something real - without chasing hype or giving away too much too soon -
I’d love to help.

Photo of Tim Deeson pinned to a board
Tim Deeson speaking at a workshop
Tim Deeson on stage for a panel discussion

Build lean.
Fund strategically.
Grow on your terms.

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