Benedict W. H. Dixon

Contents

  1. IBeyond the terminalAbout
  2. IIA decade-plus, by the yearCareer
  3. IIISelected workWork
  4. IVIn print and at the lecternWriting and talks
  5. VCompare notesContact

All writingHow I work with AIFor podcast hosts

An Almanack, building, leading and learning

Volume I, MMXXVI

Portrait in candles

Benedict W. H. Dixon.

Technical founder and operator. I build the product and run the company around it.

Read the essaysCompare notes

Contents

Volume I, MMXXVI. Five chapters, read in order or turn straight to one.

  1. IBeyond the terminalAbout
  2. IIA decade-plus, by the yearCareer
  3. IIISelected workWork
  4. IVIn print and at the lecternWriting and talks
  5. VCompare notesContact

Elsewhere in the almanack

Chapter I

Beyond the terminal

Engineering, 2015 to 2022: JPMorgan, American Express, MAIA, Icon

I started out as an engineer, building payment systems at JPMorgan, then on the R&D team for American Express’s referral campaigns. That’s where I first got to see beyond the terminal. We went into those design, user interview and research centres, behind the double glass, and got some exposure to the positioning and the marketing side as well. After that came a hedge fund, fintech, and founding my own startups.

Running companies, from 2021: Nettle, Pound Token, Voi Network, kash

Then I made a very conscious and intentional move from writing code to running companies and teams. When AI tooling arrived, I went back to building. Three of us built kash’s whole product. Mine was the fat middle, from the hooks the frontend calls down to indexing on-chain events.

I build end-to-end, full solutions, and I run and operate products and businesses completely end to end.

Chapter II

A decade-plus, by the year

Engineer first, from 2015; then operator, COO and CTO across AI, fintech and blockchain.

Engineer at JPMorgan in 2015; co-founder, COO and Interim CTO of kash today. Each role is one line, and its candle is the time spent in it.

  1. 2014University of BathBSc Computer ScienceDegree
  2. 2015JPMorganSoftware engineer, patented B2B payments3.0 years
  3. 2018American ExpressEngineer, R&D customer acquisition1.0 years
  4. 2019MAIA / FulcrumEngineer, hedge fund, back to front2.0 years
  5. 2021Icon SolutionsSenior engineer, real-time payments1.0 years
  6. 2021NettleCo-founder, Chief Product and Technology Officer2.3 years
  7. 2023Pound TokenChief Technology Officer1.0 years
  8. 2024Voi NetworkCo-founder, Chief Ecosystem Officer1.0 years
  9. 2025BrdgeHead of Blockchain1.8 years to date
  10. 2025DD VenturesFounding Partner1.6 years to date
  11. 2025kashCo-founder, COO and Interim CTO1.5 years to date

EmployedFounder or co-founderAxis 2014 to 2026; current roles run to today.

The long way round

Three expeditions. Fifty-plus countries. London to Mongolia, via Iran, by car. India by tuk-tuk. Sahara to Atlantic, across Morocco.

  • London to Mongolia, via IranBy car, 12,000 mi
  • Cross-IndiaBy tuk-tuk, 2,000 mi
  • Sahara to AtlanticAcross Morocco

The only way is through. Pick the audacious route. Trust the process. Get through it.

Chapter III

Selected work

  1. III.1May 2025 to present

    kash

    Co-founder, COO and Interim CTO

    Three of us built kash’s whole product. Mine was the fat middle, from the hooks the frontend calls down to indexing on-chain events: 80+ event-driven microservices.

    Areas: Operations · Product · Technology · AI · Partnerships

  2. III.22024 to 2025

    Voi Network

    Co-founder, Chief Ecosystem Officer

    Led vision and development of an L1 from concept. Voi Network reached a $150M fully diluted valuation. Built and mentored teams across departments. Integrated 25+ projects into the ecosystem. Exited the role in 2025.

    voi.network (opens in a new tab)

    Areas: Ecosystem growth · Team leadership · Strategic vision

  3. III.3Aug 2023 to Aug 2024

    Pound Token

    Chief Technology Officer

    Led technical strategy through a successful acquisition. Executed zero-downtime migration reducing operating costs by 94%. Preserved millions in assets during the transition.

    Areas: Technical strategy · Migration · Team retention

  4. III.4May 2021 to Aug 2023

    Nettle

    Co-founder, Chief Product and Technology Officer

    Led product and technology for an innovative fintech payments and loyalty platform. Architected a multi-currency payment system. Accelerated time-to-market through customer-driven development. The company later ceased operations.

    Areas: Product strategy · Payment systems · Team building

Chapter IV

In print and at the lectern

Recent essays

  1. 4 min read

    The agent can’t be its own checkerWhy an AI agent’s ‘done’ can’t close its own work in a company that moves real money, and what does instead.Read the essay

  2. 3 min read

    AI collapsed the build, not the operationOne person with AI can build what used to take fifty. But running it safely, and answering at 3am when money’s on the line, still takes people.

  3. 3 min read

    The unit of production has changedThree of us built kash, and mine is kind of the fat middle. AI deleted the coordination overhead, not just the typing. The cap that’s left is judgement.

  4. 20 min read

    In Clawd we trustA year of intensive Claude Code, distilled. The mental model, environment, phased workflow and quality practices that turn it into a 100x force multiplier.

All writingHow I work with AI

At the lectern

  • Conference talk

    Zebu LiveTokenomics design and strategy

  • Conference talk

    Algorand at Tate ModernTokenomics design and strategy

Follow

Chapter V

Compare notes

A strategic, product and technology advisor to early-stage startups and founders. Always interested to compare notes with people doing the work.

Advisory

Book a call (opens in a new tab)

Speaking

Keynotes and panels on AI, fintech, distributed systems, blockchain and the operator’s lens on technical leadership.For podcast hosts

Building

Products, platforms and internal tools, designed and built end to end and run in production.Book a call (opens in a new tab)

Write to

me@benedictdixon.com