Ashley Baxter

Our claims data shows VC-funded companies are volatile to work with depending on where they're at in their funding cycle. I used Crunchbase for this data but it's gone to 💩 Anyone know of a similar platform that has funding data?

I've had such an enjoyable week at work. This is because I've:

* had a meeting-free week
* scheduled time to create content
* spent time learning about topics that interest me

I've had time to work ON my business AND be creative. Realising this is key for me to be happy.

Meetings are mostly dumb.

YouTube video by Piccalilli Mindful Design Promo

MINDFUL DESIGN COURSE PROMO DOT MP4 (via my loves @piccalil.li ) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0a...

Craft+Work Upcoming 2025 Events & All You Need to Know About Craft+Work

Booked travel and hotel for keirwhitaker.com/craftandwork... in a couple of weeks. I just checked my calendar and the last time I was in London was 6 years ago 🤯

Gosh, didn't even pay attention to the fixtures yesterday. Congrats!

All I want is a new Tomb Raider game.

Craft+Work Upcoming 2025 Events & All You Need to Know About Craft+Work

After a 6 year hiatus where I wanted to focus on building @withjack.bsky.social, I am going to be speaking at Craft+Work next month! keirwhitaker.com/craftandwork...

Next up in my interview series "9 Questions For..." is the founder of @withjack.bsky.social Ashley Baxter (@ashley-baxter.bsky.social).

As I always say, "The questions might be the same, but the insights certainly aren't!"

Read here: keirwhitaker.com/blog/9-quest...

Go do business Business isn’t something you learn in books. Or posts. Or threads. You can’t read your way to the right hire. You can't consume enough content to produce a product. You have to do. You learn business ...

I needed those words. world.hey.com/jason/go-do-...

Yeah, still finding it a little quiet on here but I'm sooo over X.

I looked through 78 payment-related claims and wrote down the 3 mistakes freelancers make when chasing late payments.

Especially because building a business in a regulated industry (insurance) requires a lot of sucky tasks that drain you. It's important I do things to nourish my creative energy.

Finding your "zone of genius" I've been thinking about my personal zone of genius. Here's what I've learned about building a life that aligns with your natural energy patterns.

Another good post from @justinjackson.ca which has made me want to pay more attention to the activities where I feel "most like myself". justinjackson.ca/zone-of-genius

I just published April's mini experiment. I write about creating and optimising landing pages and look back at the first quarter of mini experiments. iamashley.co.uk/aprils-mini-...

Things I am enjoying right now:

* Celeste on Switch. So challenging but rewarding when you get it right
* Jigsaws. An hour or so every day I totally zone out
* The Four Seasons on Netflix

2x5 at 145KG. This used to be a weight I'd get in my head about for a single rep. Combination of learning to trust my back and taking my breath at the top (therefore not losing tension when resetting on ground) has helped me rep this weight out.

Always liked the idea of invoice insurance, but that's two insurtechs that have now went out of business (Moojo and Nimbla). It's challenging getting people to buy products for anticipatory problems. Freelancers tend to only look for solutions to their payment problems when experiencing the issue.

Wow, the new Crunchbase is terrible. It no longer does what I need it to do (and the reason I bought a subscription). It feels like they've used AI for no other reason than it's the current thing everyone is talking about—not because it improves the tool.

Anybody got recommendations for a communications consultant (freelance)?

Is this helpful? Interesting? If so I'm going to make it a monthly feature.

I want to get back to growing With Jack after a year of distraction by running lots of mini experiments. I'm going to publish February's mini experiment soon and would love if you'd sign up to my newsletter! iamashley.co.uk

Our mum died at the start of the year, just as my sister (a dress designer) got the keys to her new shop. I want to show you all my sister's shop because the achievement got lost in hospice visits, funeral planning etc. I am so proud of my sister. 📍Fitzroy Pl, Glasgow

As someone who deals with freelance hiccups daily, if there's one thing freelancers should do right now to mitigate risk it's have protection for copyright claims AND a method of record keeping for third-party assets and licenses.

* Brexit
* IR35
* VC-backed competitors
* Covid
* Cost of living crisis

Some of the events my bootstrapped business has managed to survive and even grow through. Got to admit—this year has been a rough start though.

Scotland's strongest natty woman, 2025.

Wow, was it that long ago? That's… kind of depressing 😂

Bonita, my tripawd.

January's mini experiment I want to get back to growing With Jack after a year of distraction by running lots of mini experiments and being more intentional with measuring results. But January has been weird. The start of the ...

I want to get back to growing With Jack after a year of distraction by running lots of mini experiments and being more intentional with measuring results. This was January's mini experiment: iamashley.co.uk/januarys-min...

Insurance has all of these hidden value added services that insurers are, quite frankly, rubbish at highlighting. One of them is a counselling helpline with qualified counsellors. Freelancers, please make use of this!

Thank you, Denise. Let's have a good 2025 together!