About

About me

I'm John. I build systems that connect emerging tech to the people who need to understand it—developers, policymakers, enterprises.

I co-founded Toucan Protocol, which ended up handling over $4B in carbon credit trading. At Ordnance Survey I helped launch the OS Data Hub, opening up the UK's national mapping data under a £1B licensing deal. Now I'm building Astral (decentralized geospatial systems) and doing research at the University of Maryland on proof-of-location systems.

I've also built data systems for UN maritime security work, co-chaired a climate tech working group at the World Economic Forum, and taught smart contract engineering.

Originally from Golden, Colorado, I currently live in southeast England with my partner, working on dual citizenship. I spend my free time sailing, bikepacking to places with interesting topography, reading, learning piano, and talking to people different from me. I was a Casa Bonita cliff diver once—peaked early.

About this notebook

My work spans a lot of domains, so I created this as a low friction way to share what I'm working on, whatever its state of development. For a long time I've wanted to build in public; this is my effort to do just that.

I'm inspired by the digital gardening movement, and am trusting that a coherent picture will emerge if I let my interest guide me and make a habit of sharing what I'm thinking about.

Note statuses

Each note has a status indicating its maturity:

• Fragment — A nascent idea, barely formed
• Working — Taking shape but not complete
• Stable — Mature, well-developed, and relatively stable

If you are interested in anything I'm writing about, please, reach out! That's half the point of doing this.