About Stephen Allott
An unmatched career of contributions to Industry, Economy and Community
Industry
Record setting business builder and leader. Led Micromuse to NASDAQ IPO and world leadership
McKinsey strategy consultant worked for Sun Microsystems, Xerox, Chair at Redgate Software (world category leader) one of 14 chair roles. Fidelity Venture Partner Seedcamp Venture Partner (9 unicorns). Micromuse, still holds the UK record valuation of $15.2 billion for an organically grown UK origin software company.
Economy
Cluster constructor in Cambridge, inventor of the Cambridge Computer Lab Ring (created 2002), the Ring Hall of Fame listing Ring Member (Computer Lab graduate) founded companies (created 2003) and the Ring Hall of Fame Awards (created 2005) Chair of the Ring Awards Judging Panel. Re-launched the Computer Lab Industrial Supporters’ Club (2001)
Cambridge Computer Lab “The Ring”
…provides graduates with a lifetime benefit from their Cambridge degree helping them and the companies they found (the “Ring Hall of Fame”) to be more successful
Cambridge Computer Lab “The Supporters’ Club”
…enables graduates to find their first job and strengthens the business / university interface.
Cambridge Computer Lab “The Lab”
…refers to the University of Cambridge Department of Computer Science & Technology does both teaching and research for undergraduates, Masters and PhDs.
Founder, Funder and deFender of the globally unique Cambridge Computer Lab Ring. The 375 Ring member founded companies listed in the Ring Hall of Fame are worth over $299 billion. The valuation of these Ring companies is a costless by-product of the normal operation of the Cambridge Lab. The economic impact of the Cambridge Ring demonstrates the power of the “People Centric Approach” described in Stephen’s Hughes Hall City Lecture “From Science to Growth” published in 2006. Made Hon Member of the University of Cambridge Department of Computer Science & Technology in recognition of this contribution. Stephen was a full-time member of the Lab from 2001 to 2004.
Photographs of the wooden Cambridge Computer Lab Ring Hall of Fame boards, a key feature of the Ring’s organisational design.
Cambridge Computer Lab Ring Hall of Fame Awards — Company of the Year
- 2005 Sophos
- 2006 Codian
- 2007 Iagex
- 2008 Xensource
- 2009 Linguamatics
- 2010 Ubisense
- 2011 RealVNC
- 2012 Trampoline
- 2013 Raspberry Pi
- 2014 Deepmind Technologies
- 2015 Swiftkey
- 2016 Unikernel Systems Ltd
- 2017 Improbable
- 2018 Bromium
- 2019 Polyai
- 2020 Displaylink
- 2021 Ikva
- 2022 Tenyks
- 2023 Arm
Hall of Fame Companies — celebrating companies started by Computer Lab graduates & staff
1960–1989: Media Dynamics Ltd, Shape Data Ltd, Micro Focus, Orbis Ltd, Acorn Computer Ltd, CST Technologies Ltd.
2000–: Cambridge Broadband Ltd, Filenet Korea Incorporated, FiloSafe Corporation, Metanate Ltd, Tenison Technology EDA Ltd, Xandera.
Community
Public reformer. First appointed and founder Crown Representative for Small & Medium Enterprises in the Cabinet Office, youngest ever Chair of the Bar Association for Commerce, Finance & Industry
Crown Representative for Small & Medium Enterprises in the Cabinet Office under David Cameron. The SME % of central Government procurement spend rose from 6.5% to 27% during his tenure. Led the business development of the unique G-Cloud Digital Marketplace where SMEs on a truly level playing field for the first time, won over 40% of procurement spend compared to 6.5% hitherto. Wrote London AI Growth Capital of Europe for the London Mayor.
The Prime Minister’s speech, 11 Feb 2011
“Today, we are announcing big changes to the way government does business.”
“No one should doubt how important this is.”
“It’s important for getting to grips with our deficit – as it will help us tackle waste and control public spending.”
“…the system doesn’t encourage small and medium-sized businesses, charities and social enterprises to compete for contracts… …the very firms who can provide the competitive pressure to drive down costs.”
“…wherever possible, we’re going to break up large contracts into smaller elements, so that SMEs can make a bid and get involved”
Has not been done and there is virtually nothing in the Capability material to explain when sub-lotting is possible.
Education
Graduate in Law from Trinity College, Cambridge University
Barrister, Called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn.
Pupillage at 4 Essex Court, Temple.
Pupil master was the future Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales, Lord Thomas
Quondam City Fellow, Hughes Hall, Cambridge University
Sport
Moberley Table Tennis Club
Ideas
Stephen speaks on scaling software businesses, on UK innovation policy, and on the business university interface to Executive Management, Founders, VC portfolios, university staff on cluster creation and acceleration of innovation.
Stephen is based in London. He does not charge speaker fees for university, public-sector or community events.
Stephen’s open-access online software company management textbooks have been read by thousands of people:
Stephen Allott and Gavin Rumgay Table Tennis Exhibition
Roehampton Club, 29 March 2026. Stephen explains how table tennis is the best treatment for Parkinson’s — leading Eric Johnson, founder of Movement Revolution, to describe him as “the best-managed person with Parkinson’s has has even seen.”
Building a World Leading Tech Company
Trinity College, Cambridge, October 2014. Stephen’s talk detailing his experiences working at Micromuse, Inc.
Rules and Tools for Scaling Software Sales
Business of Software Europe, 2018. The operational rules and tools that turn a founder-led sales motion into a repeatable revenue function.
7 Minutes of Unconventional Wisdom
SaaSGrowthLive, July 2020. A short talk on sales practice for SaaS founders.
SMEs Punching Above Their Weight in the Cloud
With Kate Craig-Wood, February 2015. How G‑Cloud opened government procurement to small suppliers.
Growing Profitable Businesses in the Second Machine Age
Business of Software. On the management problems unique to software companies, with practical guidance for founders.
Essays
Britain is a fast failing state (Medium). August 2020. A diagnosis of structural problems in UK governance and the policy reforms required to address them.
Money — the Link Between Business and Law
Top Pro Table tennis coaching is the best way to improve neuroplasticity (Medium)
What is the best age to be a novice Founder? (Medium) Twenty-one or forty-five? Learn how not to Flounder as a Founder.
Work
Stephen can
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Turn your dream into reality
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Win number one market share in a “Winner Takes All”
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Explain how the “Three Act Drama” is a superior and actionable dynamic framework compared to “Product Market Fit”
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Pick the best three key focus verticals to win in Act Two of the “Three Act Drama”
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Take a European company to clear US market leadership
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Hire top people
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Solve life threatening problems so you survive
The Winning Formula For Each Act
We think of the growth in number of customers in three “acts”:Act 1: Search — from 0 to 10 customers
- Use cases: up to 10
- Business activity: Finding customers
- Customer demand: Diverse Pains
- Ideal prospect profile: Has any solvable pain
- Lead gen tactics: Spray & Pray
- Lead gen goal: Find pains
- Key success factors: Proposal flexibility; Technical delivery; Client reference-ability
Act 2: Focus — from 10 to 100 customers
- Use cases: Typically 3 target uses
- Business activity: Learning 3 markets
- Customer demand: Common Pains
- Ideal prospect profile: Has one of target pains
- Lead gen tactics: Rifle shot/Missionary
- Lead gen goal: Initiate projects
- Key success factors: Target market selection; Learning how to win; Product feature set
Act 3: Scale — from 100 to 1000+ customers
- Use cases: 1 targeted use case
- Business activity: Seizing leadership
- Customer demand: Budgeted Projects
- Ideal prospect profile: In the target market
- Lead gen tactics: Optimal S&M mix
- Lead gen goal: Intercept projects
- Key success factors: Beating competitors; Winning market share; On-boarding talent
Stephen can be
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Board Member or Chair
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Coach Individuals or Teams
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Consultant on strategy, tactics and targets
Projects
Selected projects — Cambridge Computer Lab Ring, From Science to Growth, G-Cloud, and more.
Project list
| Project | Yearestablished | Impactto date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Lab Industrial Supporters’ Club → | 2002 | High | Trading |
| Trading 2002 | |||
| The Cambridge Computer Lab Ring → | 2002 | High | Growth |
| Growth 2002 | |||
| From Science to Growth → | 2006 | Low | Growth |
| Growth 2006 | |||
| Crown Representative for Small & Medium Enterprises, Cabinet Office → | 2011 | Low | Flat |
| Flat 2011 | |||
| G-Cloud Digital Marketplace, GDS → | 2013 | High | Flat |
| Flat 2013 | |||
| Belgravia Therapy Ltd ⇢ | 2014 | High | Growth |
| Growth 2014 | |||
| London AI Growth Capital of Europe ⇢ | 2018 | Low | Report |
| Report 2018 | |||
| Sales Tales/Chronicles of Craft → | 2018 | High | Growth |
| Growth 2018 | |||
| Tarigo Ltd (Product Management) ⇢ | 2024 | High | Trading |
| Trading 2024 | |||
| Bar Association for Commerce, Finance & Industry (BACFI) → | 2005 | Low | Flat |
| Flat 2005 | |||
Follow
Follow Stephen on:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenaallott/