You've built something that works. You know there's more. You can't name it yet.

What if now?

I help you see what comes next. Then we build it.

WHAT I BELIEVE

From the inside, it's hard to tell.

It's rarely more of what already works.

It might be a new market, a different way of making money, a partner who takes the product further, or a company that doesn't exist yet. Whatever it turns out to be, it has to make your business worth more.

  • An empty Metro corridor lined with framed posters.
  • The window of the Porter exhibition and limited store, 19 to 25 January 2026.
  • The gate of the Marché des Enfants Rouges.
  • The queue in front of L'As du Fallafel in Rue des Rosiers.
  • The Comfort Zone by the Gore-Tex Brand, lettered on a window above a Paris street.
  • Looking down at my trainers on a wet Paris pavement.
  • A Braun hi-fi system and record player mounted on a pale wall.
  • The Tiba coffee sign on a window in Rue Charlot.
  • A flat white in a glazed ceramic cup.
  • Evening outside a lit restaurant, bikes and scooters parked in front of the crowd.
  • Jackets on a round rail under silver balloons in a white store.
  • A long wooden-floored shop with clothes and objects on display.
  • The Kith sign in a wall of plants above Sadelle's.
  • Me in a Paris sneaker store during Fashion Week.
Paris Fashion Week, 2026. Some impressions.01 / 14

SEE IT. / BUILD IT. / BACK IT.

THE WORK

What could this become next?

That is the question I start with.

I look at what you have built, from the brand and the audience to the product and the technology, and work out where it could go. Together we turn that into a plan, and then I help you carry it out.

Working with me also means becoming part of a network I've built over thirty years across brands, clubs, founders, investors and athletes. I bring it in when it can move the business forward.

  • The Los Angeles skyline in the haze beyond palm trees and rooftops, 2008.
  • A quiet street with telephone poles leading up to the Hollywood sign.
  • A wall covered in colourful graffiti behind a chain-link fence.
  • Mustard, hot sauce and salt on a diner counter, the cooks behind it.
  • A rider pulling a wheelie on a fixed-gear bike across a Los Angeles street.
  • A palm tree above a white fence and a Design Upholstery sign.
  • A corner building painted Import Export Toys & General Merchandise, graffiti along its wall.
LA, 2008, while producing a book for Dickies.01 / 07

WHO IT'S FOR

  • A rail of pale hooded Active Jackets in the raw concrete hall of Tate Modern.
  • Close-up of a Carhartt Work in Progress label inside a pale jacket.
  • Blue Active Jackets hanging on a rail against a concrete wall.
  • A long row of jackets in the haze of the Tanks at Tate Modern.
  • Guests crowding the hall in front of a glowing screen.
  • A band playing in red light on the concrete floor.
  • The anniversary book open on two Active Jackets.
  • A Sedimental Works wristband on the cover of the book.
Invited by Carhartt WIP. Tate Modern, 2025. Read the story 01 / 08

Founders with something to build on.

That can be a young company or one that has been growing for twenty years. What matters is that there is a product, customers or an audience to start from, and a founder who is open to trying something new. Mostly in consumer, culture, sport, media and technology, where my experience and relationships run deepest.

WHAT IT'S WORTH

Would someone
from the outside
want in?

The founders I work with have often spent fifteen or twenty years building their company, and much of what they own sits inside it.

Sooner or later, that question joins the one about growth. It changes how you look at your business: how much of the revenue comes back every year, and how much still depends on you.

So everything I build has to pass that test. Where it makes sense, I take a share of the outcome.

Having sold a company myself, I know how differently you look at a business once ownership is on the table.

  • Giant laughing emoji spheres covered in colourful mosaic outside a mall.
  • The Kingdom Centre tower seen from below between palm fronds.
  • Guests outside the World Football Summit, its name lit on a blue wall.
  • An Arabic stop-line sign by a Riyadh road lined with palms.
  • A wide, empty street between new office buildings under a blue sky.
  • The white front of The Gate specialty coffee.
  • A coffee bar with a white tiled counter and a green armchair.
  • A green Starbucks coffee truck with Arabic lettering.
  • Men in thobes sitting in low chairs in an open-air seating area.
  • Hummus, bread, pickles and eggs on a table.
  • A stage screen reading Thank you Riyadh above empty lounge chairs.
World Football Summit, Riyadh, November 2025. Some impressions.01 / 11

HOW I WORK

  • Kermit on a torn Supreme poster beneath a Phone sign, photographed during my 2008 trip to Los Angeles.
  • The queue outside the Supreme store in Los Angeles on the day of the Kermit drop.
  • Supreme skateboard decks with Kermit in blue, yellow and red.
  • The Supreme store front across the street, with the queue and parked cars.
  • The red Supreme sign on the store front, seen from below.
My trip to LA, 2008. The Supreme x Kermit collaboration. Read the story 01 / 05

I stay until it runs.

That only works with a few clients at a time, so I choose them carefully.

It starts with a coffee and one page. If there is something worth building together, we take it from there.

THIRTY YEARS

Jürgen Alker standing in a green sweatshirt against a pale architectural wall
Jürgen Alker

Most of what I do starts with a conversation.

While someone talks about their business, I often see something they haven't seen yet.

Skateboards and hip hop got me into brands. From there I helped build Eastpak and Dickies, co-founded Swipe and sold it to SinnerSchrader, which later became part of Accenture. For the past five years I have worked independently with founders, and with professional athletes building businesses of their own.

My full CV

Principles.

  • Trust is non-negotiable

    Everything meaningful starts with trust. Transparency and reliability go both ways.

  • Clarity over complexity

    A plan only matters if people can act on it.

  • Direct conversations only

    No middlemen, no layers. I work directly with the people who make the decisions.

  • I back what I build

    When the fit is right, I would rather share in the outcome than simply sell more time.

  • Have fun along the way

    The best work happens when we're enjoying ourselves.

WRITING

Constantly Curious.

Stories and observations on brands, football, culture and technology, including a few from thirty years ago.

  1. October 2026Judge Dredd opens a Palace store
  2. September 2026Who needs a frog on a T-shirt?
  3. August 2026Thanks, Tim
All writing
CONTACT

Tell me what you've built.