
Resume
Alex was part of the founding team @worldfirst, which sold to Alibaba, and was responsible for growth (0-100m). Now he starts, builds, invests in & advises startups & scaleups.
As one of the founding team he enjoyed every minute of being part of the team that changed the world of payments forever. Starting as the first sales person & most recently CCO, responsible for building revenue from 0-100m. Broad experience across, commercial, risk, product, scaling... The team at World First built a brilliant culture, had a lot of fun & made a huge difference to customers. World First succeeded through a few key ingredients, being genuinely customer first, putting great technology & service together and having great people & a great culture. Alex built the business to 500 people globally.
In 2019 World First sold to Alibaba for $750m.
Alex is now the Founder of two companies. Smarter Rent & The Sales People.
Experience
Founder
The Sales People
2024 to Present
Co-Founder
Smarter Rent
2020 to Present
Founder
Make a Dent (Investing in & Advising startups)
2013 to Present
Founder & CEO
Ems.ai (Sold to Nationwide)
2016 to 2018
Executive Director
Hubbub
2019 to 2021
Non Executive Director
Profinda
2019 to 2021
CCO | Board Director
World First (sold to Alibaba for $750m)
2006 to 2015

Testimonials
“I’ve had the luxury of spending quality time getting to see Sully in action. He’s an incredible leader. He’s a tier 1 CRO, he’s a real thinker and achiever. And while he’s highly strategic and commercial he is also an ethical operator with soul and purpose. A truly unique leader. To the reader of this note; I hope you get the chance to meet him at some-point in your world..”
“Working with Alex is uniquely insightful and motivating. He’ll push you hard to take transformational decisions, but only after listening deeply and absorbing. When you push back, he’ll learn and adapt. He has the commercial/growth mindset, will buy into the vision and motivate you to shoot for the moon, but he sees that as the table stakes. On top, he combines that with a deep empathy - understand what is impossible, what is hard, and what only feels hard, reading body language and relative comfort all the time. For those entrepreneurs accustomed to being watched and used to putting on a performance, being so accurately read can be uncomfortable position to be in, but Alex doesn’t make it so: instead, you feel supported both practically and emotionally. Sure, he’s going to challenge you, but he’s going to do it from your side, not from any other. People like this are gold dust, diamond dust even; they basically never come around. In addition to how I feel about him being involved with Hubbub, my board has been blown away by him. In short, Alex is a guy you REALLY want around. So if you’re thinking about it and you’re lucky enough to have got that chance, make it happen. You won’t regret it.”
“Alex is probably the most driven, energetic and personable CEO/Founder that I’ve worked with. As soon as you meet him, you get the real him - he’s not someone who hides his infectious energy or his big dreams, nor does he apologise for them. He is incredibly focussed and won’t let any obstacle take him away from his vision or any he is aligned with.
Alex’s kindness and willingness to develop each member of his team is usually unheard of in his seat, but is something the whole team values about him the most. Alex is the guy you want on your team because you know you’ll always have a friend and an ally, but he’s also somebody who isn’t afraid to confront the reality of a difficult situation, doing so with fairness and honesty.
Whatever Alex goes on to next, I know he’ll put his heart and soul into it. His passion to make a difference in the world is palpable, and with his ‘go big or go home’ outlook, he’s certainly not going to settle for mediocre!”