What If We Built Something That Outlived the Money?
A personal note on land, people, second chances and why I’m building Gold Button Collective Regeneration in Spain.
I’ve spent more than 20 years building businesses, products, brands, teams and commercial opportunities.
I’ve worked out how to take an idea from “could this work?” to something people will actually buy, use, back and build around.
That experience is what I’m bringing to my next venture.
Gold Button Collective Regeneration.
I’m building a regenerative community in Spain that brings together land, people, enterprise and purposeful living.
Not a resort.
Not glamping.
Not a housing development with a sustainability label.
A working, living ecosystem.
The idea is simple. The ambition isn’t.
I want to create a place where land becomes productive again.
Where biodiversity is restored.
Where food can be grown.
Where people can work, create, learn, teach and build businesses.
Where accommodation generates revenue rather than being the entire proposition.
Where retreats, events, workshops, hospitality and enterprise create a commercial engine around the community.
And where the people who come aren’t simply consumers.
They contribute.
Because I think we’ve become very good at building places for people to consume — hotels, offices, developments, experiences.
I’m interested in building somewhere people can participate.
A place where an entrepreneur can think differently.
A young person can develop practical skills.
A woman starting again can find community.
A maker can build.
A local skill can be passed on.
And land can have a purpose beyond its market value.
Purpose isn’t enough. It has to work.
This isn’t a romantic exercise in escaping to the countryside.
I know business.
I know sales.
I know commercial strategy.
And I know that a compelling vision without a viable model is simply an expensive idea.
So the ambition is to build a commercially sustainable regenerative community with multiple revenue streams across accommodation, retreats, events, workshops, experiences, partnerships and enterprise.
The first site is where the model begins.
The work already underway includes property and market research, planning considerations, commercial modelling, operating structure and the partnerships needed to turn the vision into something tangible.
The objective isn’t simply to create one beautiful place.
It’s to prove a model that can grow.
This is where capital becomes interesting.
I’m now opening conversations with family offices, philanthropists, impact investors, entrepreneurs and people who understand the potential of long-term, purpose-led capital.
I’m seeking €1.5 million in catalytic capital to help establish the first site and prove the model.
Not money to keep a project alive indefinitely.
Capital to help create something capable of generating its own income, creating opportunity and building value over time.
That’s the distinction.
Philanthropy can be catalytic. Business can be sustainable. The two don’t have to be opposites.
And I believe some of the most interesting opportunities sit exactly there.
What could that capital leave behind?
Not simply a building.
Not simply another property.
A functioning community.
Restored land.
Enterprise.
Skills.
Jobs.
Relationships.
Opportunity.
A place where people meet who otherwise never would have.
And, ultimately, a model that can exist beyond the person who started it.
That’s the part that matters most to me.
I’ve spent years helping turn other people’s ideas into commercial reality.
Now I’m using everything I’ve learned to build something with a bigger purpose.
Something with commercial intelligence and human value.
Something ambitious enough to matter.
Something practical enough to work.
And something that, if we get it right, outlives the original money that made it possible.
That’s Gold Button Collective Regeneration.
Land. People. Enterprise. Purpose.
And we’re only at the beginning.