About The Padlock at 6am

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A few months into building meed I wrote that our customers aren’t analysts sitting in front of spreadsheets. They’re people undoing a padlock at 6 am. That line stuck, so it’s the name of this blog.

I’m Phil Ingram, founder of meed - the loyalty network for independent retail, built in Hong Kong, bootstrapped until very recently, with sign-ups from 94 countries and not a cent spent on advertising. This is where I write about loyalty, the retail industry, AI, and what it’s actually like to build a company from the ground up. Mostly serious. Occasionally, a vent. Always honest about what’s working and what isn’t.

If you run a shop, a café, a salon or anything with a shutter, this is written for you. If you invest in early-stage companies, you’ll find the unvarnished version of the story here first.