Ben Fawkes

I'm a generalist who moves between creative and commercial — equally at home developing an idea from scratch as I am running the operations that bring it to life.

My background is eclectic. I studied English Literature in Cardiff, spent three years in Switzerland managing ebusiness and asset management consulting for industrial technology firm Endress+Hauser, and then joined SoundCloud in Berlin as one of its first 35 employees. At SoundCloud I created the company's first content partnership programme for spoken word and non-music audio — a space that didn't exist before I built it. That instinct to find the gap and fill it has defined most of what I've done since.

Some things I've started from zero: a spoken word content partnership division at SoundCloud. A bilingual podcast production business in Berlin that grew to €680k+ annual revenue. The Institute for Sound & Music, a non-profit arts organisation that built the ISM Hexadome and took it to museums and festivals across Europe and North America. My own music practice, which has taken me to a residency at ZKM Karlsruhe and contributions to projects shown at the Venice Biennale.

I'm a strong communicator — comfortable pitching to a room, negotiating a deal, writing a strategy document or getting on a plane to make something happen. I like connecting people and I'm organised enough to make sure the details don't fall through the cracks.

I'm currently based in Berlin, available for freelance work, and always interested in interesting projects.