Duncan has spent 20 years building technology across industries that don’t forgive bad architecture—healthtech, fintech, social media, and venture infrastructure. He’s a named patent holder, a serial technical co-founder, and the person who figures out whether a founder’s vision can actually be built, how long it will take, and what it will cost. That honest technical assessment is rarer than it should be in venture.
His experience spans two ecosystems: the US and South Africa. That cross-continental perspective shapes how he thinks about market entry, localization, and building products that work beyond their home turf. For founders eyeing US expansion, Duncan has walked that road and knows where the potholes are.
At Openfin, Duncan owns product design, technology strategy, and branding. He’s the technical gut-check for the portfolio—helping founders make smart build-versus-buy decisions, avoid over-engineering, and sequence their roadmaps in ways that match their capital. He also leads US market entry strategy for ventures looking to expand.
What sets Duncan apart is that he’s not just an advisor who reviews architecture diagrams. He’s built and shipped products across multiple industries, scaled platforms, and worked shoulder-to-shoulder with founders who were figuring it out as they went. That builder credibility means founders actually listen when he pushes back.