Independent consulting · Craig Telfer
Founder-minded advice for startups, studios and publishers.
I’m Craig Telfer. For over 25 years I’ve taken ideas nobody had built yet and turned them into real companies.
I’ve co-founded startups, joined founding teams and seen companies through to exit. I know the stretch nobody puts in the pitch deck: the idea is clear, the path isn’t, and every decision feels like the one that matters.
Boxwood House is how I put that experience to work on other people’s companies: knowing which decision matters this week, which can wait, and which you can’t take back. I work with a handful of clients at a time, so you get me, fully focused, not a team you’ve never met.
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From first idea to a company that works. I’ve sat in your seat, more than once.
Most founders don’t need another board seat filled. They need someone who’s raised capital, built the pitch, planned the go-to-market and ran the build-out. That’s what I do.
Shaping the idea, finding the first customers, building the team, deciding what to cut. I’ve made these calls in my own companies, and I’ll work through them with you.
I start from what technology makes possible, then build the commercial model around it. That’s how in-game advertising and real-money item trading went from ideas to industries.
I’ve worked with
Activision EA Sega Sony Ubisoft
When the technology opens up a new way to make money, I help you find it, price it and sell it, then build the partnerships and pipeline to keep it coming. For studios and publishers who need to win more of the right work, faster.
Market analysis, competitive positioning and recommendations your leadership can act on. For entering a new market, or making a big commercial move with confidence.
The work is the same; what differs is how mature the industry is. I’ve run startups in healthcare, advertising and AI too, and the stretch doesn’t care what you’re selling.
Three ideas I’ve helped turn into companies.
Each one started as an idea and a conviction that technology could change how something works. That’s still how I think.
Co-founder · Acquired by Microsoft
The idea: advertising that lives inside the game. Massive Incorporated pioneered in-game advertising, worked with the world’s major studios and built it into more than 200 AAA titles. After Microsoft acquired the company, I joined Xbox Studios.
Founding team
The idea: let players trade in-game currencies and items, with the publisher’s blessing. Live Gamer built publisher-sanctioned secondary markets, brought real money into virtual-currency transactions and put payment gateways into AAA games, pioneering how games monetise.
Advisor · From creation to exit
The idea: record one video, send thousands of personal ones. Salemaker uses AI to clone a seller’s voice and face, so sales teams can send personalised video at scale. I advised the company from its creation through to exit.
Got an idea you can’t stop thinking about, a startup at a hard moment, or a studio ready to think differently? Book a call, or drop me a line. I typically reply within 24 hours.