Definitions

This site is organised into five books. Each one is a different type of thing I like to create. Definitions, the one you're reading, is kind of my about page: who I am and what I think. Narratives collects short fiction and poetry. Explorations is where I follow a curiosity to its conclusion. Essays and interactive calculators about whichever rabbit holes I find myself getting lost within. Instruments documents things I've built and some thoughts about software. Salivations is for food and drink.

There's no single thread tying them together except that I made all of them.

I'm Wim. South African by birth, living and working in London. Professionally, I'm a strategy consultant at BCG; but more essentially, I'm a curious generalist who likes building things and chasing ideas, often beyond the barrier of reason.

I am from Cape Town originally, with Afrikaans as my first language. I had a long detour through Cape Town's film and media scene before I ever touched a spreadsheet, after which I studied economics and finance at Stellenbosch University. Outside of Cape Town and London, I've lived in Tübingen, Germany, Zürich, Switzerland, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya

I work in strategy, turning ambiguous problems into decisions with clear recommendations to act on. My work has heavily involved AI strategies and implementations at large corporates, but has also spanned pricing, channel and growth strategy, and operating-model design, across consumer goods, retail, banking, pharma, and entertainment.

As a personal repository, I keep a standing set of positions on what I see as the big philosophical questions of life: metaphysics, consciousness, knowledge, and morality. It's something I've always wanted to do since studying Philosophy at university. My views have shifted over time and will certainly change more. Capturing them is something I did so future-me can reflect on how they've changed.

Read the philosophy page →

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