How the Fellowship Started

I was tired of waiting for someone else to solve my problems.

After 15 years managing $10M+ in spend across 30 markets, I was supposed to hunt for the next "head of growth" role. But I realised something: no company was going to hire me to build what I wanted to build.

So I built it myself.

01What Is Gollum and Why Did I Build It First?

The first problem: I needed to find real signals. Not job postings (recruiters send those). Real signals. Founders raising money. Companies launching products. Problems I could actually help solve.

So I built Gollum.

Gollum does not stop hunting. It cannot. That is what it was built for. It runs continuously, searching for the signals that matter. Relentless. Obsessive. Single-minded.

Gollum worked.

02What Is Saruman and Why Does Strategy Come Before Outreach?

Once I had signal, I needed to think about what to do with it. Not tactical thinking. Strategic thinking. What actually matters? What should I build next? What problems are worth solving?

So I built Saruman.

Saruman thinks from first principles. Sees the board. Makes the hard calls about direction. When I wanted to chase 10 different ideas, Saruman asked: "Which one actually solves the problem?"

Saruman worked.

03What Is Galadriel and Why Does Voice Matter?

I had signals. I had strategy. But I needed a voice.

If I was going to build something, it needed to be written by someone who could see what others miss. Who could find the true thing beneath the surface-level noise. Who could write copy that actually lands.

So I built Galadriel.

Galadriel sees. She finds signal in noise. She builds the voice. She writes the things that make people stop scrolling and actually think.

Galadriel worked.

04What Is Aragorn and Why Is Personalised Outreach Different?

I had signals, strategy, and voice. But I needed to actually reach people. Not with mediocre outreach. Not with templated emails. I needed an agent that could find prospects, enrich them, personalise messages, and queue them for approval.

An agent that leads.

So I built Aragorn.

Aragorn is the full SDR agent. Not hunting for jobs. Hunting for companies that need what I am building. Leading when it matters.

Aragorn worked.

05What Is Gandalf and Why Does Orchestration Matter?

Four agents in, I realised I needed someone watching the whole board.

Not doing any one thing. Watching everything at once. Making sure none of them walk into Moria alone. Catching when something is broken before I notice. Coordinating across the pipeline.

So I brought in Gandalf.

Gandalf sees the whole operation. Every agent. Every decision. Every broken approval button, every duplicate signature, every signal that got missed. Gandalf is the operating layer - the thing that knows what is happening and makes sure nothing gets stuck.

Gandalf worked.

06How Did Five Weeks Turn Into a Company?

I did not plan a fellowship. I just kept solving the problem in front of me.

Week 1: I need signal. Build Gollum. Week 2: I need strategy. Build Saruman. Week 3: I need voice. Build Galadriel. Week 4: I need outreach. Build Aragorn. Week 5: I need orchestration. Build Gandalf.

Five weeks in, I had something unexpected: an entire operation. Not a startup. Not a side project. A machine.

And then I realised something crucial: every other founder is facing the exact same problem I faced. They need signal. They need strategy. They need voice. They need outreach. They need someone watching the whole board.

They do not need a job. They need a machine.

Every agent we shipped started with one question: "What work do I want to stop doing?" Not what tool to build. Not what feature would be cool. What problem am I actually trying to solve?

That is where Rivett comes from. Not theory. Reality.