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Ben Keene

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      • Home
      • Speaking
      • Projects
      • Book
      • Contact

    Ben Keene

      Contact
      • Home
      • Speaking
      • Projects
      • Book
      • Contact
      • …  
        • Home
        • Speaking
        • Projects
        • Book
        • Contact

      Ben Keene

      • Accelerating investment into pro-planet solutions

        Raaise is the AI-powered platform to raise capital smarter, faster, and commission-free.

        Raaise

        Not Your Average Book Club

        est. 2015. Every month - one learning theme, a book & an event.

         

        Rebel Book Club

        Teaching AI so impact leaders can fly.

        The most powerful toolkit we've ever had.

        Superfly AI

        Speaking, Hosting & Training.

        Can I help your event and team make a bigger impact?

         

        Let's chat
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        My story & projects, so far.

        Escape Artists Interview: A career journey from a remote Fijian Island to co-founder of Rebel Book Club & Raaise.

        Part One: Tribewanted

        "On January 14, 2006, Ben Keene received an email that changed his life. The weather outside was rainy, windy, and freezing and Keene was holed up in his loft office, the window fogged with mist. He had just taken a sip of hot tea when the message popped up, and Keene did a double take at the subject line: “A TRIBE IS WANTED” National Geographic

        The idea behind Tribewanted was to recruit a group of similar people online before heading to the Fijian Island of Vorovoro to build a sustainable community alongside the local indigenous tribe.

        The idea was swept along with a flood of interest (1000s of people paid and signed up), the island lease was secured, and the virtual community sprung to life.

        Tribewanted had to quickly overcome multiple challenges including a fire sweeping through the island in week one of the project, a military coup, and a tropical cyclone threatened to wipe out the emerging village. Online disagreements also made decision making hard and pushed it to the edge.

        Meet the Tribe: Observer Travel cover story.

        The project survived, and for a while, thrived. I spent 10 years leading Tribewanted: building the crowdfunded sustainable-tourism village in Fiji (which was turned into a 5 part BBC series and book and invested over $3m into the local region), a beach in Sierra Leone (from ‘Blood Diamonds to Beach Football’ & measuring our impact) and a farm in Umbria (think River Cottage but with homemade pasta, olive oil and red wine).

        Blog 2008 - 2014


        Part Two: Escape the City


        In 2010 I spoke in a Soho nightclub to 600 drunk bankers at the launch of ‘Escape the City’. Two good things came from that event - a new role helping build ‘The Escape School’ to support ‘escapees’ making the transition from unfulfilling corporate careers to something new, and I met my future wife, Susannah (not a drunk banker). Over the next 5 years the ‘Escape Team’ built two curriculums and led 1000s of people through 3 month part-time evening and weekend programmes. I led 10 ‘startup accelerators’ and am in regular contact with many escapee projects.


        Alongside Escape the City, I worked with a sports development project, Right to Dream, which has grown into the most successful football academy for boys and girls in Africa (and now owns clubs in Denmark and the MLS). This led to helping host the Ghanaian Paralympic team from Right to Dream at London 2012. I joined the THNK: School of Creative Leadership as a founding participant, as a way to learn with other impact entrepreneurs from around the world.



        Part Three: Rebel Book Club & Raaise.

        Soon after our first daughter Isla was born, we headed to Bali to set-up an impact startup retreat. In a bamboo co-working space in the monkey forest I started Rebel Book Club with a friend, Ben Saul-Garner, to help solve the problem the Japanese call ‘Tsundoku’ - a growing pile of unread books on your bedside table (or, kindle).

        Rebel Book Club is now a global community of paying subscribers who, every month, read one non-fiction book together, meet and, over a book-inspired cocktail, discuss it and see how they can apply its lessons. In August 2023 we will have run 100 months of the club and read 100 books together.

        Alongside Rebel Book Club, I continue to support first-time entrepreneurs at Escape the City, Virgin Startup and in schools.

        My goal is to be 100% ‘earth focused’ within the coming few years, to do the best I can to tackle the climate and nature crises through entrepreneurship and community, in the most creative, fun way possible. I've started doing this at Raaise, a new platform to help get more startup solutions to the climate emergency funded faster.

        Blog 2014 - 2021

      • Current Projects

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        Rebel Book Club

        Not your average book club.

        Monthly > nonfiction books, events & action.

        Read. Meet. Learn. Repeat.

         

        Co-founded 2015

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        Raaise

        Funding climate startups.

        Backing the solutions we urgently need.

        Co-Founded 2021
         

        Podcast: Startups Will Save Us

         

         

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        Superfly

        Good with AI

        Teaching AI so impact leaders can fly.

        Founded 2025.

      • Past Projects

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        Tribewanted

        Sustainable Tourism communities in Fiji, Sierra Leone, & Italy.

        Co-founded in 2006: How we crowdfunded the building of an eco-tourism community on a Fijian Island.

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        Escape the City

        Helping professionals do work that matters

        Startup Leader at the Escape School, 2015-2019

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        Right to Dream

         The greatest football academy on earth.

        Ghana, Egypt, Denmark, USA.

      • Milestones

        2005

        Started 'Career Break Cafe' blog after driving to Timbuktu  to help people plan long-terms trips mid-career

        2006

        Crowdfunded the renting of Vorovoro Island in Fiji (with 1000 new tribe members): Tribewanted was born

        2007

        Survived an island fire, a cyclone & a political coup in the first year of island life

        2008

        Celebrated 3 years island success - BBC tv documentary & book: 'Paradise or Bust'

        2009

        Travelled to Sierra Leone & worked with Right to Dream on setting up the Craig Bellamy Football Academy

        2010

        Spoke at launch party of Escape the City before setting up camp for a year on the beach in SL

        2011

        Became a founding member of THNK: The Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership. 

        2012

        Supported the Ghanaian Paralympic team from Right to Dream with my fiancee at London 2012 

        2013

        Launched Tribewanted's first European project: Monestevole, a farm in Umbria, with Filippo Bozotti

        2014

        Advised entrepreneurs at Virgin Startup, wrote about 'Schools for Life', mapped the world's treehouses & made the first 'Escape to the Woods' festival

        2015

        Spent the winter hosting startups in Bali with Tribewanted (& pool hunting), started Rebel Book Club in London & led the startup tribe programs at Escape the City

        2016

        Full-tilt at Escape London - leading 2 more startup tribes & building our team. Rebel Book Club hits 20 books + 150 members

        2017

        Consolidated the Escape School - leading 2 more accelerators + getting our curriculums online. Mentoring at THNK & ZINC.vc + workshops with Virgin Starutp. Read 50 books in a year!

        2018

        Strengthened the startup programmes at the Escape School. Doubled size of Rebel Book Club. Moved our family to Ko Lanta in Thailand!

        2019

        Went full-time at Rebel Book Club and crowdfunded £150,000. Moved to Dorset with the family.

        2020

        Pivoted Rebel Book Club to 100% online during the covid pandemic. Hosted a dozens of online events including a chat about optimism with Simon Sinek & Richard Branson. Welcomed a puppy called Bula.

        2021

        Slow return to in-person events for Rebel Book Club. Launched Raaise and started on-boarding our first climate stratups. Recorded 'The Jump' podcast for Virgin Startup.

        2022

        Steady year with good event & podcast series for Rebel Book Club, Raaise & Virgin Startup.

        Highlights with Clover Hogan, Vanessa Nakate, Mo Gawdat & lots of fanatastic climate founders.
         

      • Lessons

        2005

        Its not what you start, its that you start. Selling online ads is hard.

        2006

        Braveness is rewarded but comes with significant responsibility. Don't complicate the mission.

        2007

        Tenacity is critical but being clear on priorities is not easy. Feedback can be good for the head but not for the heart.

        2008

        Ego can be the enemy if you're not careful. Power is better shared.

        2009

        New beginnings can revitalise.

        2010

        Taking on the biggest challenge not always the best business move but often the best life move.

        2011

        Keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.

        2012

        Inspiration can come from unlikely sources - stay open.

        2013

        Sometimes its good to pick low hanging fruit.

        2014

        Creativity should be central to most things.

        2015

        Mindsets shift with community. Scaling impact models not easy.

        2016

        Building a team (& family at the same time) is hard.

        2017

        Focus on the product. Easy to say, hard to do well. When we did it made a big difference.

        2018

        Sometimes your comfort zone is closer than you think.

        2018

        Do everything at once.

        2020

        Blimey.

        2021

        The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

        2022

        Staying focused is a superpower.

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