About

Hi, I’m Barnaby

I’m a Strategist, Writer, Photographer and visual thinker

About Barnaby

Personal

I’m closing on two decades living across Asia – I mostly bounce between Hong Kong and Indonesia these days – both of which feel like home.

I’m married, with one daughter — she’s my next sharpest critic after my wife – whose honesty about all my failings is legendary. She’s also my biggest supporter and I’m grateful for that.

Coffee is my spirit fuel. Walking hills my meditation. Colours and contrasts excite me. I’m a technology optimist and very much excited to live in such dynamic times.

What I do

I help companies buy or sell their businesses, or raise funds, or improve their existing operations (AKA Value Creation), I’ve been doing for two decades + across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

I’m passionate about investing and many other tangential things, and some of this gets published through the partnership I am part of.

Writing & Models

I also write and publish personal thoughts on this website. My aim in doing this is to improve my thought process, and also to build an online ‘second brain’ for things I find useful.

To that end I’ve been building a digital library of 80+ mental models with illustrated diagrams. I also document long form notes from non-fiction reading and podcasts that I find impactful.

Read my writing

Learn the mental models

Read my notes from books

Photography

Photography has been a constant thread. I got hooked when first working in Hong Kong in 2010. At one point I was an ‘Olympus Visionary’. I shoot landscapes, streets, and occasionally weddings for families and friends.

I mostly shoot on a Leica M these days and I’m also experimenting with Analog. I’m trying to move toward pared-down gear where I’m more in control of the image, and I spend less time post-processing and more time enjoying the process of capturing images.

See my photography

Coffee

Coffee has been an addiction for a while and more recently a passion. In 2024, I gravitated towards manual grinding and pour over.

It was living in Indonesia really ignited my passion for coffee – It’s a coffee loving country with some of the best beans in the world.

I’m building my own catalogue of the best coffees in Indonesia which you can access on this site: with origins, roasters, tasting notes — all mapped into a database with geo-coordinates, reviews, and photos.

Check out the coffee log

Speaking & Media

I’ve co-authored reports for KPMG which have been covered in mainstream media. I often speak at events with corporates, investors, and boards on M&A strategy, capital markets, and sector views.

For interviews or media inquiries, contact:

me@barnabyrobson.org

See my publications

My Experience

The Day Job: Deals, Value Creation & Strategy

KPMG

Oct 2014 – Present

I have spent the last twenty + years working across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, helping boards and founders navigate complex M&A.

Currently, I am based in Hong Kong, where I lead a Deal Advisory & Strategy practice focussed on the ASPAC region. My work is holistic across the M&A cycle and always about identifying where value actually lives in a business – and how to extract it.

Before settling in Hong Kong, I spent formative years in London (during the financial services boom), Jakarta (during the tech boom) and Shanghai (during the China boom). Those years shaped my view that economic theory rarely survives contact with market reality, without adaptation.

Specific Professional Areas of Expertise

Deal strategy: market entry/exit and target/buyer identification

Due diligence: sell and buy-side (commercial, financial, operational, value)

Capital markets advisory: IPOs and private fundraising

Deal execution: SPA, SSA, TSA, SLA assistance, and completion accounts

I&S: Carve-outs, disposals, integration, and separation

Synergies and value creation: identification, quantification and realization

Distress: Corporate restructuring and turnaround business plan development