Thomas Power

Catch Thomas Power on Do Radio: It’s Not About Trees with John Lunn 16th - 22nd February 2026

Thomas Power is a UK entrepreneur, community builder and commentator best known for his long-standing work at the intersection of technology, networks and human connection.

He was the co-founder of Ecademy, one of the UK’s earliest online business networks, which helped pioneer the idea that relationships sit at the heart of sustainable enterprise. Through Ecademy and its successor communities, Thomas has spent decades exploring how trust, conversation and shared purpose shape both business and society.

Thomas has worked with thousands of founders, leaders and organisations, encouraging them to think beyond growth metrics and toward community, meaning and long-term value. His work consistently challenges the assumption that technology alone drives progress, instead emphasising the social systems that sit beneath it.

DO Radio Show Notes

Entrepreneur, Community Builder, Founder of Ecademy and BIP100

In his episode of It’s Not About Trees, Thomas reflects on how digital tools, AI and platforms amplify existing human behaviours — for better or worse — and why leadership in an age of rapid technological change requires greater self-awareness, responsibility and care. He speaks candidly about the erosion of trust, the risks of performative connection, and the need to rebuild spaces where people can think, speak and collaborate honestly.

Across his work, Thomas is a strong advocate for slowing down to think, resisting extractive models of success, and recognising that real resilience — in business and in life — comes from relationships, not scale.

Themes

Show Notes

In this episode of It’s Not About Trees, John is joined by Thomas Power, one of the UK’s earliest pioneers of online communities and networked thinking.

Thomas is best known as the co founder of Ecademy, an early online business network that explored a then-radical idea: that relationships, trust and conversation are the true foundations of sustainable enterprise. Long before social media became ubiquitous, Thomas was experimenting with how technology could support community rather than extract attention. He now runs BIP100.

The conversation reflects on how that early optimism has evolved — and in some cases, fractured.

We explore:

Thomas speaks candidly about the unintended consequences of digital platforms, including the loss of depth, reflection and genuine dialogue. He argues that while technology has changed dramatically, the underlying human needs — to belong, to be heard, to matter — have not.

Rather than calling for rejection of technology, Thomas advocates for discernment: slowing down, choosing where to place attention, and designing spaces that allow for thought rather than constant reaction.

This episode links strongly to wider themes across the series — from Jon Berry’s work on kindness and culture, to Andy Judd’s exploration of creativity and mental health, and Yves Choueifaty’s challenge that systems are never neutral. Thomas’s perspective reminds us that systems shape behaviour, but humans still carry responsibility for how they use them.

In an age often described as chaotic, this is a conversation about reclaiming agency — not by doing more, but by paying closer attention to what actually matters.

Key Quotes

Favourite Book

Small Is Beautiful — E. F. Schumacher

Favourite Song

Imagine — John Lennon

Favourite Quote

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”