2025 end of year notes

My year in review:

• Made a live 3D map of the London Underground. The BBC and Time Out wrote about it.

• Built a prototype solar data center in California.

  

• Made an interactive solar data center cost calculator, with Scale Microgrids and Stripe.

• Installed 75 replicas of Feathers McGraw around London. The BBC also covered this and a lot of people sent in selfies.

  

• Wrote my first non-technical post, on my pet theory of life. This became my most read blog on substack, which was unexpected for a post about a 2x2 matrix.

• Dissolved my oyster card in acetone and used the chip to make a bigger one

  

• Built out my breakdown of UK electricity prices, and released a 2030 price forecast. This really took off beyond my expectations, and popped up in various places including The Economist/FT/Times. Grateful to be supported by Emergent Ventures in this work.

  • I continue to believe that the single most important objective for UK decarbonisation is making electricity cheap. 10% of UK emissions come from electricity, but we will not reduce the remaining 90% — which are primarily heating and transport — without cheap electricity.

• Converted an old typewriter into a Claude terminal. When you type in a question, Claude will type back a response.

• Moved office twice at Axle, as the team has more than doubled this year. We racked up a lot of industry firsts, and added some extraordinary people. I have learned more about being an effective human from this group than any other. Axle is hiring.

Roadside pancakes en route to Axle Retreat IV

• Spent more time making music with friends. Figured out that you don’t need a reason to get together and jam.

• Fell off my bike and fractured my jaw. First general anaesthetic. Woke up feeling very grateful and ate the best yoghurt of my life. I’m back to normal now.

• Moved to Bethnal Green in London. Most mornings you can find me by the lake in Victoria Park.

  

A few good things to read

• OpenAI burns the boats - banger on the inference market

• Moxie Marlinspike’s Hat Band

• Henrik Karlsson on unfolding. (I think this applies more to creatives than others, but still thought provoking.)

• The email response times of the best founders

• Richard Feynman’s love letter to his wife

• There’s no speed limit (corny but mandatory re-read every year)

Asks

• Email me if we should be friends, penpals, co-conspirators, or dating: ben@benjames.io.

• I’m searching for drummers and guitarists in London.

• My pet rat Bogdan travels around the world with friends. If you are travelling to an outlandish place in 2026, he would love to tag along, once he returns from Antarctica in Q1.

Have a peaceful 2026!

Warmly,

Ben