Robbie Stewart Howitt
Non-technical founder. Sales, marketing, people, and the relationships that hold a venture together.
About
A note: this page has been put together simply to communicate how I have spent my three years at university. It is nowhere near a reflection of what I want to achieve.
Currently applying to Entrepreneurs First among other programmes and exploring my options post-university, having recently completed a BA in Geography with Proficiency in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter. I treated my three years there as an incubator programme — trying as many things as possible — and ended up founding, scaling and exiting a portfolio of student-facing ventures spanning marketing, live events, consumer brands and film.
I have deliberately scaled down all current ventures because whatever I pursue next I want to go all in on. It just has to be the right thing.
What I bring is a varied experience across sales, marketing and negotiation. I take feedback at face value and re-pivot fast, and I genuinely see failure as a lesson in what not to do next time. What I am looking for is the right technical co-founder, the right idea, and a chance to build with purpose and ambition.
founded1NE Pouch six weeks after arriving at university — a student marketing agency holding UK distribution rights for the Swedish nicotine pouch brand Klint. Scaled it to thirteen Russell Group universities and a network of fifty-plus ambassadors, with a flagship B2C activation at the 2024 Silverstone MotoGP. Wound it down deliberately fourteen months later when the chapter had run its course.
co-foundedTrafficUK and built it into a national student events brand running across London, Newcastle and Exeter — twenty-five-plus productions of three-hundred to fourteen-hundred attendees, booked and operated alongside Kilimanjaro, Conducta, Sammy Virji and Interplanetary Criminal. Alongside TrafficUK I held two other student events brands in my portfolio — Exeter Darts and Shamrockinn — both of which I scaled and upgraded, giving the operation an effective regional monopoly on large-scale student events in the South West. All three brands exited cleanly within a month of each other in 2026.
joineda startup, Atrium Discovery, as Head of Young Audience — leading event activation while contributing to the underlying tech that streamlined operations for communities. Ran productions of up to fifteen-hundred capacity with teams of fifteen across marketing, activation and merchandise. The company ultimately failed, and the six months I spent inside the room taught me an enormous amount about what not to do in business — and, crucially, how to manage people and employees, alongside the most important rule of managing relationships: never overpromise and underdeliver.
helped raise£120,000 across three charities — Exeter Cathedral, Suicide&Co and the Scottish Air Ambulance. As Head Student of the Cathedral fundraising effort I led on the commercial side; for Suicide&Co and the Scottish Air Ambulance I ran the campaigns end-to-end, through a charity rugby match, an auction, and a series of balls and events.
advisedtwo early-stage student startups — Helpz Rewards and Sage Nootropics — on go-to-market and brand. executive-producedfour short films across two years on sets of up to fifty. heldthe number-two seat in a ticket reselling operation moving twenty-five-hundred tickets a month to three-hundred paying members. And builta six-hundred-and-fifty-strong digital community of students for short-term staffing across the Devon racecourse circuit.
Ventures
Build and sell+
Student marketing agency built around exclusive UK distribution rights for Klint, a Swedish nicotine pouch brand. Sold into all UK universities and licensed shops. Learnt how important it is to pick the right partners going into business, and the weight contracts carry.
Scaled to thirteen Russell Group universities with a fifty-plus ambassador network across the country. Ran the marketing engine — digital, ambassador, in-shop B2B — alongside the commercial relationship with Klint. Sponsored over fifty events across the country.
Highlight campaign: led on-the-ground brand activation at the 2024 Silverstone MotoGP with a team of five, combining digital reach with physical retail distribution.
Wound the company down in November 2024 after two months of negotiation — the make-or-break of the business. The chapter had reached its natural close, and continuing would have cost focus on more meaningful work.
Three concurrent student events brands operated in parallel — collectively an effective regional monopoly on large-scale student events in the South West.
TrafficUK (Mar 2024 – May 2026) — flagship late-night brand, co-founded with two others and built into a national presence. Twenty-five-plus events from three-hundred to fourteen-hundred capacity across London, Newcastle and Exeter. Booked and operated alongside Kilimanjaro, Conducta, Sammy Virji, Interplanetary Criminal. Currently changing hands.
Exeter Darts and Shamrockinn (Mar 2025 – Apr 2026) — two further student events brands held in portfolio alongside TrafficUK, each co-founded with separate partners. Both were taken on, scaled and upgraded under my operational lead. Wound down April 2026.
Together the three brands required running booking relationships, brand identity, ticketing, security, production and post-event finance across overlapping calendars and three different co-founding teams. All three exited cleanly within a month of each other.
Held the number-two operating seat in a ticket reselling business turning over twenty-five-hundred tickets a month, alongside a community of three-hundred monthly paying members.
Direct ownership of fulfilment reliability and the customer feedback loop. A short, lucrative apprenticeship in operating cadence under real demand pressure.
Built and managed a six-hundred-and-fifty-student digital community to provide short-term staffing and audience access for racecourse events across the Devon region. Alongside this, leveraged the community to fill available jobs for students and spread awareness across the wider Exeter community.
Solved a real two-sided liquidity problem: courses needed bodies, students wanted access. Earned a margin on the match.
Lead and learn+
I joined Atrium Discovery, a London-based community-tech startup, as Head of Young Audience. The role split across two surfaces: leading event activation across UK universities, and contributing to the underlying tech that streamlined operations for communities.
On the events side I delivered the brand deliverables at events of up to fifteen-hundred capacity, managing teams of fifteen across marketing, activation and merchandise distribution.
The company ultimately failed. I was inside the room as it did. The lessons — focus on the central problem before extending the surface area, and the most important rule of managing relationships: never overpromise and underdeliver — have shaped my perspectives on how I evaluate every venture and individual since. Counts as the most valuable business education I have had.
Advise and serve+
Helped raise £130,000 across three charities: Exeter Cathedral, Suicide&Co, and the Scottish Air Ambulance.
As Head Student of the Cathedral fundraising effort I led on the organisation side: organising and lead-generating for students on the day, and reaching out to larger brand sponsors.
For Suicide&Co and the Scottish Air Ambulance I ran events — including a charity rugby match, a charity auction, and a series of balls and smaller events across the calendar.
Freelance go-to-market and brand advisory for two early-stage student startups.
Helpz Rewards — student loyalty rewards scheme with multiple commercial partnerships, has raised external funding.
Sage Nootropics — healthy drinks brand, currently in active manufacturing and production.
See and make+
Executive-produced three short films and one feature over two years, on low budgets.
End-to-end ownership: operations and production management, marketing strategy for post-production and distribution, event coordination around screenings, and the financial structuring required to make each project viable.
Big lessons in managing people, everything going wrong all at once, and ultimately patience in the process.
Long-term photographic project of abandoned places across China, inspired by my recent travels — having had the privilege of exploring abandoned university campuses and arts factories in north-west China.
Began as a way to see clearly. Has become a way to think about what gets built, what gets left, and what is left behind in the rush.
Most recent trip — Hong Kong and mainland China, including the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, the largest trade fair in the world.
Spent time on the floor with Chinese manufacturers in Phase 1 of the fair across hardware, agritech and electronics. Being able to experience one of the centres of global commerce was pretty eye-opening — alongside experiencing a very different part of the world.
