For Starters is the essential weekly briefing for the next generation of small business owners. Inspiration and ideas, every Friday – for free. It’s curated by Danny Giacopelli, formerly of Monocle and Courier magazines.
Hey, starter! We’re back after a 2-week break. Read on for…
Inspiration ➠ Bangkok dreams
Advice ➠ 10 years of Spiritland
Ideas ➠ 26 concepts for 2026
Resources ➠ Mental health check
Town Hall ➠ Community shoutouts
—Danny (tell me your business dreams)
➠ Get inspired
Luang Prabang, 5.30am | Credit: me
1. Southeast Asian starters. Hello friends. These last few weeks I’ve been rambling around Laos and Thailand. It’s been glorious. I’ve come back to London with some small businesses you should know… 🪷
Ock Pop Tok. In Luang Prabang I visited this social enterprise that works with dozens of local women to produce handmade textiles. Founders Jo and Veo also run the unbelievably beautiful Living Crafts Center, which has a restaurant, runs workshops, and overlooks the Mekong.
Laos Buffalo Dairy. An Australian couple came to Laos to set up a guest house… and ended up establishing the country’s first buffalo dairy farm. These things happen.
Charmkrung. If you’re visiting Bangkok, grab a reservation at this restaurant. You take a lift to the top floor of a nondescript office building and end up having the meal of your week.
Local Boys Coffee Co. And these guys on Song Wat whip up your order – including peanut butter coffee and Thai tea lattes – and serve it in a can.
2. Home sweet home. In Osaka, Japan, a father-daughter duo run a tiny Pakistani and Middle Eastern handwoven rug and lifestyle store called BEIT (from the Arabic ‘home’). Just look at these vibes.
3. Font foundry. And Noah Johnson and Tina Vines, who run California-based chain stitch embroidery brand Stitch-Rite, are big collectors of old lettering books, which they use for reference for design projects. Now they’ve digitized and catalogued their fav alphabets, and drawn some new ones too, which they’re offering in font form for starters – i.e. sign writers, chain stitchers, grocery store artists, leatherworkers, tattooists and graphic designers. Their new outfit is called Practical Lettering.
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