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# Adaptive Lab: A Lyrical Deconstruction
- URL: https://pulpconversations.com/adaptive-lab-a-lyrical-deconstruction/
- Published: 2025-06-18T03:24:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-27T17:35:17.000Z
- Description: So Be It .. so be it ...
- Author: Vinay Gupta
- Tags: Podcast, #Migrated-1787171093388, #Import 2026-08-19 16:25

My friend [James](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshaycock/?ref=pulpconversations.com) just launched [BRiMM](https://wearebrimm.com/?ref=pulpconversations.com).

I tried to hire James in 2009, but he had other plans.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/67/42/67423e8e-d1c5-4288-976a-2d7a9b94e567/content/images/2026/08/7b3bcb01-677c-41ee-9376-75c739117a95_314x372.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/67/42/67423e8e-d1c5-4288-976a-2d7a9b94e567/content/images/2026/08/3421d842-9990-449e-89fe-60d1fe15223c_696x406.png)

Haycock vs. Clipse

## Vision and Creation from Nothing

Like Pusha T’s “grandmama could see it,” James had a vision for [Adaptive Lab](https://web.archive.org/web/20180530215953/https://adaptivelab.com/#expand) before it existed. He saw the need for a new kind of digital innovation agency (in 2009) - one that could outmaneuver legacy consultancies.

James didn’t build Adaptive Lab to be flashy; he built it to be effective. Adaptive Lab’s value was in its results, not its hype.

The pitch to clients was about rapid prototyping and tangible results - before *design thinking* became a meme. This is what set James apart and ultimately led him to create an agency that was 150 employees deep & pulling $20M a year in turnover.

James had to create processes, culture, and operational discipline from scratch. He had no inherited playbook, just like Pusha T’s “bust a brick if you let me.” He turned raw talent into high-performing teams.

Not only did James sell his consultancy to IDEAN - a Finnish company - he then went on to lead even larger teams at Capgemini, ultimately absorbing and managing [Frog Design](https://www.frog.co/?ref=pulpconversations.com)’s European practice.

## James’ “so be it, so be it” attitude;

became a repeatable playbook: he identified blockers, injected Adaptive Lab’s culture, and transformed existing assets into innovation engines.

> he leanin' on Celine 'cause he ain't steppin' in Giuseppe

Whether “busting a brick” (cutting a kilo of coke) like King Push or turning a legacy design team into a nimble innovation unit like James, **the magic is in the remix / not the raw material**.

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> “When I was born, grandmama could see it / I be Bentley driven and very strategic”  
> — Pusha T, “So Be It”

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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this then maybe so will your Moms.