Lee is the co-founder of Synthesis, and leads Brand, Marketing and Creative. Working in the sprawl of data, his instinct is to pare back. The best ideas, he believes, don’t need explaining—they should make you feel something. Data comes from something real. The work is often bringing it back to life.
The Big Short, more topical today than ever in demonstrating the dangers of wilful blindness to signals all around us. It has a lot of echoes to what’s happening in our food systems.
Michael Burry pores over mortgage data and spots cracks, like bad loans, missing documentation, and risk piling up. But when he bets against the system, he is dismissed as paranoid.
The same could be said of our food choices, soil health and the growing nutritional gaps in crops. For years, authors like Jason Hickel (Less is More), David Wallace-Wells (The Uninhabitable Earth) and Dan Saladino (Eating to Extinction) have warned about the erosion of food diversity and the decline in soil health, while economic and political systems looked the other way. I think we’ll look back on the ignored signals much like we did after the 2008 crash, but this time with more irreversible consequences.
In the golden morning light, at the tiny tables of Italian cafés that spill onto the street, as pedestrians weave between them and the town stirs to life.
“Everything is intimately connected, behave accordingly.”
It’s rare to stay in an Airbnb with sharp knives, and when we travel, Amy and I plan our dates around market days for fresh, seasonal ingredients. So now I pack a few kitchen essentials: a chef’s knife, paring knife, good peeler and corkscrew. These days Alinea packs her kids' chef’s knife too. Half our suitcase is kitchen equipment.
The Creative Data House. I feel really high energy there. A lot of thought went into creating a bright, natural, modular space to bring people together. The patter of table tennis balls, coffee being ground, Brit pop Will’s decided to play, or the gong struck in celebration. It was built by LAANK, our interior architect, known for shaping some of Singapore’s most distinctive F&B spaces, including National Kitchen, Miznon, and Rebel Rebel.
I find my clearest ideas in spaces free from distraction — usually in the sauna and ice plunge, where clarity cuts through the cold. I find the rise of wellness clubs really interesting: spaces built around focus, recovery, and being present, without screens. Ice Bath Club in Singapore or Othership in New York. Some other favourites include Arctic Bath in Sweden, Löyly in Helsinki and Saltwater Sauna on the beach in my hometown, all offering the same quiet, elemental reset.
In the age of AI, your edge is critical reflection, creativity, and original thinking. Yet we still glorify busyness and packed calendars. Clear space. Protect it. Let your mind wander. Big breakthroughs don't come from doing more — they come from connecting dots others don't see.
My brother recently bought me a Timemore coffee handgrinder. I love the ritual of making coffee slowly—hand grinding connects me to the moment and the ingredient. Every small detail makes a difference: the freshness of the bean, the grinder's setting, the water temperature, a spritz of water to improve extraction. The same bean can express itself wildly differently. But the surroundings—the environment, the cup, the moment—are just as important. I recently bought a spring-loaded tamper. It doesn't change the taste, but there’s satisfaction in seeing it press the coffee perfectly. The magic lies in the unexplainable.
Smoked butter. A Spanish restaurant, Asador, does a really good smoked butter. After I tried it I went down a rabbit hole of trying to recreate it. Since then, you’ll always find a line-up of butters and smoking experiments in the fridge — applewood, maple, pecan. I've just started to mix woods with dried herbs, teas or dried citrus to layer flavour.
And in the office fridge you’ll almost always find Tony's Chocolonely, it’s the ultimate bar. I don’t know who keeps ordering it, but if you’re reading this, I appreciate you.
Skiing in Pyeongchang, Korea. I haven’t skied much, but I love the thrill of racing through fresh snow, mixed with the calm of the mountains. I’m drawn to experiences where you can only focus on what’s right in front of you - cycling and tennis bring the same.
Email him at lee@synthesis.partners
