In addition to his primary role as academic researcher, teacher and Director of the Research  Methods Centre, Tumlinson is also Founder and Managing Partner of a small firm, ZIVIS LLC, engaged primarily in the advisement of so-called angel investors and management of non-traditional investment assets. Prior to founding ZIVIS, he analysed deals and managed portfolio firms for Earlybird, a Munich based, early-stage, venture capital firm. He has also served as Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University, Research Fellow of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Visiting Professor at EM Lyon Grand Ecole and in a variety of positions at Intel where he researched advanced networking technologies, advised capital equipment decisions, global manufacturing operations and Intel Capital’s investment strategy.