Almanac

John and Micheál are the founders of Cropsafe- an AI and satellite-based farming solution. I was really excited to speak with them as they're two of the sharpest young minds I've ever had the pleasure to meet and they typify what I see as the next generation of young founders- educated, networked, and even funded over the internet thanks to things like Pioneer. In our wide-ranging conversation, we explore the Cropsafe story, the balance of innovation and globalisation, and how to maximise serendipity in your life- among other things. I was really inspired by this conversation and I hope you will be too. 

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While only in his early twenties, Jack O' Connor has already amassed a laundry list of meaningful achievements. Here are a few: 

- He's a United Nations Youth Delegate for Ireland, representing Ireland domestically and internationally in New York, Geneva, Brussels.

AND

As this biographical sketch makes clear, Jack is a remarkable young man with a strong social conscience and unbridled ambition. In our conversation, we explore the genesis of this ambition, the pragmatic actions he takes to manifest it in the real world, and the advice he would give to his younger self- among other things. I really enjoyed and learned a great deal from this conversation with Jack, and I hope you will too!

Timestamps

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Lory Kehoe. Lory’s had a fascinating career- starting out as a lecturer before moving into consulting. After a decade of climbing the corporate ladder in both Accenture and Deloitte, Lory was turned onto the potential of Blockchain by a friend over dinner in Hong Kong. Lory’s interest was piqued and he consumed everything on the technology he could get his hands on. He reflects, “one question was answered, but led to another five. And then really, it just took off from there.” In the following years, Lory founded Deloitte’s EMEA Blockchain Lab before moving on to Consensys where he held roles as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Partnerships. His career, proof of Joseph Lubin’s assertion that,“For those who understand the profound implications of blockchain technology, there is no turning back.”

Timestamps

Alberto Arenaza is an entrepreneur and writer exploring the frontier of learning and work at Transcend Network. In our wide-ranging conversation, we explore the second-order effects of Covid-19 on education, the future of universities, corporate universities, the corporate development market, and much much more. 

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Daniel Kyne is the Co-Founder and CEO of Opinion X- a digital 'Citizen's Assembly' helping the world to understand each other one click at a time. Daniel's been involved in start-ups since the age of 15 when he attempted to build a music publishing company. In our wide-ranging discussion, we cover his experiences between then and now- including everything from how to craft the perfect cold email to what makes a good startup idea- as well as his vision for the future of Opinion X. 

Timestamps

Note: This interview was recorded in front of a live audience in early March and so the audio quality is a little patchier than usual.

This week's guest is Devan Hughes, the co-founder and CEO of Buymie-

a company on a mission is to bridge the gap between convenience and online shopping, allowing customers to order from their favourite local stores and have the goods hand-delivered to their door in as little as one hour. Personally, I love any product that reduces friction in my day to day life and Buymie certainly does this.

This episode is a topical one as e-commerce has been one of the few industries to flourish during the pandemic rather than be stymied by it- growing by 300%. Buymie has been no different and is on track to grow its revenue by 500% this year after recently announcing $9 million in fresh funding to expand into the UK. Buymie certainly has a bright future, but in this podcast we delve into its more gritty beginnings. Despite his current success, Devan's path has been far from straightforward. Indeed, Devan- as we delve into in great detail in this conversation- had 5 epic failures before starting Buymie. Including everything from importing golf carts from Asia to starting a

biometric payments company. But it was this meandering path that allowed Devan to see what others couldn't and take an orthogonal approach in founding Buymie. Rather ingeniously, he applied the principles he picked up while working in the commodities industry to pioneer a new approach in grocery delivery. If nothing else, Devan is an amazing storyteller and this episode is a really entertaining one

This week I was honored to be joined by Chris Lauder, founder of The Dublin Academy of Education.

I owe a great deal to Chris and his company personally, as they helped me to realise my potential in the leaving certificate last year.

The same can be said for the thousands of students who have been through the school's doors since its inception.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Chris and I delve into the origins of The Academy and how it grew to be what it is today, among other things.

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t would be hard to talk about the internet without mentioning the burgeoning creator class.

Anyone can now build audiences at scale, create a personal monopoly and turn their passions into livelihoods, whether that’s playing video games or producing video content. This has huge implications for entrepreneurship and what we’ll think of as a “job” in the future. This week's guest is at the forefront of this shift. Thomas Arnold, at the ripe age of 23, has amassed a loyal following of over 50,000 followers across a variety of platforms and is the CEO of a fast-growing video production startup- Fearless Media. His energy and ambition is infectious and I walked away from this conversation feeling energised and read to take on the world.

I hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as I did recording it

This week I was fortunate enough to sit down with Mr. Gary Fox and pick his mind for an hour in what turned out to be an incredibly entertaining conversation. Gary is a seasoned entrepreneur and host of the Entrepreneur Experiment- one of Ireland's leading business podcasts. Gary is a million-ideas-a-minute kind of guy and so this episode was an absolute blast and is full of valuable insights. In this wide-ranging conversation, we touch on everything from Nassim Taleb's 'Skin in The Game' concept to subscription podcasting.

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This week I sat down with Ray Batra of Shift_Up Learning Gym to talk about what he’s learned from 10 years in Edtech, and his vision for the college of the future. I really enjoyed this interview with Ray, whose breadth of experience in education is unparalleled and has given him a unique perspective on the space. 

Timestamps 📍

@00:59 Ray's Background

@02:31 The Learning Gym

@05:22 What Ray's changed his mind on after exploring ed tech further

@09:51 Unbundling the college experience

@12:48 Most promising college alternatives

@16:21 The power of learning communities

@19:25 What Ray would do as president of Harvard

@20:39 What Ray would do as CEO of Lambda School

@21:36 Personal SWAT teams