E194 That Great Business Show

The Republic of Ireland (pop. 5m) has 2.7 million Revolut users. Percentage wise Ireland is the biggest adopter of neobanks across the EU. Head of Revolut EU is Joe Heneghan who talks to us about what the future of banking looks like. Will we ever darken a banking hall again? Also biting the heels of the so-called 'pilar banks' are SME funders like Grid Finance whose founder, Derek Butler, also joins us to see what the sees now and what he sees looking into the future. Then, there's Financial Services Ireland that is hell-bent on making Ireland a fintech capital (as are the UK, France, Lithuania, Estonia...). Patricia Callan, FSI Director, gives us an overview of that the challenges and opportunities are for new and established fintech startups here.

As always we ask all our guests for their 'hire in a heartbeat' recommendation and here's this episode's line-up.

Lobbyist Patricia would like to hire Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's PR when UK PM, for his lobbying prowess (and for his podcast 'The Rest is Politics')

Derek would like to have Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services on his team, for obvious reasons as he explains the surreal amount of regulation the industry is currently facing

Joe is an admirer of the Wayflyer model (a very clever Irish fintech unicorn) and he'd like if Aidan Corbett, founder, would drop into his office for a 'chat'.

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E193 That Great Business Show

David Broderick, Director of the SFA (part of IBEC), discusses the organisation's 'Four Just Demands'. David knows business as he was sent both to deliver cakes from his family business, and then also as a young boy, sent to collect the cash. Business in its rawest from an early age. He was also made redundant during Covid, that turned him to self-employment, as a consultant/mentor. He advises about not having the 'wrong' mentor, such as a friend, rather than someone who will tell you the unvarnished truth. Unofficially (not SFA policy he underlines), he wants an X and Y axis for high-speed trains to cross the country and go from top to bottom.

David discusses the real life cases he gets on the phone of businesses that are really, really struggling. He talks about energy, insurance, tax, labour (the living wage etc) and other costs. And, bad news, he says in some cases there's a further 30% rise to come.

The most immediate thing he wants is a targeted PRSI rebate for smaller businesses. He thinks MicroFinance Ireland are doing a great job, but like them to be allowed to lend larger amounts to businesses. He also wants more training vouchers to cover the costs to employers of having their employees taking time out for upskilling

His 'hire in a heartbeat' - his mother who is still out in Dublin Airport handing out samples of her own Broderick's cakes.

Barry Guiney, Headhunter, Odgers Berndtson who is also a Secretary of UCC Rugby Club - and also is a Certified Scrum Master - which has nothing to do with rugby, but lots to do with Toyota. They have launched the ScaleUp Collective - aimed at scaling (not start-up) companies. He sees a demand for executives who can build revenue growth as well as those who can bring a company to 'payday' - a successful exit. He references Scale Ireland and Endeavour Ireland networks, hoping to replicate the likes of Stripe etc. He discusses MBA differences between the US and the EU as well as the difference between the originating entrepreneur versus the commercial executive in salaries and other words. Irish tax rates he says can be a disincentive for attracting top talent to Ireland. He talks about ghosting in the industry - when a job is offered, the process is gone through...and then nothing. Why?

His 'hire in a heartbeat'? (He has hired 50 plus over his career so far). James Clear author of Atomic Habits.

With thanks to Maxol - check out their fuel cards for your business.

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Episode 192 @That Great Business Show

Serial investor (but don't call him an angel!) Gianna Matera has backed some of Ireland's best known unicorns (value >$1bn) including Glofox and Flipdish.

On this episode we have a rare one-on-one with Gianni, a man with many strong views, but ones he normally keeps to himself. A former Italian army lieutenant he made his money initially via a digital marketing company he founded and IPO'd. He explains why he left the heat of his native Milan for life in Dublin where he has so far backed 28 tech companies (he only back tech companies). He's literally a one-man band so he does have time nor the resources for full due-diligence, relying on a combination of gut and sleep to make his decisions (he explains his modus operandi). His long term ambition is to make 3X his money but 'it's not easy' he says.

Most recently he has been appointed VC in Residence at UCD’s incubator, Nova UCD

This is essential listening for anyone raising money or wishing to learn how best to invest in very early stage companies.

With thanks to Maxol Fuel Card

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E191 That Great Business Show

We headed to the Fexco backed RDI Hub in Killorglin, Co. Kerry where we recorded one of the most curious people and business we have ever encountered.

Rarely on a podcast can you have a cast bigger of A-listers bigger than Glastonbury. But how about...Joe Strummer (The Clash), Neville Staple (The Specials/Fun Boy Three), Dave Wakeling & Ranking Roger (English Beat/General Public), Tracii Guns (LA Guns/Guns n Roses), Stephanie Rainey, Andy Summers (The Police), Donovan, John Ford Coley, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Peter Gabriel, No Doubt, Ice Cube, Mack 10, Korn, Ben Folds, Bob Geldof, Green Day, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Pennywise, The Vandals, Ky-Mani Marley, Flea, John Frusciante, Rami Jaffee, The Blindboys of Alabama, Carmen Rizzo, Maroon 5, Steve Vai, Ozomatli, Moby, Spencer Davis, Quincy Jones, Incubus, The Waterboys, Peter Asher, Nancy Sinatra, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra...

OK, so they weren't all in studio but Jason P Rothberg was. Jason who? Well, wait'll you hear his back story. It's MAD. And no, we didn't understand half of what he's up to with his RDI Hub based business Xavatar, based in the Metaverse (as we say, don't ask us, ask Dr. Google). But if you understand it, we're told it's the future and there's clearly a business in it. As always, we've made it accessible, so do listen to learn.

Also on the cast of E191 are Bertie Murphy ('hire in a heartbeat'? Steve 'Fexco'), Chief Strategy Officer of Fexco and Kerry McConnell ('hire in a heartbeat'? - Sadia Nowshin), who markets the RDI Hub to the world (virtual membership available globally). Jason's 'hire in a heartbeat'? Hugh Reynolds, entrepreneur in chief at RDI.

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E190 That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain

Barry McNerney, CEO of UnifyOrdering, doesn't want to be a 'busy fool' so he has co-created a new ordering platform for the wider food industry. He has a solid backkground in business, a former Davy stockbroker he's now CEO of Lotts & CO, co-founder of Pauli's pizza and Junior's Cafe and he was once involved with two renowned Dublin pubs, The Old Spot and the Bath. But now, it's all eyes on brining UnifyOrdering to the world, and to raising money on Spark Crowdfunding to make that happen. Barry says he's onto a 'world first' and dreams of a €200m plus exit.

On the wider food sector he says he's never seen a more difficult time for smaller businesses in the sector.

His 'hire in a heartbeat' is Michael O'Leary and Paul McNerney (nee James! - listen to understand)

Mary McKenna, Denise McQuaid are part of the founding team at AwakenAngels - funding women led businesses and raising awareness and knowledge of investing in businesses. They guide investors who can invest from €2,000 and when they commit that amount (or more!) investors join the community and get free training in angel investing. It's an ideal course as well for those who want to go on to be a founder, seeing it from the 'other side', for the investor's side.

Mary McKenna's 'hire in a heartbeat' is Olivia McVeigh, social influencer.

Denise McQuaid's 'hire in a heartbeat' is Serena Williams

On Business 101, our mini-series on setting up and growing your own business, supported by Big Red Cloud software, Tena Sheil, founder The Bookeeping Academy, is joined by Ian Hobbs, Sales Mangager at Big Red Cloud. Tena has some clever solutions for solving some of the 'difficult to fill' work vacancies in the economy. It's about upskilling and re-skilling and it's Tena's business. Worried about losing the staff you train? Richard Branson says 'look after your staff so they don't want to leave'. Tena's training courses are paid for by the State. Tena herself trained herself through an ISME Skillnet course that sent her on to further education. Her introductory course can be done in just eight weeks, part-time (2-3 hours a week). BigRedCloud.com/training will find the courses.

With thanks to MentorsWork.ie

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E189 That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain

Paul Connell, co-founder and CEO of Pure Telecom explains how his business model has changed over the years. He talks about Eir, the National Broadband Plan, SIRO and others in his sector. A lack of vision or ambition seems to be the message. Ireland is stuck at sub-IGB in most cases where broadband can be accessed. He says other countries are already at 5GB - essential when virtual reality and AI get a bigger hold on our digital lives. Not everybody may agree with what Paul has to say, but he'll certainly put a smile on every listeners' face.

His 'hire in a heartbeat', Steve Bartlett (Diary of a CEO). He may even pay to have lunch with him.

Jennifer Muldowney has been buried in business for fifteen years. Or more accurately, she's been in the broader burial business. A Dublin, she's known as the Glam Reaper and she organises some of New York's most prestigious remembrance services. Don't think your usual solemn church service. Think more a theatre turned into a forest. In fact, if you can think it (and afford it) she can do it for you (she works in Ireland as well). Hugely discreet we did find out that she organised a service for the late Jack Welch, Chair and CEO of General Electric, and an industry titan in his time. Let's say this is a very different business story.

Her 'hire in a heartbeat'? The entire Aldi Ireland marketing team because of what they did with the carrot.

With thanks to MentorsWork.ie

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E188 That Great Business Show with Conall O Móráin

The Business Post (previously known as the Sunday Business Post) has changed its model to attract those elusive readers. Once a weekly print publication nowadays it's a daily digital bulletin with a slimmed-down Sunday print version. Colm O'Reilly, COO of The Business Post Group, (the newspaper, an events business, a market research company) explains what the current strategy is and what the plans are for the future.

His 'hire in a heartbeat'? Ryanair's Michael O'Leary (possibly top of the Great Business Show's 'hire in a heartbeat' charts), for his no-nonsense approach to business.

Skillnet Innovation Exchange matches larger Irish corporates with specific business problems with innovative SMEs with solutions. It's heavily government subsidised and it's a programme that gives smaller companies a real chance of grabbing business from larger corporates who ordinarily might give them the time of day. Conor Carmody, Director at SIE explains how it works, why it works and what types of companies he wants to get involved. Some of his case studies are very impressive indeed.

Conor's 'hire in a heartbeat'? US politician George Mitchell. If was able to help 'fix' the Northern Ireland issue who wouldn't want him aboard?

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Episode 187 That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain

Tony Dignam, founder Agile Executives, bringing affordable C-Suite executives from top-end companies to your SME. He must be doing something right because he grew from five consultants to 80 (!) in just one month, He's now at 120 consultants. Previously he worked as a consultant to Bank of Ireland in 2008 trying to solve the massive problems of 1,000 SMEs following the financial collapse. Tony launched his search platform earlier this year that means you can put in a detailed search to find the perfect match (or close) to your exact skills requirements. He also has consultants on his books that will help bring your business globally, be that Malta, Pakistan, S. Africa and of course the UK and the US. He has big expansion plans and is already looking at funding options to pay for that growth. SBCI may help with their growth.

Tony's 'hire in a heartbeat' would have been his late mother, 'the best salesperson he ever came across' her word of wisdom 'always take tea or coffee if offered'. Another that he would like to join his team is Brian Buffini, a hugely successful Irish business person in the US..

Ray Ryan is founder of the Noledge Group, a merger of two companies, OSSM (pronounced awesome!) and Envisage. Ray is mad for sports and for walking. In fact, it was walking the Camino Way that may have changed his business life, due to very, very sore feet. Walking the Camino for your business is one of those things not taught in Harvard Business School. His father-in-law told him two things could put you out of business, cashflow and enthusiasm. Galway company, Corrib Oil, was key to changing Ray's business. He is now employing over 40 people, with ambitions to have 70 employees, and what he has learnt about why he 'has to' hire, is very, very interesting.

But, it could have all been so much more Hollywood. Ray comes from a strong acting background, palling around with Bafta nominee Andrew Scott when he was a kid...His dad was having none of it but did it cost him an Oscar?

Ray's 'hire in a heartbeat' is Gemma Webb. Who? Only probably one of the most successful Irish business woman. And you've never heard her? We hope to have her on That Great Business Show very soon. He also wants Ashley McDonnell as a mentor.

With thanks to Mentorswork.ie

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E186 That Great Business Show with Conall O Móráin

With thanks to Mentorswork.ie - a free government funded mentoring initiative. Check in out.

On this episode, 186, Dan Nugent of Amber Eyewear on why his company is now called EverAmbr. He explains why you should avoid selling 'vertically' where you can run out of headroom. His company was growing at 500% but then he hit the ceiling and sales dropped by 90%. What did he do? He went back into the ring again, but this time selling 'wide', finding sectors that he can keep adding products to sell to. Clever. If you have ambitions to sell Direct to Consumer (DTC) online, you have got to listen to Dan, who tells it 'warts and all'.

His 'hire in a heartbeat'? Jake Browne formerly of Peblo.

Stephen O'Dwyer was born and raised in the leafy suburbs of South County Dublin where there's ne'er a sign of a horse, let along a thoroughbred. However, eating chips with his grandad at Fairyhouse, as a five year old, left its mark and biomedical engineer Stephen has launched Trojan Track, a data driven system using an ordinary mobile phone, that will tell trainers, owners and vets if a horse is injured, even when not seen by the naked eye. His target market is the 800,000 thoroughbred horses in the US (as well as the 16,000 in Ireland, of course) and that's why he's raising €600,000 to bring his company on a worldwide gallop.

His 'hire in a heartbeat'? It must be a bro-love thing as he's chosen PJ Maguire of Moonsyst who was on the same Agcelerator as Stephen at Nova UCD. And, PJ it was who recommended Stephen to us - the definition of a circular economy?

On our Business 101, supported by Big Red Cloud financial software, BRC sales manager Ian Hobbs and Sisgate Pro owner, Liz Lavin, have some great tips about 'taking away the pain' for SMEs, including one we hadn't heard before. Liz explains how she very, very cleverly checks out potential acquisitions that she's looking at. All legal of course. But very interesting. Your company will benefit from these 'hands-on' tips. Ian also says that if you ring Big Red Cloud for advice he'll answer the phone to you. That's service.

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E185 That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain

Roseanne Longmore, CEO and co-founder, Coro - the world's first baby milk flow monitor. Founded seven years ago the company has recently become an 'overnight success' completing another successful funding around, bringing to over €6m funding the company has gathered to bring its unique product to the world's weaning mothers. The size of the market is vast. The work that it has taken to get to this stage is staggering, but as Roseanne says, when you're developing physical product it can up to ten years. This can make getting investment difficult, but the team has overcome this, investors tempted no doubt by the multi-billion Euro market possibility. The product, a flow meter that sits on a silicon nipple barrier, is patented and is being assembled in different locations to keep the IP away from prying eyes. Next stop for the company's growth is that Roseanne may have to head to the US for at least six months, to launch the product direct to the consumer there. They've brought Mary Harney, former Minister for Health, onto the board and she has already made introductions in the US, including to Hilary Clinton.

Her 'hire in a heartbeat', the Collison brothers. However, we recommended their mom, Lily Collison.

TJ Hegarty was half through tell That Great Business Show about his business, Breakthrough Maths, when he opened up about how anxiety had affected his business. It caused him to have a blackout as he drove his car. Never say business isn't tough. Fortunately nothing bad happened that allowed over-achiever (600 point Leaving Cert, 1st Class Honours Ag Science degree) TJ to continue his dream of establishing his business. At school he hated maths and was determined to 'fix the problem'. This week he'll be teaching maths to 4,000 school pupils. His two year old boot-strapped business is turning over €1.5 million already and he hopes to bring that to €5m by next year, at which point he wants VC funding to bring him to the vast US market.

His 'hire in a heartbeat', Michael O'Leary.

With thanks to MentorsWork.ie

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