The Hidden Hustle Podcast

If you’re trying to buy your first home in Ireland right now, what should you actually do?

In Part 2 of our conversation with Ray Cooke, we move away from Ray’s business journey and focus entirely on money, property and the Irish housing market.

We gave Ray a real-world scenario: a young person earning €50,000 a year, with no financial help from their parents, trying to get on the property ladder.

His advice was simple sometimes the answer is to stop thinking about buying alone.

Could you buy with a friend? A brother? A sister?

From there, we covered some of the biggest questions facing buyers, homeowners, landlords and investors in Ireland today.

We discuss:

• The biggest mistakes first-time buyers are making when trying to purchase their first home.
• What someone earning €50,000 a year, with no help from family, should realistically be thinking about.
• Why buying with a friend, brother or sister could be one way to get onto the property ladder earlier.
• Whether house prices are likely to fall anytime soon and Ray’s view on where the Irish housing market is heading.
• Whether buying a home that needs renovation is still a smart move in today’s market.
• The best renovations you can make to increase the value of your home and the upgrades that often don’t give you the return people expect.
• What Ray looks for personally when buying a property.
• Where he currently sees the best value in Dublin.
• What areas and types of properties he would consider when buying an investment property.
• The rental market, the new rules for landlords, and whether the changes have actually benefited the country.
• Whether Ireland’s housing crisis is likely to improve anytime soon.
• And some of the practical things buyers should be thinking about before they ever make an offer.

This episode is packed with straightforward property advice from someone who has spent more than 20 years buying, selling, letting and managing property across Ireland.

We’re delighted to announce that Sons Hair Loss is officially partnering with The Hidden Hustle Podcast! 🤝

This is a partnership we’re particularly excited about because it’s a product we genuinely believe in.

Alan has been using Sons products for the past 9 months and has noticed an incredible change in his hair. In the video, he explains why he started using Sons, his experience so far and why we’re delighted to now have them on board as a partner of the podcast.

And we’ve got something for our listeners 👇
🏷️ Use code HH40 to get 40% off your first Sons order.

Links & Resources:

Ray Cooke: https://raycooke.ie/
Follow Ray on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-cooke-1aa7343b/

He went from selling 100 houses a year to watching the market completely fall off a cliff.
Today, Ray Cooke has built one of Ireland’s best-known estate agency businesses with almost 100 employees, 10 offices, approximately €11 million in revenue and more than 1,000 homes expected to be sold in 2026.
And it all started with Ray on his own in November 2005, admitting he knew very little about the industry but deciding to give it a go anyway.
In Part 1 of our two-part episode with Ray Cooke, founder of Ray Cooke Auctioneers, Lettings, Property Management, Financial Services and Elron, we go right back to the beginning of the journey.
Ray takes us through the incredible highs, the difficult years and some of the decisions that completely changed the direction of the business.
We discuss:
How Ray started the business by himself in 2005 with little experience in the industry.
Selling 90 houses in 2006 and 100 in 2007 — before the property market collapsed in 2008.
How he survived the financial crisis by pivoting heavily into lettings and positioning the business as a lower-cost letting agent.
The meeting with his bank manager during the crash that helped him get everything in order and navigate one of the toughest periods of his career.
Opening a new office in Tallaght at the end of 2008 when many others were pulling back.
The extraordinary growth from selling just 13 houses in 2011 to more than 1,000 expected in 2026.
How important office locations have been to the growth of the business — and what Ray looks for before entering a new area.
Why social media has become such a powerful growth engine for the company — despite Ray originally setting up his own social media account simply to prove a point to someone.
The conversation with his brother that changed how he ran the company forever — stepping away from personally selling properties and allowing other people to take responsibility.
Why moving from working in the business to working on the business became one of the best decisions he ever made — both for the growth of the company and for giving him more time with his children.
Growing the company to almost 100 employees and 10 locations.
Why Ray is now actively looking to acquire other estate agents, including the recent acquisition of a business in Clonmel.
The launch of Elron — helping people who want to invest in property but don’t have the time to find, buy and manage those investments themselves.
And Ray’s ambitions for where the business goes from here.
This is Part 1 of our conversation with Ray.
Part 2 is entirely focused on money and property — including first-time buyer advice, the buying process, Ireland’s housing crisis, adding value through renovations, the rental market and investing in property.We’re delighted to announce that Sons Hair Loss is officially partnering with The Hidden Hustle Podcast! 🤝

This is a partnership we’re particularly excited about because it’s a product we genuinely believe in.

Alan has been using Sons products for the past 9 months and has noticed an incredible change in his hair. In the video, he explains why he started using Sons, his experience so far and why we’re delighted to now have them on board as a partner of the podcast.

And we’ve got something for our listeners 👇
🏷️ Use code HH40 to get 40% off your first Sons order.

Links & Resources:

Ray Cooke: https://raycooke.ie/
Follow Ray on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-cooke-1aa7343b/

And all the other social media platforms for some great content!

He went bust, lost everything, and started again from zero. Now he's built a €40 million ARR SaaS company with ambitions to hit €150 million in the next few years — and he's only getting started.

In this episode, we sit down with Tommy Kearns, founder of Xtremepush, to hear the remarkable story of building one of Ireland's most ambitious SaaS companies from a Dublin startup in 2014 to a 170+ person international business operating across Dublin, New York, São Paulo and Australia.

Tommy takes us through every twist in the journey: losing everything in property during the boom, rebuilding from scratch, burning a million dollars on a failed first attempt at the US market, and then going back again and this time making it work in a massive way.

We discuss:
What Xtremepush actually does and how it helps businesses like FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, An Post, Laya and Three engage with their customers.

Tommy's early career in telecoms, the massive Digicel deal that took him to the Caribbean, and the painful lesson about staying in your lane.

How building apps for corporates through iMobile led to the idea behind Xtremepush and why Bank of Ireland became one of their first highly regulated customers in 2015 and is still a customer 11 years later.

The evolution from a push notification tool to a full customer engagement platform and whether that was always the plan or if the vision evolved along the way.

How Xtremepush achieved 100%+ revenue growth for two consecutive years and the "spray and pray" approach Tommy used to test markets before going all in.

The acquisition strategy that transformed the business: Emailcenter (email), Alchemetrics (customer data), Thunderbite (gamification) and Scrimmage (loyalty) and what Tommy has learned about what to look for in acquisitions, how to merge teams successfully, and when to build your own M&A capability.

Raising €27.8m from Grafton Capital and entering what Tommy calls "hyper-growth mode."

Burning a million dollars expanding into the US, the lessons learned, and how going back a second time paid off massively with the US now one of their most important markets.

Building and leading a team of 170+ people across Dublin, New York, São Paulo and Australia and the challenges of scaling culture and leadership across regions.

The launch of InfinityAI and XpertOS - Tommy's vision for where AI and agentic technology is taking CRM and customer engagement next.

Rewarding long-term employees with caps like sport 1 year, 5 year and 10 year milestones.

Tommy's brilliant answer on what jobs he'd recommend for kids in the AI era.

We’re delighted to announce that Sons Hair Loss is officially partnering with The Hidden Hustle Podcast! 🤝

This is a partnership we’re particularly excited about because it’s a product we genuinely believe in.

Alan has been using Sons products for the past 9 months and has noticed an incredible change in his hair. In the video, he explains why he started using Sons, his experience so far and why we’re delighted to now have them on board as a partner of the podcast.

And we’ve got something for our listeners 👇
🏷️ Use code HH40 to get 40% off your first Sons order.

Links & Resources:


Xtremepush: https://www.xtremepush.com/
Follow Tommy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommykearns/

What do you do after selling the company that changed your life?
In Part 2 of our conversation with Gavan Walsh, founder of iCabbi, we explore what happens after the exit.
After selling a majority stake in iCabbi to Renault in a life-changing deal, Gavan could have stepped away from business.
Instead, he started again.
Gavan takes us inside TBE Ventures, the investment company he set up to acquire and build businesses across completely different industries.
This includes SYLO, a plumbing business he plans to grow into a wider trade-services company, as well as plans to launch a children’s therapy centre supporting kids with learning difficulties.
He also discusses businesses he came close to acquiring but ultimately walked away from giving a fascinating insight into what makes a business worth buying and the red flags that can kill a deal.
And now, he’s back in the startup world.
With MoveCore, Gavan is building an AI-native operating platform for fleets and explains why he believes the future for larger companies could move from renting software to owning it.
We also discuss:
* Life after the iCabbi sale.
* What Gavan looks for when buying a business.
* Why he’s decided to build another tech startup.
* His advice for anyone starting a business.
* The doubt he still carries, even after his success and how he manages this.
A fascinating conversation about life after an exit, buying businesses, starting again and what drives an entrepreneur when they no longer have to do it.

From €60,000 in Revenue to €10 Million: The Incredible Story Behind iCabbi
In part 1 of this episode, we sit down with Gavan Walsh to learn about the business he founded iCabbi.
In part 2, we discuss life after the iCabbi sale from setting up an investment company and now getting back into the tech start up game.
It started in Portugal, with Gavan not being able to find a taxi and wishing something was available on his new iPhone to order one.
That was when the idea for iCabbi clicked: what if you could see live taxis on your phone?
Gavan tells us how that idea grew into one of the biggest B2B taxi software providers in the world.
But it nearly failed before it got started.
The original B2C model struggled. The technology was too slow, the market wasn’t ready and the business ran out of money more than once.
Something had to change.
iCabbi stopped focusing on the consumer app and started building dispatch software for taxi companies instead.
One customer became another. Ireland led to the US. And revenue grew from just €60,000 in 2012 to around €10 million by 2018.
The journey was anything but straightforward raising money, running out of it, technology failing, family holidays interrupted, expansion into the US and even attempted sales that fell through.
Eventually, Gavan sold a majority stake in iCabbi to Renault a life-changing moment that made years of sacrifice feel worthwhile.
We discuss:
* The holiday in Portugal where the idea for iCabbi was born.
* Why iCabbi’s original B2C model failed.
* Running out of money and fighting to keep the business alive.
* The pivot from a consumer taxi app to dispatch software.
* Winning their first customers in Cork and Dublin.
* Growing revenue from €60,000 in 2012 to around €10 million in 2018.
* The unexpected phone call that brought iCabbi to America.
* Why entering the US market was far more complicated than expected.
* How Uber changed the taxi industry by challenging its traditional rules.
* Building iCabbi into one of the world’s biggest software providers to taxi companies.
* Why reliability became one of iCabbi’s biggest competitive advantages.
* The reality of being permanently on call while building a technology company.
* Raising money, running out of money and dealing with constant setbacks.
* Family holidays interrupted by problems back at the business.
* The attempted sales that fell through before the eventual deal.
* What it felt like when the life-changing sale finally happened.
* Why the business you start with is often very different from the business that ultimately succeeds.
A brilliant conversation about pivoting, persistence and the reality of building a business when success is far from guaranteed.

Could Quantum Computing Be Bigger Than AI?

That’s one of the biggest questions we explored with Jason Lynch, CEO of Equal1, on the latest episode of The Hidden Hustle Podcast.

Jason has spent the last 7.5 years building Equal1, with an ambition that is anything but small: to become the biggest quantum computing company in the world.

What makes the story remarkable is the technology Equal1 has developed.

Jason and his team have spent years proving that something some of the smartest people in the world — including Nobel Prize-winning physicists and some of the world’s largest technology companies — believed couldn’t be done, actually could.

Equal1’s vision is to become a fabless quantum semiconductor company, creating quantum technology that can move beyond the laboratory and eventually integrate into existing semiconductor and data centre infrastructure.

The potential is enormous. Quantum computing could transform areas such as drug discovery, battery technology, logistics, energy and financial optimisation — tackling problems that are incredibly difficult for classical computers.

We discuss:
* Why Jason believes quantum computing could ultimately be bigger than AI.
* What quantum computing actually is, explained simply.
* Equal1’s ambition to become the world’s biggest quantum computing company.
* The remarkable technology Equal1 has developed.
* How they proved some of the world’s smartest scientists wrong.
* Why Equal1 believes quantum computing can be built using existing semiconductor infrastructure.
* The company’s vision to become a fabless quantum semiconductor company.
* Raising around $80m and why they plan to raise significantly more.
* Equal1’s first commercial product and what it means for the industry.
* Working with customers including the European Space Agency.
* The trillion-dollar problems quantum computing could potentially solve.
* Why making quantum technology usable could be more important than simply having the most powerful machine.
* Why the next Nvidia of computing could potentially emerge from the quantum industry right here in Ireland.
A fascinating conversation about a technology that could fundamentally change the way we compute.Link to Equal1 - https://www.equal1.com/

Follow Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-lynch-cork-ireland/

Do you understand the complexities involved in getting a simple glass of clean drinking water?

In this episode, we sit down with Karl Zimmerer, founder of Glanua, to hear the incredible journey of building one of Ireland’s leading water and wastewater engineering businesses and taking it international.

Karl and his team has doubled the companies revenue in the last 4 years with Glanua on track to hit north of €200m in 2026.

Karl explains the hidden engineering behind something most of us take completely for granted: water. From collecting and treating raw water to delivering clean drinking water, collecting wastewater, treating it and ultimately finding ways to reuse the resulting resources, Glanua provides end-to-end engineering solutions across the entire water cycle.

We discuss:

- How rainwater actually becomes the clean drinking water coming out of your tap.

- Why Dublin’s reliance on a single major water source presents such a significant challenge.

- What Glanua actually does and the enormous complexity behind water and wastewater infrastructure.

- Why Glanua builds much of its equipment and infrastructure directly on-site.

- Why data centres require significant amounts of water and the solutions Glanua is developing to address this.

- Karl’s struggles getting the business off the ground and why delivering an exceptional first job became one of his most powerful marketing tools.

- Why relentless innovation and constantly challenging the status quo allowed Glanua to compete against businesses generating billions in revenue while they were turning over just €40–50 million.

- Growing revenue from approximately €40 million in 2014 to €80 million in 2019.

- How diversifying outside their core expertise created major problems for the wider group when COVID hit.

- The incredibly difficult cash flow challenges Karl faced as profits and cash generated by the core water business were needed to support struggling parts of the wider group.

- How Karl stepped up to manage the combined Irish and UK operations through one of the most challenging periods in the company’s history.

- How Glanua ultimately became part of BHSL, led by Denis Brosnan, and why the deal proved to be such a successful move for the business.

- Glanua’s expansion into the US and why M&A and building an exceptional team on the ground will be crucial to cracking the American market.

- Karl’s perspective on work-life balance after dealing with loss of his daughter when she was young and decades of building and scaling businesses.

- And the first job he recommends his own kids get — and why.Links & Resources:

Glanua : https://glanua.com/

Follow Karl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-zimmerer/

Paul McCarthy has recently stepped back from the day-to-day operations at Snapfix, so what better time to look back on what was key to getting his journey up and running.

In this short but powerful episode, we unpack the journey from a simple kitchen-table idea to a global software company used by teams across more than 60 countries.

Paul shares a practical masterclass in startup execution, explaining how he validated the market before building the product, why customer feedback mattered more than investor feedback in the early days, and how a relentless focus on simplicity became Snapfix’s biggest competitive advantage.

From bootstrapping while still working to raising investment three years later, this episode is packed with actionable lessons for founders, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to turn an idea into a scalable business. Snapfix has grown from a prototype with just 20–30 users to a global maintenance and operations platform serving customers across hospitality, facilities management, education, manufacturing, and property sectors worldwide.

10 Key Takeaways from the Episode

• Start with the problem, not the product. Paul spent significant time validating the market before investing heavily in development.
• Build a prototype early. Even if it’s “horrible” compared to the finished product, getting something in front of customers is invaluable.
• Show customers before investors. Customer feedback shaped the real product and provided proof of demand.
• Ruthlessly eliminate unnecessary features. Simplicity became Snapfix’s biggest differentiator.
• Find a co-founder who complements your skills and shares your long-term vision.
• Don’t rush to raise money. Paul waited three years before seeking investment, focusing first on product-market fit.
• Customer feedback is everything. Paul believes founders should be willing to talk to customers at any time. Some of Snapfix’s best ideas came directly from these conversations.
• Focus on difficult niches first. Solving complex problems can create stronger barriers to entry and deeper expertise.
• Study great founders. Lessons from entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos heavily influenced Snapfix’s approach to product design, growth, and simplicity.
• Keep improving by simplifying. Snapfix continually reviews its product, removing features that customers don’t use and doubling down on what they do.

This episode is a blueprint for anyone trying to build a startup from scratch, validate an idea, and scale globally without losing sight of what customers actually want.

SummaryWhat does it take to build a No.1 Best Selling Product on Amazon in the US while competing at the highest level of sport?This week on the podcast, Alan sat down with Swifter founders James Madden and Nadia Power to hear how they’ve gone from launching a single running vest on Amazon to becoming a No.1 Amazon bestseller across Ireland and the US, selling in Amazon markets in Australia and the UK, while also breaking into major retailers including Brown Thomas and Lifestyle Sports.In 2023 the pair saw an opportunity with the massive social running boom that had taken place during covid to design a practical, comfortable and affordable running vest.What stood out most was how they went about selling their first product - on Amazon before setting up a brand, website or social media pages. They tested demand for the product first while also letting amazon deal with all the logistics. Their sporting backgrounds have become their competitive advantage. Rather than guessing what runners want, they’ve lived the problems themselves and built products to solve them. Nadia competed in the 2020 Japan Olympics 800 Meter and James plays Hurling for Dublin. Today, Swifter has sold more than 120,000 running vests, expanded internationally, and continues to grow at an incredible pace, with revenue reaching an impressive 7 figures and expected to double this year!But beyond the business success, this conversation is packed with lessons on resilience, personal branding, continuous learning and what it really takes to perform at a high level.A brilliant conversation with two founders who are building something special.Key Topics we discussed:Spotting the social running boom early and the need for a practical and affordable running vest.Nadia shared the reality of dealing with injuries after reaching the highest level of athletics as an Olympian. Swifter launched its first product on Amazon before building a large brand or audience.Their competitive advantage comes from being athletes who deeply understand the problems their customers face. Why they choose Amazon as their first point of sale.Swifter expanded from Ireland into international markets, including Australia, through Amazon.The company has sold more than 120,000 running vests and earned Amazon bestseller status across multiple markets.Personal branding is becoming an increasingly important growth lever for modern founders.As the company scales, the focus is shifting from hustle to systems, processes and building a team.Some nightmare stories that showed true resilience to pull through from. Links & resources: Swifter: https://swifterstore.com/Follow Nadia and James on Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiapower/https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-j-madden/Our Sponsors: Tap Design Consultancy: https://wearetap.ie/ linkedin.com/company/tapdesignconsultancy

From £500,000 Spent to Zero Customers… to International Expansion

In this episode of The Hidden Hustle Podcast, Jonathan Larbey, Founder & CEO of T-Pro, shares the hard lessons learned while scaling a healthcare technology business internationally.

After achieving early success in Ireland, T-Pro attempted to replicate the same strategy in the UK. The result?

 Nearly £500,000 spent over two years
 Not a single customer acquired

Jonathan explains the pivotal changes that transformed their fortunes and set the company on a path to international growth.

•  Why T-Pro partnered with private equity firm Livingbridge and the role they played in accelerating growth

•  The reality of entering new markets organically – and why it can be slow, expensive, and incredibly challenging

•  Why T-Pro chose Australia and New Zealand as key expansion markets

•  The strategy behind acquiring two businesses in Australia and one in New Zealand

•  The challenges of integrating teams across multiple countries, time zones, and cultures

•  The integration framework T-Pro follows to maximise the success of every acquisition

•  Why they didn’t target the US market first

•  How they funded an acquisition when traditional bank financing couldn’t move fast enough

•  Why Jonathan has no interest in minority investments

•  How M&A will play a crucial role in T-Pro’s ambition to achieve Unicorn status

This conversation is packed with practical lessons for founders, operators, and anyone interested in scaling businesses through acquisition and international expansion.