Interesting interview with John O’Dea TechIreland CEO, who will be speaking at Tech Connect Live this Thursday at the RDS.

What are you doing now?

Since retiring from Enterprise Ireland (where I managed the early stage funding for innovative tech start-ups), I have been working with a number of Irish tech businesses – primarily around fund-raising – and I have been involved in several start-up support programs (The Founder Institute, The Bolton Trust, a couple of New Frontiers Programs, etc.).

At the start of this month, I started here with TechIreland, which is the not-for-profit organisation that links the Irish start-up community. This is a terrific opportunity to work with a range of companies, founders, investors and start-up hubs to support the Irish start-up ecosystem. As everyone who works in the space knows, the tech start-up world is addictive, once you get hooked, you don’t want to leave. I was delighted to take up this role at a time when the Irish start-up ecosystem is bursting with energy.

How was the last year, what worked well?

This past year was TechIreland’s second full year in operation and it marked a new phase of the business, where we had the bulk of our huge database in place and we could begin to explore how we might be able to use it creatively to support the start-up community here with our interactive start-up map and a range of infographics

We produced several reports for investors and support agencies to support policy formation and implementation, we identified Irish start-ups in specific technologies for investors and we generated data for city and local governments to validate their plans for supporting the start-up community in their areas.

We produced half-yearly and yearly detailed reports on the Irish start-up investment numbers, showing that Irish tech start-ups attracted nearly a billion euro of investment last year.
Last but not least, we produced a great coffee-table book, Innovative Nation 2019, which gives a great overview of the Irish Start-up ecosystem. Get your copy at https://www.techireland.org/booksale2019 and support the Irish start-up community.

What are your plans for the future?

I am still only getting my feet under the desk at TechIreland, so I have a lot to learn – which is great as we have a small but brilliant team here. We are based in Huckletree, which is in the Academy Building on Pearse Street, so if any founder or start-up has ideas for how TechIreland might assist them, we would love you to drop in and tell us over a coffee.

What will you be talking about at Tech Connect Live? 

I’ll be looking at the tech-start-up ecosystem in Ireland, the numbers, the technologies, the investment and the sources of investment.
I will show what is happening around Dublin and the other Irish start-up hubs and I will show the start-up scene for the island of Ireland as a whole.

What kinds of start-ups are getting funded, what sectors, where are they located, how are female-founded start-ups faring in the struggle for funding, what tech areas are getting the money and what are not?
Want to know more? come along to the presentation!
John O’Dea, TechIreland
https://twitter.com/techireland

https://twitter.com/JohnODea8

What inspired you to attend it?

I have been at the TechConnectLive event previously (this is the first time I have been asked to speak – so things are looking up for me!). It is a good event with a good cross-section of start-ups and a positive atmosphere. The real benefit of events like this, in addition to the exhibition and the speakers, is the opportunity to network and get a feel for what is happening in the tech community – what is hot and what is not.

Which influencers and websites do you follow to keep up to date with the latest developments?

Twitter is great – but it seems to be getting angrier. I try to steer away from the angry tweeters, but it’s great if you follow tech writers and journalists – you get a great feel for what is going on in bite-sized pieces, with the option to explore further if you want. I seem to be using LinkedIn more and more for relevant business and tech information.  And IrishTechNews as a great source of relevant Irish tech startup news too! ?

How can people find out more about what you are working on?

This new job requires me to blog – so I am just starting my blogging career (it’s never too late to learn). Check out the TechIreland blogs here: https://www.techireland.org/blog

Anything else you’d like to add / we should have asked?

What I love about the Irish tech start-up ecosystem is how supportive the community is – whether it’s looking to get your card marked on funding opportunities or mentors or who might be a good co-founder, there is a real feeling that you just have to ask and everyone will help if they can. Sometimes I feel we don’t appreciate that enough and don’t ask for advice and help enough. “Please” and “Thanks” are the most valuable words in the for any start-up – and we probably don’t use them enough.

 

You can read more articles surrounding the Tech Connect Live event here.

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