Clear Presentation - A Dublin Startup Tale
by Startacus Admin
In 1 year’s time where do you hope that the business will be? 
I’ll always be going for quality rather than scale. I’m not in this for world domination as such and I think money is not my primary motivation. As Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Clothing, would say “The Zen master would say profits happen when you do everything else right”.
I'll probably also still be doing my fabled "Presentation on presentations" around the city. And if I can find the time I plan on making a video course that can teach people how to design great pitches... so watch this space!
As you know it’s our Dublin startup month and we are really keen to hear your thoughts on starting a business in the city. Can you tell us the 3 best things and 3 worst things that you have encountered ?
Ooh… tough one, but here we go.
Bad, I can only really think of one
Ignorance of the rest of Ireland, we’re too small for that.
I think we live in a bit of a Dublin-centric bubble sometimes and forget that there are great things going on in other cities around the country. And in Ireland these cities are all about a 3 hour drive away, or way less, so there’s not much of an excuse to not head outside of the Dublin bubble from time to time.
Attending events likewasup.ie that bring tech conferences to the often-ignored west coast of Ireland are a great way to counter this.
3 best
The right size (geographically)
You can live pretty much anywhere in Dublin and get to the city center pretty quickly. I live and work out of the coastal town of Dalkey (which boasts the best vistas in Dublin!), but if I need to get into central Dublin for meetings or events then it’s 30 mins or less.
The city centre itself is small and walkable so even though there are distinct startup hubs people do get out and mix between these hubs with ease, because they’re about a ten minute walk apart.
The right size (community)
The community is small enough that you’ll get to know a lot of people pretty well, pretty quickly. Events are mostly on a human-scale, big enough and varied enough that you’ll have a great selection of people to meet, but small enough to be personal and relaxed.
The Community
When I started out almost 5 years ago there really wasn’t much a tech community to be spoken of, but now the community and ecosystem is really vibrant and really varied. From great weekly events like DrinkAboutDub, to talks/events in world class accelerators, to Startup weekends (The best event I’ve ever been to) there is always something quality to look forward to. This only happens because we have great community leaders who put lots of time and effort into making Dublin a great place to do business!
To find out more about Ed and the work that he does, then pop over to his website!
If like Ed, you have something to say about Dublin or your startup, then our Dublin Startup month is the perfect opportunity! Drop us a line to iam@startacus.net or check out what we are looking for.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Karen Meager, co-founder of Monkey Puzzle Training shares some insights on how leadership has changed in the last decade, and what it takes to be a great leader today.
Freight rate management platform Freightify raises Series A investment to support further international growth and mission to help more freight forwarding companies digitize their operations.
Crowdfunding success for Omni, the vegan dog food brand, reaffirms the recession-proof growth of the pet nutrition industry.
Want to learn a new language? Weeve is an innovative startup that has created an innovative, creative and effective way to help you do just that.
Want to build an investable, scalable tech startup? The Raise Accelerator programme is now open for applications and will help you do just that.
Want to increase visual engagement for your startup's Instagram account? These tips will help you do just that.
Fashion innovation thanks to Italian Artisan and its B2B one-stop marketplace that connects international brands with hard-to-get authentic artisans.
Want to gain an edge over your business competitors? Listening to your audience is an absolute must.
The Clothes Doctor mission to fight fast fashion continues as the innovative eco clothing care brand raises £1m to support further growth.
If you plan on using social media to promote your brand, these simple rules will help, increasing both brand awareness and the number of consumers.
Published on: 17th October 2014
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Freightify secures $12M funding round to power digital transformation for freight forwarders 2nd Feb 2023 Freight rate management platform Freightify raises Series A investment to support further international growth and mission to help more freight forwarding companies digitize their operations.
- Vegan Dog Food Brand, Omni Smashes £400K Crowdfunding Target 1st Feb 2023 Crowdfunding success for Omni, the vegan dog food brand, reaffirms the recession-proof growth of the pet nutrition industry.
- Raise Spring Accelerator programme seeking applications for next cohort 30th Jan 2023 Want to build an investable, scalable tech startup? The Raise Accelerator programme is now open for applications and will help you do just that.
- Leading French Travel Co. Offers Mentoring to two UK startups on its prestigious two-month programme 23rd Jan 2023 High-potential social impact startups from the UK sought for the 9th annual Les Tremplins by Voyage Privé programme.
