EnterpriseStart program (week 5)
Posted by Ronan | Filed under Uncategorized, innovation, ireland, startup
Well week 5 of EnterpriseSTART was about money. We had an accountant, Brian Meehan, in to talk to us about cash and the importance of it. This may seem like a no-brainer but it seems people overlook it. I’m a stickler when it comes to money and I generally always keep track of it to the last cent - be it my own or project budget I’ve been in charge of. I didn’t intentionally set out this way it’s just something I’ve become aware of, so it wasn’t alien to me when Brian insisted we keep on top of the books and cash flow.
Cash flow - the balance of the amounts of cash being received and paid by a business during a defined period of time
The second presenter of the night, Eoin Kierse from www.youbookin.com came in to share his story on how they got their software company up and running (2006). What was key for them starting out was EI’s feasibility grant. During the feasibility they realised their business idea would struggle in their target market, but their feasibility uncovered one aspect of their initial ideal to be their way forward as a business. So at the end of the feasibility they changed direction and focussed on a different market - appointment booking. In 2007 they developed youbookonline.com, released it in beta form, got invaluable feedback and are currently incorporating the feedback into the product. I like the idea and I think there is a market - I do feel the barrier to entry is low so it would be important to gain a good customer base and grow from there. I wish them all the best.
The money theme continued Saturday morning with Pat Clune from Enterprise Ireland coming in and talking about funding and support - needless to say EI have a lot of support for potential companies and even more for those that are trying to achieve HPSU status. Hopefully we’ll be seeing Pat again sometime soon…
Week #6 is the last week (the 6 weeks have flown by!) and we get to present our ideas.. should be fun.
Tags: brian meehan, Enterprise Ireland, EnterpriseStart, eoin kierse, Vision Plus Finance, youbookin.com
EnterpriseStart program (week 4)
Posted by Ronan | Filed under ireland, startup
This weekend was a change from the other weekends - more focused on IP and management. Michael Weldon, a patent agent, came to talk to us about protecting our ideas. He comprehensively covered the pros and cons of patents. He has a really good slide explaining the timeline of the patent process; from priority dates, to pct, to final submission.
Stephen Hughes from Enterprise Ireland came in and spoke about preparing for the European market. He dealt with preparation need in meeting potential customers (home and abroad) and described some very simple steps to ensure a successful meeting:
o Research to know your customer’s business and industry issues
o Bring appropriately tailored presentation and materials – minimise Power-point
o Know who you are meeting – and what they do
o Check time and location of the meeting
o Clarify expectations ahead of the meeting
o Demonstrate client references and domain expertise
o Send an agenda
Most of which is common sense, but still you could overlook these
For the meeting itself
o Understand what your expectations are from the meeting
o Agree with your own colleagues objectives and structure
o Listen before you ask questions
o Offer solutions
o Don’t leave without agreeing next steps/action points for both parties
o Agree time scales (and keep to them)
The other thing he stressed is “Do research!” I couldn’t agree with him more on this. If we look at the mobile sector it’s clear where you should target first and where you should leave alone. For example, Italy has one of the highest mobile penetration, whereas France is one of the lowest!
Naomi Birdthistle from UL came to talk about Managing a Start Up and Ethics - it was interesting but I didn’t take too much away from it - this partly my fault - I was suffering from a bit of flu and not feeling the best. The UL theme continued with Tara Dalton from Stokes Bio came in to tell the story of how Stokes Bio was conceived and spun out of the University. What a story and so close to home.. Well done to all involved. We can only hope for similar success.
Tags: Enterprise Ireland, EnterpriseStart, IP
Enterprise Ireland Showcase
Posted by Ronan | Filed under startup
This free event is designed to bring people from the venture capital, business and ICT research community together to create mutually-profitable partnerships.
Since the inaugural event in 2005 the ICT commercialisation team from Enterprise Ireland has worked closely with the research community to get more than 24 Irish information and communications technologies licensed, with an additional 12 deals on track in 2008. Seven ICT start-up companies have emerged from this source over the same period and at least another four are due in 2008.
Almost 200 ICT research commercialisation projects have been funded to date and today’s event gives you the opportunity to hear from 10 researchers who are currently bringing their technologies to market. There will also be 31 researchers in the demonstration and poster areas of this event which brings the total number of new technologies on show to 41.
Potential investors or interested licensors of the technologies in the showcase are encouraged to schedule a one-to-one meeting on the day with the researchers in advance.
Where?
The Radisson SAS Royal HotelGolden Lane, Dublin 8.
Tel: 353 1 5060706
When:
Monday 6th October 8.00 am - 12.30More info?
Enterprise Ireland Showcase Website
Tags: Enterprise Ireland, Showcase
