Pictures my wife won't be impressed with.

Yes it's true. I'm a little bit different, I think this clip compliments of Gary Hamilton from Andor helps summarize me pretty well! 

After almost 2 weeks in Ireland I figured it was time for a post of random pictures I have taken throughout my journey's each one of these has some meaning and information in it that either myself or a business associate can and will benefit from but after taking each one all I could imagine was what my wife would say if I was taking these while we were on vacation! 

Pavement Markings

Guinness delivery truck

Irish Coast Guard

Utility work 

Mini Loader

Pavement Markings

Thatch Roof

Titanic dock pumps

Cobblestone repair at Trinity

Pavement marking

Utility/road work

Lug nut indicators

Lug nut indicators

Pavement markings

Pavement markings

-The Curious Bob

Is there an echo? - Common Leadership Topics

We had an eventful day at Startup Ireland today, we had a 4 separate meeting when it was all said and done.

Meetings included one with an incubator type company from Tel Aviv Israel called H&H, a leadership meeting with Eoin Costello, a meeting with a former Start-up Chile participant and finally a quick debrief with Jan.

The meeting with Eoin was definitely the most interesting (besides Jan of course!) as he really shared some of his unique experiences with us that helped to put him in the spot he's in today. What I found particularly interesting was that Eoin's overall message on leadership based on his trials and tribulations echoed that of almost every other leader we have heard from on this trip. They say there is no single secret to success but it sure is fascinating how similar these particular views on leadership are:

Know yourself, specifically your short comings and weaknesses, surround yourself with talented people, ask lots of tough questions, be flexible and adapt to the environment. The tough part about leadership is not the technology or product development, it's managing and leading the people in your organization.

I'm looking forward to sharing more details about Eoin and his past obstacles at the speaking engagement on June 16.

During Lunch we had an impromptu discussion with the co-founders of FenestraPro which is an AutoDesk CAD plug-in using heat transfer principles to reduce the gap between architecture and engineering when it comes to designing energy efficient green buildings. I saw a lot of parallels with myself when talking to these guys as they both came from a technical background.

Co-founders of FenestraPro, Dave Palmer and Simon Whelan. “The industry quite frustrated by the problem of redesign, and our software is quite intuitive, easy to use and helps solve that problem,”

LINK

Tomorrow will be our last day working onsite with Startup Ireland, overall it has been a pretty neat experience to see first hand the ground floor of these young coming companies here in Dublin.

-The Curious Bob

Bank Holiday

Spent the day touring the Cliffs of Moher with some members of the group. There were some amazing views. I even ventured to the edge and sat looking out over the Atlantic with my feet hanging over the edge. Definitely took some mental commitment as my 'gut' was pretty sure that hanging off the edge of this vertical 400' cliff was a bad idea! I couldn't help but think about  Brian Keating's talk from Friday in Belfast about pushing the limits of your comfort zone. Sure this is a little different context but all too often we get too content with the statues quo and don't take the calculated risks we should.

As we drive around, It's pretty neat to see all the small bed and breakfast places outside of town. I definitely look forward to coming back for a true countryside vacation here.

-The Curious Bob

Irish country side

Spending some time with locals in the countryside on a rural mountain pub tour. Sure they use the word "mountain" a little loosely around here but it was a great night nonetheless.

The first pub we stopped at was really a unique little spot with great craic! It was called the Blue Light Bar, the history goes back to the time of heavy shipping. The pub is on a nice lookout so back in the day after the import inspectors would go home for the night, the pub could tell awaiting ships that it was ok to come a shore with the illumination of the bar's blue light. They had some nice turf fires going inside to accompany the great pour of Guinness and it really added to the authenticity.

Blue Light Bar

Rural tours bus - Link

Day 2 Belfast - I wish I had the words

My original expectations of Belfast for this trip was focused on the Titanic museum and the history surrounding it, it turns out I never made it to the Titanic museum even though it came highly recommended by Jim Lyons. However, today was one of those days that really blew my expectations. The day started off a little later and a little slower than normal which was alright as unsurprisingly I had a good time enjoying the local libations with a few other classmates!

We started with a "touristy" bus tour of the city center, some old monuments, some old churches, a castle and then we moved on to "The Troubles". I was so impressed with the details of the troubles that I took a black cab tour for some more details. This is hands down a must do activity in Belfast. 

I thought I was starting to gain a better understanding of Ireland's recent violent history but I had no idea the true meaning of the word recent and the poor choice of the word history. I knew the Protestants and Catholics kept a wide breath on each other and when they didn't there would be small flare ups from time to time but I truly thought everything was "normal" now in Belfast.

It turns out that's not the case... These gates which are part of the peace wall system close like you'd expect at a military barracks, a war zone check point or some other major conflict zone, not some where that the locals say is peaceful and normal.

Gate 1 in Belfast Closed (6p-6a)

This unfortunately reminds me of the longer but tamer Mexican border fence line... Think about that for a minute how is it that one of the largest cities in a well developed countries in the world has to segregate their residents every night to keep the peace. The cab driver said they left the gates open at night a few years ago for a few weeks and it wasn't long before the first issues came up again.

 "a study was released in 2012 indicating that 69% of residents believe that the peace walls are still necessary because of potential violence and only 38% can envisage a time when there will be no peace walls"

Belfast 'peace' wall

Mexican border

We saw some pallet piles being created too which is used to celebrate the Protestant victory of the Battle of the Boyne. This is a whole story in itself but is definitely worth mentioning as it adds to the cult like feel of the area.

There are hundreds of murals in the area as well, celebrating, commemorating, remembering, decorating for one reason or another. Right across the street from most of these is housing structure with families and kids living in them. I find it very fascinating and almost scary that these people are so dedicated and passionate about their cause that they are willing to raise their families in this type of environment. 

This guy called "top gun" is celebrated on a wall as he himself was a victim of the troubles but he murdered around 20 people... Its really a strange thing to see this kind of thing being plastered on walls as something to be proud of. I wish I had the words to describe it.

-The Curious Bob

To the North! - Belfast

Started the day with a nice coach bus tour up to Belfast followed by a walk around the Titanic docks, I could have spent hours there as I can't help but thinking about all the "things used to make the things" used to make the Titanic at this point in history.

Today was a great day up in Belfast we had a number of great speakers that really focused on the details and intricacies of start-ups. On multiple occasions, we were given essentially a road map for tips on launching a successful startup. It's pretty great to be able to learn from other's mistakes like this.

There were several good slides today, one I recall from memory quite well from OMIINO about Perceived wisdom "we violated":

• Money raising should be a beauty contest, prepare for disappointment.
• Finances are not the full story when it comes to valuation.
• Strive for incremental R&D spend before revenue stream starts.

These guys today also stressed the importance of not being the smartest person in the room but be sure to surround yourself with the smartest ones. This is a sign of both humility and knowing thyself - both critical leadership skills. 

Again these guys are on the opposite side of the country and there is still a resounding message that one of the keys to leadership is listening to others... This has become a focal point for me as I too often am not an active listener and don't hear the unheard nearly as well as I should.

Generosity was another key takeaway we saw first hand today. Brian Keegan graciously presented an award to one Colim, the former CEO of one of his investment companies for being courageous. Colim overcame adversity in his personal life and in the business world, sticking it out when times were tough. We were very lucky to get to be a part of this small and intimate exchange between these two men. 

-The Curious Bob

Day 2 at Startup Ireland

We had another good day today as we spent the day working at Startup Ireland again at Docklands Innovation Park. Today's focus was understanding the Start-up Chile model and determine the best course if action for Eoin if he try's to pitch a similar idea here in London. We also made a connection with an incubator in Israel, we have a Skype meeting set-up for Tuesday morning.

Most of these are start-ups

During lunch we had the opportunity to speak with another startup entrepreneur focusing on embedded technology and bridging the gap between software and hardware similar to http://getdrop.co/ which is an interactive cooking technology coaching you through the recipe using a sale as the primary feedback tool.

He had some interesting perspectives on both the Irish diaspora and American connections as he spent 10 years with Intel prior to starting his own company about 2 years ago.

When compared to Greece, the Irish have many more options for emigration due to being an English speaking country. This isn't really something most Americans give much thought too. The Europeans move around countries like we do from state to state. They can head to any number of countries and with a decent skill set, easily be able to find a job.

He also mentioned how easy it was to get into the US with a visa as an Irish in the tech industry. Apperntly Ireland is one of the few places to travel from where you can clear US customs before you leave the country. 

One final point he noted was that the tertiary school (college) is all publicly funded and is free leading to the higher than average education level in Ireland.

-The Curious Bob