That Great Business Show

E202 That Great Business ShowBig news from Waterford company PlayerStat Data who have just cracked the North American market, with two deals they couldn't tell us about. But we asked enough questions so that you may be able to find out who the deals are with. Founder Colin Brett says that after seven long years (he almost had his CV on Indeed.com) the company that deliberately specialises in Youth soccer (as opposed to others who concentrate on elite teams around the world) has turned a big corner and he's hiring.Insights include choosing a different market to the mainstream, and how to find the tenacity to hold on when you truly believe you're on a to A Big Thing.Colin's choices of 'hires in a heartbeat' include former rugby international Andrew Trimble who has recently managed to sell his company. Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenny, William Spearman, numbers wizard at Liverpool AFC and Devin Pleuler of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, another genius of data.We haven't stopped talking about wunderkind woman Ashley McDonnell who joined us on Episode 181 of That Great Business Show. She's the woman who told she was rejected for a job by Spanish fragrance company PUIG. She rang them up, told them they had made a mistake, and is now heading their global digital marketing operation. One of Ashley's 'hires in a heartbeat' was Laoise O'Connell and we said we had to have her on. But we had to wait for the 22 year old to finish her internship with Chanel in Paris. We got her into studio shortly after her plane landed in Dublin where she told us all she knows about AR, augmented reality. (She's a bit of a whizz about it). The mall is not dead she says. As a GenZ'er she says her pals all want to 'experience luxury shopping'. Her best tip for retail? She says you can still create a buzz and make the tills ring with an old-fashioned pop-up store.Her hire in a heartbeat. Another young Irish woman, Aoife Barrett, who she says knows everything about selling in China.

E201 That Great Business ShowLorcan Healy, goalkeeper with Shelbourne AFC and founder of Eos Elite sportswear. A professional athlete in the morning, a startup dynamo in the afternoon, and beyond.His secret sauce starts, he says, with his first hire, Simon Feeney, marketing and events manager. He explains how he has built a community of over 17,000 to date - he says that community is the way to cut through to your customers. He sells socks. But he makes them a little differently from others. It's all about performance. And comfort. He says his customers say they're the most comfy socks they've ever worn. He's selling them to Premier League and Irish rugby players.He has plans. The business is heading for the US...and he's heading into bricks and mortar.His 'hire in a heartbeat'. Niall Quinn.Brian Ledwith, CEO, Aveta Medical, tackling the worldwide problem of vaginal atrophy, a condition that affects over 1 billion postmenopausal women. Brian, a mechatronic engineer, started with Boston Scientific, then moved to other big name medtech companies in the West of Ireland cluster before deciding he wanted to do his own thing, to be in charge of his own fate. Medtech can be a difficult business sector given that (thankfully) it's so heavily regulated by the FDA in the US and the EMA in Europe but if you can overcome these obstacles, the markets can be huge. Aveta Medical is raising money on the Spark Crowdfunding platform to fund its growth, with ambitions to raise the value of the company by up to 10X.Brian's 'hire in a heartbeat'? Sebastian Guth, CEO of Bayer (they're already in this space).

E200 That Great Business ShowKey Patent Innovations MD Angela Quinlan - incredible young (2020) Irish business, founded by Angela Quinlan, that bought 33,000 Blackberry patents for $170m. They now have to 'sweat' those patents. Think of buying a Prince or David Bowie back catalogue and finding new (and existing ways) of making the music sing (financially of course). Damien McConville, Project Manager InterTradeIreland and Stephen Barry-Hannon Project Manager at Circular Bioeconomy Cluster about €280,000 in cash available for early stage companies (just like yours!) - there's a deadline, listen carefully - and clustering, where sector related business come together to make more business. The clusters are looking for more businesses to join.

E199 That Great Business ShowCommercial litigation can cost an absolute fortune. That's why more and more businesses are opting for mediation to settle disputes. Peter Leonard BL is a barrister, co-presenter of The Fifth Court legal podcast and he's a certified mediator. He joins That Great Business Show to explain how mediation works, what the process is, how much it costs, what it's good for and when it doesn't work. And he says, if it doesn't work, you can always go back to court. 80% plus of disputes that go down the mediation route are successfully resolved. And, if the dispute is contentious, and if you can avoid the courts and head for mediation, the financial savings can be 'massive'.His 'hire in a heartbeat', Ciaran Cuffe, former Euro MEP.Billy Griffin, of signage company Artisan, is also Dublin Chair of BITA, the British Irish Trade Alliance, a not-for-profit that helps Irish businesses do business in the UK. Founded by Paul Whitnell, BITA International President, the organisation claims to 'fuel the growth of UK, Irish, and international businesses'. Billy explains what it has done for his business and what it could do for yours. He explains some of the many issues that have hit his business due to Brexit.His 'hire in a heartbeat' - Bill Gates.

E 198 That Great Business Show We may have confused Kilgarvan and Glencar in County Kerry, but we certainly didn't mess up a great business story - that of Glencar - a leading construction company, growing to become one of the UK’s most successful privately-owned contractors having been founded only in 2016 (revenues of over half a billion Pounds Sterling). The twist in the tail is that Glencar, founded by an Irish family in Britain, is bringing it all back home, to Kerry as their base for their Irish expansion. Rory McGillycuddy, country director Ireland, joins us to tell us of their worldwide ambition.His 'hire in a heartbeat'? NFL legend, Tom BradyWarburton Technology is an Irish SME, engaged in the development and licencing of injectable trace mineral formulations, in the large animal veterinary arena, under the Multimin trademark. They're based at the RDI Hub in Killorglin, Co. Kerry, where they formulate their products and ship them to the world. Eithne O'Leary, MD at Warburton, is the brains behind the business.Her 'hire in a heartbeat'? Dr. Tony Holohan (she debated against him while at school).

E197 - How to sell a dinosaur. You will never hear a business podcast like this elsewhere.Paddy Meade, former Dep. Chair and CEO of worldwide auction house Bonhams, is probably the world's best known seller of dinosauria. Paddy was asked to sell a dinosaur that had been pledged by a Creationist property developer (they believe the world is just 6,000 years old) as collateral in a failed property deal. When things went bust the dinosaur headed for the salesroom.This dinosaur, had spent five years being reconstructed, but still wasn't all there and needed some more bits to make him whole. And if your dino isn't whole, where do you go to buy bare bones? At the dinomarket of course (we kid you not!). What you learn on That Great Business Show.And there was the red copper Chinese dish, used for serving crab legs, owned by the family that started the Pony Express, that was so valuable that it had to have its own seat in Business Class on an airline to London. Wait'll you hear what happened to it.And then there was the original Lion's costume from the iconic movie 'The Wizard of Oz' that finally sold for..?There's another fascinating story about Muhamad Ali's robe, worn for the George Foreman fight, and what the auctioneers found stitched into that robe...And John Travolta's suit from 'Saturday Night Fever'...What happens when you buy very expensive wine that has gone off..?His third choice for his 'hire in a heartbeat' is Cassandra Hatton, currently working in Sotheby's.

E196 That Great Business Show - Part II of III of the Paddy Meade interviews.Paddy starts by explaining how to make money at auctions and explains that's there a question of time - how long can you 'sit' on your investment?Then there's a question of fashion - objects, furniture, art all go in and out of fashion. Paddy sold a lot of 'nostalgia'. If you're 40-60, you're their target market. But, what's going to be the Next Big Thing.Paddy worked in eBay (they bought the US's oldest auctioneers Butterfield & Butterfield) when it was a teeny weeny little company (in involved 12 interviews!) and the story involves the Ireland V Italy match in 1990. His fascinating story involves Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel (if you're too young, look them up)...who collectively now probably are wealthier than a combination of big European countries.Then the Great Tech Bubble burst.When Butterfields was sold by eBay to Bonhams, Paddy joined the smaller of the Big Three US auctions houses (Sotheby's & Christies being the biggies)Paddy advises on what to buy and not to buy if you want to make your fortune and he tells us what auctioneering platforms he uses to find the items he likes to collect including work by a most curious individual Matthias or Matthew Buchinger, a circus performer who had no hands or legs who lived in Ireland. Matthew, with no hands, was a calligrapher. Mad.His 2nd choice for a 'hire in a heartbeat'...Morgan O'Driscoll and George Mealy auctioneers.

E195 That Great Business Show - the Paddy Meade Triptych - three episodes featuring Ireland's most successful auctioneer.Paddy Meade is former Deputy Chair and CEO at Bonham Auctioneers, one of the most prestigious sales houses in the world. A born storyteller if you don't laugh out loud we guarantee your money back. We love a good backstory on TGBS and Paddy has a terrific one, starting with how studying Welsh in University College Dublin (UCD) led him to the top of a worldwide business. He explains how he came first and last in Welsh in UCD. And, he says that one's first choices (including studying Welsh) need have no bearing on future career choices. An obsessive collector, one of the early items he collected were small Tetra Pak type cream sachets from Aer Lingus flights (no, really).Later he studied fine arts in Southampton where he came first in the UK in his exams.Later still, when trying to convince a potential client to sell his goods, he drank the man's teeth. Well, in business, a man's got to do what a man's got to do...1990 comes and he loses his job. Thanks to a Donnelly visa, the last one ever he says, he headed for the US without a job. Hustling for a job he got frozen to a public phone box.He then hits a job dilemna. He got a job in Chicago, was there a week, when Christies, the auction house, called with a job offer. Did he jump?Learn about 'auction school' where you have to learn a secret code. Why he had to be trained by RADA and how he saved a client $700,000 when selling the famous 'Maltese Falcon' cross from the movie of the same name, that starred Humphrey Bogart as investigator Sam Spade.Paddy's 'hire in a heartbeat is Malcolm Barber of Bonhams.With thanks to Maxol, a family firm, backing Irish businesses.

E194 That Great Business ShowThe Republic of Ireland (pop. 5m) has 2.7 million Revolut users. Percentage wise Ireland is the biggest adopter of neobanks across the EU. Head of Revolut EU is Joe Heneghan who talks to us about what the future of banking looks like. Will we ever darken a banking hall again? Also biting the heels of the so-called 'pilar banks' are SME funders like Grid Finance whose founder, Derek Butler, also joins us to see what the sees now and what he sees looking into the future. Then, there's Financial Services Ireland that is hell-bent on making Ireland a fintech capital (as are the UK, France, Lithuania, Estonia...). Patricia Callan, FSI Director, gives us an overview of that the challenges and opportunities are for new and established fintech startups here.As always we ask all our guests for their 'hire in a heartbeat' recommendation and here's this episode's line-up. Lobbyist Patricia would like to hire Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's PR when UK PM, for his lobbying prowess (and for his podcast 'The Rest is Politics')Derek would like to have Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services on his team, for obvious reasons as he explains the surreal amount of regulation the industry is currently facingJoe is an admirer of the Wayflyer model (a very clever Irish fintech unicorn) and he'd like if Aidan Corbett, founder, would drop into his office for a 'chat'.