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That Great Business Show
E25 That Great Business Show, Impact Gumshields, Kaliedy.com , Equine MediRecord, AIMapIT
Season 1, Ep. 25
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E25 That Great Business Show, Ireland's best business podcast.
2.00' A hilarious insight into the first seven years of start-up www.ImpactGumShields.com with former advertising exec James Murphy explaining the highly unusual and very, very painful way he found to attract a million viewers to learn about his patented gum shield. It involves Ian Madigan testing the gum shield, but not where or how you might think! Have a look here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ0BkQCyQTs After 'a mere' three and a half years Impact has finally secured a patent on its software. Next stop the world. To complete his Impact Gum Shield early executive team James explains why 'he'd hire Dan Weiden (creator of Nike 'just do it' strapline) in a heartbeat'.
26' The Ward family owned the Mothercare franchise in Ireland for decades but with the collapse of the UK mothership the Irish franchise finally foundered and the family business went down with it. Marketing director Laura Ward was in Mothercare HQ in Watford, UK the day the story broke. She heard not from management, but she saw it on Sky News. She tells That Great Business Show how traumatic that was. Now, the Ward siblings have started again with www.Kaliedy.com - an online version of what they had - but with a greater emphasis on backing small Irish businesses. Laura wants relevant businesses to contact her with a view to a listing. Her 'Hire in Heartbeat' is Chrissy Teigen. She explains how having Chrissie onboard could make her business go global.
47' You may think you know the horse business. That is until you listen to Equine MediRecord co-founder Pierce Dargan. He trots us through the worldwide market opportunities for his software, markets that include Sweden where horse trotting is massive (who knew?), New Zealand where bloodstock makes a mark on the country's GDP, Poland - famed for its Winged Hussars. In total he gives 60,000,000 reasons why his TCD Tangent backed business has a massive global opportunity. As well as hiring his grandad, famous industrialist Michael Dargan, in a heartbeat he also wants Andrew Lloyd Webber in his posse. Find out why.
1.09' Next time you look at a lamppost, say to yourself, 'there's a business in that'. The same goes for a park bench, a road sign, a telegraph pole. The great news for another TCD Tangent backed company, www.AIMapIT.com is that their very early stage AI company is already getting traction from large enterprises who want to count the 2 million lamp poles in Ireland, or the 5.5 million poles in the UK. Co-founder Julie Connelly says that because it's at such an early stage the business opportunities are only beginning (a Greek company has already come calling). Listen to see if you have a business idea that could you use their business idea. Julie's 'heartbeat hire' is Padraig O'Donoghue of Surecom Technology. He'll be scarlet when he hears why!
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305. E305 That Great Business Show - George Clooney Made Coffee Pods Sexy. Sofia Kalfa Is Cleaning Up the Mess
37:35||Season 1, Ep. 305George Clooney helped make the coffee pod glamorous.Unfortunately, the estimated 30 billion pods going into landfill every year are considerably less glamorous.Sofia Kalfa spent almost 20 years working with companies including Dell, PepsiCo, Wayfair and CRH. She then brought that corporate experience into Fzin Coffee, a growing Cork business taking on some of the biggest names in the global coffee industry.Fzin has developed an independently certified, bio-based and home-compostable coffee capsule that can go into a home compost heap, food bin, flowerpot or garden rather than joining the plastic and aluminium mountain.But this is not simply a sustainability story.Sofia explains:How Fzin built an 80-plus-product coffee and beverage portfolio.Why a customer told her that Fzin needed to be available through Musgrave.How she followed up through LinkedIn and effectively told Musgrave: “You have to list us.”Why seven business awards changed the type of people visiting the Fzin website.How a UK customer arrived shortly afterwards.Why she rejected the traditional van-and-sales-representative model.How she plans to build a national and international commission-based sales network.Why Fzin has avoided outside investment.How hotels could dramatically reduce the waste created by in-room coffee machines.There is also palm-oil-free drinking chocolate, coffee syrups moved from plastic into glass, grants, exports, rural Ireland, a Cork-via-Greece accent and a small Irish business refusing to wait for the giant competitors to change first.In HIRE IN A HEARTBEAT, Sofia chooses former Glanbia Group Managing Director and current CRH board member Siobhán Talbot — and offers her a completely blank sheet of paper.That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain is sponsored by De Facto® Shaving Oil, the world’s best all-natural shaving oil. No cans. No unnecessary waste. Made in Mayo and sold to the world.Listen on Acast, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts — and subscribe to the show on YouTube.
304. E304 That Great Business Show - The CFO Who Interviews for a New Job Every Year — Vineta Bajaj, Holland & Barrett
39:29||Season 1, Ep. 304Vineta Bajaj interviews for another job every year.She is also Group CFO of Holland & Barrett.That may sound like a dangerous combination, but Vineta says interviewing is a muscle. Let it go soft and the day you genuinely need another job, your first few interviews will be dreadful.If you are in the corporate world, or want to understand that world, this is an essential episode.Born and raised in Limerick, she finished school at 16, entered the University of Limerick before she was old enough for the pub, taught piano and developed a teenage fascination with trading options in oil refinery companies. As you do.Since then, she has worked with KPMG, Kerry Group, Ocado and Rohlik Group before taking charge of the finances at Holland & Barrett, a company with over 1,200 stores globally.Vineta explains why you should never say “that’s not my job”, why “busy” often means ineffective, how she told a CFO that she wanted his job, and why you must ask directly for the career you want. She also reveals the extraordinary full-circle moment when she hired two of the men who once hired and managed her.Hire in a Heartbeat: Vineta attempts to dodge the compulsory name, admits her admiration for Michael O’Leary and ultimately chooses something more valuable—a leader with a genuine founder mindset.With thanks to De Facto Shaving Oil, the longstanding sponsor of That Great Business Show.
303. E303 That Great Business Show - The Irish Startup Turning €85 Billion in Advertising Spend into Customer Rewards - Matthew Coffey, Leah Deasy
36:05||Season 1, Ep. 303SQUID has raised €10 million, reached almost 4,000 reward locations and now wants to turn loyalty points into real spending power.€85 billion is spent every year across the UK and Ireland trying to influence where consumers spend their money. Irish loyalty company SQUID has a rather disruptive suggestion: stop spending so much trying to buy people’s attention and put more of that money directly into their pockets.ON Episode 303 of That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, SQUID CEO Matthew Coffey and Chief of Staff Leah Deasy, explain how the company grew from personally pitching independent coffee shops to operating across almost 4,000 locations. SQUID has raised €10 million over time, employs approximately 28 people and says more than 1% of the UK and Irish population now uses its platform.We examine:Why SQUID believes rewards can outperform conventional advertisingHow three million rewards have already been claimedWhy free coffee remains a surprisingly powerful business toolHow the company makes moneyThe payment partnerships that could unlock European expansionIts planned €10 million-plus Series AWhether Revolut, Stripe or another payments giant could eventually come knockingHIRE IN A HEARTBEAT:Leah chooses Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins.Matthew chooses Stripe founders Patrick and John Collison.Sponsored by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best all-natural shaving oil. Not a beard oil. Made in Mayo, sold worldwide. DeFactoShave.com
302. E302 That Great Business Show - The banks said no. The ramen got funded. Niall O'Grady, Linked Finance & Kevin Hughes, Nomo Ramen
45:48||Season 1, Ep. 302The banks said no. The ramen got funded.On Episode 302 of That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, we follow the money. Real money. SME money. The stuff every founder wants, needs, chases, curses and occasionally dreams about.Niall O’Grady, CEO of Linked Finance, explains how the company has put more than €400m into more than 5,000 Irish SMEs — and why speed matters when a business owner spots an opportunity. With him is Kevin Hughes, founder of Nomo Ramen in Dublin, who left a tech career, spent years obsessing over ramen, made hundreds of test bowls at home, was told “no” plenty of times, and still built the business.This is not theory.This is not “thought leadership.”This is money, noodles, risk, graft, landlords, lenders and the glorious madness of Irish SMEs.Hire in a Heartbeat:Kevin chooses Ivan Orkin, the New Yorker who became a ramen success in Tokyo and helped open up the secretive world of ramen recipes.Niall chooses John Teeling — and, even better, his grandmother Winifred Clifford, who ran a business in Clones and could apparently negotiate the legs off Hector Grey’s table.Sponsored by De Facto® the world's best all-natural shaving oil - shaving foam cans are sent to landfill. It's the law. De Facto is 100% recyclable. DeFactoShave.comListen in. Subscribe. Share it with an SME owner who needs money, speed, nerve, or a bowl of ramen.
301. E301 That Great Business Show - would you pay 80c for one cube of ice? If yes, Richie French of LXRY ICE would like a word.
31:19||Season 1, Ep. 301Would you pay 80 cent for a cube of ice?Richie French, founder of The LXRY ICE Collection, says ice is no longer just frozen water. For premium bars, hotels, restaurants and events, it can be a luxury ingredient: crystal-clear, slow-melting, brandable and highly photographable.Conall asks whether this is serious business or a cocktail of nonsense. Richie explains the science, the margins, the branded ice stamps, the family business behind Pure Irish Ice, and why a 26-year-old Irish founder is thinking about ice 24/7.BTW, did you know certain supermarkets IMPORT ice from the UK?? Can you guess which ones?Richie’s Hire in a Heartbeat: Majken Bech-Bailey and Jordan Bailey, formerly of Aimsir.Sponsored by De Facto® the world's best all-natural shaving oil - shaving foam cans are sent to landfill. It's the law. De Facto is 100% recyclable. DeFactoShave.com
300. E300 That Great Business Show, The Horse That Knows Your CEO Is Bluffing, Emma Jane Clarke,
32:51||Season 1, Ep. 300Episode 300: Emma Jane Clarke, Martinstown Lodge: Leadership Coaching With Horses, No Saddles, No Cowboys, No HidingWhat happens when a senior executive walks into an arena with a horse and discovers the horse is not impressed by their title, their car, their bonus, their LinkedIn bio or their carefully manufactured air of command?That is the business Emma Jane Clarke has built at Martinstown Lodge in Co. Meath.No horse riding. No cowboy tricks. No corporate away-day nonsense with beanbags, beach balls or frostbite. This is equine-centred leadership development, where horses are used to help leaders and teams see how they really show up.Emma Jane is no flake. Far from it. She was a senior leader in a government agency, managed large teams and multimillion-euro portfolios, and before that was the only female harvesting foreman in the UK forestry sector. Then, after a major accident left her in a wheelchair, she went after the dream: a farm, horses and a business helping people get out of their own way.On Episode 300 of That Great Business Show with Conall O Morain, Emma Jane explains:Why horses are brutally honest leadership mirrors Why senior managers cannot bluff a horse Why your thoughts are not necessarily reality Why checking in too much can interrupt the flow of a team Why confidence, presence and trust matter more than title Why some CEOs need less PowerPoint and more paddock Why no one, absolutely no one, gets to play cowboyShe also explains the business model, the client base, the expansion potential, the international ambition and why this strange-sounding idea is already working with serious companies.And in Hire in a Heartbeat, Emma Jane chooses Steve Bartlett, Jay Shetty and, best of all, her 89-year-old mother Dorothy Clarke, who recently started her own podcast. That is competition. Family competition. The worst kind.Brought to you, as always, by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. DeFactoShave.com299. E299 That Great Business Show - She Got Into Tesco...Then One Rogue Zero Nearly Blew It Up | Erica Sheehan, Homespun
44:01||Season 1, Ep. 299She Got Into Tesco... Then One Rogue Zero Nearly Blew It Up | Erica Sheehan, HomespunReal business. Real lessons. Listen to us — or learn the hard way.Everybody loves a success story.Few sees the panic behind it.This week on That Great Business Show, Erica Sheehan returns three years after her first appearance to reveal what really happened behind Homespun's growth.The headlines look great:• Tesco listings• SuperValu success• Amazon UK sales• New product launches• Growing retail footprintThe reality?• Five years searching for the right manufacturer• A supplier pulling out after months of development work• A coconut oil shortage threatening production (Monaghan seems to be a good source of coconut oil!)• Thousands of online orders arriving overnight after one influencer mention• A Tesco launch nearly derailed because of a single rogue digit in a barcodeThis is entrepreneurship without the Instagram filter.Erica also reveals how a chance encounter in Avoca led her to the manufacturer who finally cracked the code, why Amazon is far harder to sell on than most people imagine, and the advice she received from the late, great Ray Coyle of Tayto.Sponsored by De Facto® the world's best all-natural shaving oil — shaving foam cans are sent to landfill. It's the law. De Facto is 100% recyclable. DeFactoShave.com.HIRE IN A HEARTBEATErica's picks:• Katie McNally (Craigavon) — content creator who helps bring the Homespun brand to life online.• Ian Dobbie — veteran food industry advisor and mentor whose experience has helped Erica navigate growth and avoid costly mistakes.298. E298 That Great Business Show - They accidentally built a sauce empire - Garret FitzGerald & Sofie Rooney, Chimac
40:16||Season 1, Ep. 298They built a fried chicken restaurant. Then accidentally built a sauce empire.Most couples argue about whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher.Sofie Rooney and Garrett FitzGerald argue about chicken.And somehow that turned into Chimac — one of Ireland's most talked-about restaurant brands and now a fast-growing food business stocked in Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Whole Foods and beyond.On this episode:How a trip to South Korea changed their livesWhy Sophie got scurvy from eating too much fried chicken (true!)The restaurant that nearly broke themThe US distributor disaster that left them strandedHow they went from packing sauce bottles in their sitting room to exporting internationallyWhy food businesses are brutally difficultWhy they still think it's worth itAnd yes, Garrett also explains why Ireland should become a global ham superpower.This is business at its messiest, tastiest and most entertaining.Their 'hire in a heartbeat'? Sophie went for Fiona Fitzpatrick, founder of Brand Growth Heroes and former Nestlé, Gü and Japoni executive. Sophie describes her as one of the most insightful consumer-brand strategists she has encountered and would hire her to help Chimac scale internationally.Garrett chose William Exner, a former Chimac team member from Brazil. Garrett highlighted his intelligence, work ethic, adaptability and positive attitude, describing him as someone he would hire again immediately. Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world's best shaving oil. Not a beard oil. A shaving oil. DeFactoShave.comOur Gentleman’s (and ladies’) Agreement is simple: we do the work, you hit subscribe. Fair exchange.
297. E297 That Great Business Show - She gave her company to the staff - Joan McCoy, White Ink Architects
34:29||Season 1, Ep. 297She GAVE AWAY her company. To the staff.No Silicon Valley gimmick. No kumbaya management retreat. No hippy dippy stuff. Just hardnosed business.Just one brutally practical question: “Michael Smurfit regarded equity as blood… so why would you ever sell ?Conall Ó Móráin sits down with Joan McCoy of White Ink Architects — one of the leading voices in employee ownership across Ireland and the UK — to explain why businesses owned by staff often outperform traditionally-owned firms.And then comes the jaw-dropper. In Ireland? It is often CHEAPER to sell your business to a foreign buyer than to your own employees. Madness.This episode covers: • Why employee-owned firms often grow faster • Why staff suddenly start acting like owners • Why Ireland is behind the UK and Canada • Why ordinary workers getting wealth matters • Why architects are suddenly talking like economists • Why the Tánaiste may finally be waking up to this issuePlus: • Wolfgang Digital • John Lewis • ARUP • Housing chaos • Social housing economics • And the most Irish Department of Finance problem imaginableJoan's 'hire in a heartbeat', Michael Keaveney, Director of Land and Acquisition at Grainger plc.She described him as someone with a very direct style who can “cut through the noise and really get to the crux of the matter”, particularly around housing viability, social housing economics, and having “the right conversations” about the real scale of the housing crisis. This is one of those episodes that quietly changes how you think about business.Brought to you by De Facto Shaving Oil. The world’s best shaving oil. Not beard oil. Shaving oil. DeFactoShave.com#EmployeeOwnership #IrishBusiness #SMEs #SuccessionPlanning #Architecture #Leadership #BusinessIreland #WolfgangDigital #JohnLewis #ARUP #HousingCrisis #Entrepreneurship #ThatGreatBusinessShow