Who are the Irish ambassadors when it comes to the arts, humanities, business and culture? A few names spring to mind. People like Bono, Mary Robinson and Gabriel Byrne have represented us wonderfully as leading members of the country's diaspora. But who, prey tell, is the Irish ambassador for technology?
I offer my own case to help conclude this. I speak to people in California about two to three times a week. I'm nearly always talking to someone in Europe that has a startup and nearly all ask me one thing when we first get acquainted - "Do you know Paddy Cosgrave?"
It's been a fact of life for some time that the Dublin Web Summit has become the one of the biggest events on the European tech calendar. Paddy is the man behind the influential F.ounders event, Web Summit (London & Dublin) and the Undergraduate Awards of Ireland. For me and many of my college buddies Paddy's event presented the first glimpse of the now burgeoning Irish tech scene.
Besides an illustrious series of events, Paddy has also been known for playing the startup game himself, launching products like MiCandidate and his newest project T.rigger (an event management and ticketing platform) alongside Web Summit and F.ounders.
On October 10th, Startup Grind Ireland will talk to Paddy Cosgrave about how he got individuals like Jack Dorsey and Chad Hurley to come to a small island on the periphery of Europe, long before F.ounders or Web Summit were established as global meeting points. Paddy will also give an account of his experiences as a founder, and the challenges involved in organising his own annual events.
Register for the event here. Venue: TBC