Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

Next week is a busy one for networkers in Dublin. I’ll be in Ireland from Tuesday through to Sunday.

Tuesday 26th

19:00 Web Technology Conference starts. I’ve been asked to take part on a panel but it has yet to be confirmed.

Wednesday 27th

Ireland’s first Girl Geek dinner. I’ve been to one as Sarah Blow’s (original founder) guest and they’re good fun. I wish the guys (sorry, couldn’t resist) all the best and I’ll happily await the arrival of my guest invitation

The girl geek dinner is an evening for women in technology to get together, enjoy some dinner and meet some new faces. It’s a way to encourage your fellow women colleagues to join the community, offer their expertise and help grow the network of role models and leaders here in Ireland.

Check out Martha’s Rotter’s blog for more detail.

Thursday 28th

Ireland’s first ever User Group pub quiz. Eh, anyone fancy dinner?

Friday 29th

I’m giving a talk (Track 3) at the Irish Web Technology Conference. It has been organised by IrishDev.com and the user groups MTUG.ie, Ruby Ireland, DubJug.org, Python Ireland and PHP.ie. Sounds like a bunch of techies, but there are marketing related tracks at what’s going to be a rather big conference. I think they’re expecting upwards of 450 delegates.

I believe there’s an after party in the evening.

About my talk

Turn the Web brilliant, gleaming and stain free with POWDER (Content Labels). With my can of beans (no really) I will do a joint presentation on how Content Labels are the next step in reclaiming the Web from scammners, phishers and malicious people who do their best to ruin your day.

Content Label technology and the Semantic Web will restart the conversation between Web site owners and surfers so that everyone can make an informed decision about what they want to see online before they take that leap of faith and click on that unknown link. Find the information you want faster, feel more secure buying products online and make sure your kids never wander into the darker parts of the Web.

Saturday 30th 1st

Irish Blog Awards.

Created and managed by Damien Mulley. I’m looking forward to this.

So, if you’re around Dublin and fancy hooking up for dinner let me know and I’ll host a tech dinner.

I hosted a networking event last year called Curry 2.0 in one of Dublin’s finest eateries. I say obviously because my partner and I own Jaipur. I invited a bunch of likeminded people to watch startups pitch to a waiter in a minute. Thanks to Joe Drumgoogle I was reminded of the videos that were captured. Check out the 1 minute pitches.

I’ve also republished my original post below in case you didn’t read it on the Segala blog.

I’m very sorry for inflicting Robert Loch upon you like this. I should have given prior warning. The picture was taken on our way back to the UK after Curry 2.0, where Rob gave his pitch about a new idea called Jokaoke (a bit like karaoke but for people who really can’t sing, rather than pretend they can’t before getting up and singing like a pro).

What started as an idea to entertain a few people over dinner, turned out to be a successful ‘networking event’ crammed with cool people who between them, traveled a few thousand miles to take part in some idle banter over a curry and glass of wine. We had folk fly in from the UK, Spain and the People’s Republic of Cork. My sincere thanks goes to everyone who attended but a special thanks is extended to those who collected air miles just for a curry (Jaipur only delivers within a 500 mile radius, sorry).

Left to right, Paul Walsh and Farzad Jamal.

I started the evening with a few games of pool with Dennis Howlett, Robert Loch and Farzad Jamal. I won, naturally.

We then moved onto Jaipur where we were greeted with some of the delights of Stormhoek wine. Whilst getting familiar with their surroundings, everyone sipped the only Rose wine specifically made to serve over Ice. Full fruity style, yet dry on the finish when served over ice, Stormhoek’s Couture Rose 2007 was a fresh start to the evening. It was also the beginning of my steady decline into a slightly inebriated state. For which I am (almost) sorry given that it’s captured on video thanks to Paul Campbell. I refuse to watch any video footage of myself so feel free no to comment on my performance

I introduced the evening’s entertainment as just that, entertainment; a time to sit back, relax and enjoy good food, wine and company. As the evening pressed ahead we got to taste more of Stormhoek’s offerings, which I may add, isn’t bad at all. The Sauvignon Blanc was my personal favourite. I won’t pretend to know anything about wine. I simply know what I like and dislike. I leave all that stuff to my restaurateur business partner Asheesh (oops, just realised we haven’t included a profile for him on the site!).

I’m hoping this will be the first of many similar events in Dublin (and other parts of Ireland should anyone wish to use the term Curry 2.0).

Left to right, Christ Smith Paul Walsh and Dan Teodosiu.

I spent some time chatting with Dan Teodosiu, Microsoft Director, Windows Live Europe. Very cool guy. He now wants to host some events at the Microsoft office. So, please leave a comment if you have any suggestions. Perhaps we could do something with the Blue Monster.

I didn’t hear this from Dan himself but Farzad filled me in on a (not-so) funny story. Apparently Dan went to college with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The sore point is that Dan was offered a job which would have made him employee number 3! How sorry is he for not accepting that job offer. He’s not doing too badly though, as he sold his venture in the Valley to Microsoft and is now heading up Live. I look forward to working with him on a future event, or two.

Left to right, Paul Walsh and Brian Caulfield.

I’m pretty confident our worthy waiter purposely absconded just before the pitching session started. So, who better to replace our 100 meter sprinter than Sanjay, Head Chef. Brian Caulfield of Trinity Venture Capital was my independent adjudicator. It took Sanjay no time at all to decide that James Kennedy of SmartNote was the easiest pitch to understand. I don’t have a video clip of this particular pitch to hand so I’ll write a separate post and explain why I personally feel he deserved his place on the podium.

First up on the pitching session is a buddy of mine, Philip Wilkinson, Founder of Crowdstorm. This was a little different because Philip previously recorded a video clip especially for the occasion, which I ran on a laptop connected to some loud speakers.

It was good to have Maxim Kelly, Business Reporter for the Sunday Tribune (the first Irish newspaper to write something about me) at the table. I put Maxim on the spot by introducing him as one of the pitching companies. I love doing stuff like that. He did a fantastic job given that he had less than 5 seconds to prepare. I think I said something like ‘so, why should we read the Tribune Max?’ to which he had no choice but to respond.

Not only did Chris Smith from Stormhoek provide the wine for the evening, he also flew over from the UK to team up with Julian Alubaidy,from Bubble Brothers. It was good to get a pitch from Chris as it gave him the opportunity to further promote the brand. So Julian, what date are you launching Stormhoek in Ireland so we can start to stock it in Jaipur?

I spoke to Hugh MacLeod on the phone this morning and he has kindly agreed to sponsor the wine at a new event that Robert Loch and I am running (email me if you want to be invited, it’s invite only).

We even got a pitch from Dan Stevenson from Microsoft. I think this was a nice touch because it’s not exactly a startup. It does however, demonstrated how Microsoftians can hang out in the same playground with the rest of the kids.

I won’t run a commentary on each pitch. You can see them for yourself below thanks to Paul Campbell. The picture and sound quality isn’t great but I think that only adds to the character of the evening and demonstrates how impromptu it was. I’ll write a separate post which will include the winning pitch.
Thanks to Dennis Howlett for the pictures

It’s not actually Ben Childers pitching for Microsoft as it states on the YouTube video, it’s Dan Stevenson.

Thanks to Bernie ‘topgold’ Goldbach, I now have the full transcript of the Sunday Tribune’s article on our recent Curry 2.0 (networking event). Thanks to lexia for the screen shot below.

by Maxim Kelly in the Sunday Tribune, 15 July 2007

Take two dozen cash-starved Irish technology entrepreneurs. Place in a large Indian restaurant. Sprinkle in a smattering of venture capitalists and Enterprise Ireland executives. Add wine liberally. Stir vigorously for two hours. Result: Curry 2.0.

The brainchild of Segala chief executive Paul Walsh, what began as a private social event for London-based Walsh to catch up with some Irish friends and tech sector colleagues over dinner at his Jaipur restaurant in Dublin two weeks ago became a nerdy networking event. Budding internet entrepreneurs arrived to pitch their Web 2.0 business ideas to the eatery’s head chef while sampling his tangy cuisine and lashings of South African Stormhoek wine provided by online vintner Bubble Brothers. (Paul, See clarification below.)

The rationale was that if spice specialist Sanjay, whose first language is Punjabi, could understand the obscure industry jargon and have his curiosity piqued by one novel tech idea, that pitch would be declared the winner and the group would stump up cash to send the lucky pitcher to London’s OpenCoffee and InternetPeople events, where investors mingle with techies. The Microsoft contingent gamely threw in a copy of Vista and a presentation pointer too.

James Kennedy of SmartNote won the competition with his idea for software that automatically directs mobile phone text message mail shots to a business’s customers. Using the canny example of a restaurant booking database distributing text reminders to customers no doubt attracted Sanjay’s attention. Quamir Hussain of QHC Consulting was runner up, aided by his (unfair?) advantage of explaining his m-payment retail coupon idea in passable Punjabi.

Eagle-eyed observers noted that Mike (sic) Caulfield of Trinity Venture Capital was quick to dip into his pockets to pay a EUR 25 contribution to send Kennedy over the water.

An online wedding planner application from Spoiltchild was an interesting niche product, while Joe Drumgoole’s PutPlace concept for a single online depository for storing one’s digital data, such as photos and music, received murmurs of appreciation amongst the gadget-wielding audience.

Meanwhile, the eponymous Eoghan of EoghanMcCabe.com, who described Curry 2.0 as “like a coming out party for tech ideas except less gay”, described his intriguing Fold Spy web trickery, which tells web designers where to place ads on pages to attract the most attention.

A host of other original ideas were presented too, but the Sunday Tribune is keeping them under its tinfoil hat for the moment.

Walsh said he would definitely be putting the Curry 2.0 event on a regular footing in future, as InterTrade Ireland and Microsoft have expressed interest in getting involved.

“The benefit for me is raising my profile but I want to put back in too,” he said.

Walsh is a member of several associations in Britain designed to promote start-ups across the tech sector.

“I want to ensure the UK becomes a centre of excellence for interactive digital media but the irony is that I’m a Paddy so I want to do the same thing for Ireland too.”

[Clarification] It was Stormhoek who sponsored the wine. Bubble Brothers do not yet sell it in Ireland. It was shipped to Jaipur especially for the occasion. As Chair of BIMA it is my responsibility to help steer the association to help ensure the UK remains the center of excellence for creativity within the Interactive sector.

I wrote a post yesterday about the Curry 2.0 event which I hosted in Dublin recently, where we had startups pitch their business proposition to a chef. If you can pitch to an Indian chef whose first language isn’t English, you should be able to pitch to anyone. Sound like a good laugh? It was

James Kennedy from SmartNote delivered the winning pitch. Personally I thought James had a slow start. However, in his closing argument he saved the day by contextualising his pitch to his potential customer as soon as he realised he wasn’t getting through. James’ use case was to send text message reminders to Jaipur’s customers.

James will now be flown from Ireland to the UK where he’ll attend OpenCoffee London to meet other likeminded people. Take a look at his proposition (James you really need to work on that Web site!) and if you’d like to partner or simply collaborate with James, please let me know and I’ll setup a meeting. Please feel free to get in touch if you’re a potential customer too. Following the OpenCoffee, James will attend an Internet People dinner thanks to Robert Loch’s kind invitation. Perhaps I’ll get him to stand on a chair at OpenCoffee and give a 1 minute pitch. What do you think?

Microsoft was kind enough to provide the winning pitch with a presentation pointing device, a copy of Vista and a copy of Office 2007. My thanks go to Ben Childers (get a blog Ben) and Ben Tamblyn.

Note to people who give short pitches. Keep it simple.

1. Explain the problem
2. Explain how you’re going to fix the problem
3. Explain why your solution is the best.

I was on one of the panels at the Essential Web event recently where this simple approach wasn’t taken by the majority of presenters. There’s another long awaited post to be written.