Ian Kehoe

2 weeks ago | thecurrency.news | Ian Kehoe

When Andrew O’Shaughnessy first walked into the Entrepreneur Experience in 2011, he did not arrive as a seasoned executive dispensing advice. Instead, he arrived at Garryvoe Hotel in east Cork looking for it. Back then, his Cork-based start-up was called Newsweaver and it specialised in email marketing. His company was successful, but growth had started to flatline. O’Shaughnessy came seeking a way to boost growth and, if necessary, reimagine his business.

2 weeks ago | thecurrency.news | Ian Kehoe

John Flynn joined Act Venture Capital in 1996, two years after it was founded. Since then, he has helped navigate the venture capital firm through some of the most turbulent and transformative periods in business — both domestically and internationally. From the highs and sudden crash of the dotcom era, to the global financial crisis, recessions, a worldwide pandemic, and the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Flynn has lived – and invested – through it all.

2 weeks ago | thecurrency.news | Ian Kehoe

In March, analysts from the investment bank Jefferies sat down and started to crunch the numbers on Dalata. The hotel chain had just announced a “strategic review” of the business. Strategic reviews can often mean many things, but this was something more specific. Dalata was at pains to stress that the review would look at all options to “optimise capital opportunities for the group and to enhance value for shareholders”. In reality, however, the publicly listed company was officially on the market.

3 weeks ago | thecurrency.news | Ian Kehoe

Charles Cosgrave, the chief executive of Village Vets, is unfailingly polite, unassuming and softspoken. That is, until you mention banks. “Anytime we went to the banks, it was very much cap in hand. And they were always saying, ‘Why are you mucking around with puppies and kittens? Why don’t you go to cattle and horses? That’s where all the serious vets are’,” Cosgrave said.

3 weeks ago | thecurrency.news | Ian Kehoe

Governments are a lot like families. The way they succeed is very often the same, and the way they fail is very often unique. We expect governments to deliver on the priorities for which they were elected, and success is judged on the degree to which delivery occurs. The public mind is a savvy one. It understands many promises are not going to be kept for a variety of reasons. In general, however, a government elected to create jobs will be judged on whether it actually created those jobs.