Business Builders

Mail Metrics co-founder Nick Keegan shares a raw and revealing account of what it really takes to survive the early years of a startup — from three years with no customers to building one of Ireland’s largest customer communications businesses through bold pivots and high-risk acquisitions. Nick speaks candidly about the naïve mistakes made at the start, burning through investor capital, letting s...

Tom Rowan, founder of Rowan Engineering, shares a grounded and refreshingly honest account of how he built a forensic engineering and environmental consultancy from one customer and no grand plan into a 30-person business working with insurers, public bodies, and major Irish organisations. Rather than chasing hype or overnight success, Tom explains how his ambition evolved gradually — from simply...

After losing his engineering job during the 2008 crash, Daniel Plewman found himself unemployed, on the dole, and unsure what came next. A chance moment — his wife struggling to source quality scrubs from the US — sparked the idea that would eventually become Happythreads, an e-commerce scrubs and healthcare uniform business now operating across Ireland, the UK, France, Spain, Germany and beyond....

Former Paddy Power co-founder Stewart Kenny shares a brutally honest account of how he built — and then left — the world’s biggest betting company. From his father’s influence and early fascination with risk to the creation of Paddy Power’s fearless marketing, Stewart speaks candidly about success, addiction, ethics, and why he ultimately left the industry he helped define. 🎧 In this episode, you...

Niall Jones, co-owner of Anglo Irish Refrigeration, joins host Conor Kearney to share his journey from redundancy to running a €30M+ business. In this episode, Niall gets candid about the personal risks of buying a company, the adrenaline of nonstop growth, and how culture—not spreadsheets—has become his most powerful business tool. If you’re interested in acquisitions, scaling SMEs, or what it re...

What can a magician teach us about leadership, resilience, and growth? In this episode of Business Builders Podcast, Ciaran McCormack shares how his early lessons in crowd control and stage presence became the foundations for running one of Ireland and the UK’s most successful retail groups. From balloon animals to Apple, to steering a company through examinership and rebirth, this is a story abou...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #94, I interview Sean Mac Fhearraigh, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Assay...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #93, I interview Laura Dillon, head of Waterland Private Equity. She elaborates on Wate...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #92, I sit down with Ross Keating, founder of The Lennox Academy, a sales training busi...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #91, I interview Laura McDermott, Founder and CEO of Colectivo, a sustainability consul...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #90, I sit down with Ciaran Marron, founder and CEO of Activ8 Solar Energies. Ciaran sh...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #89, I interview Michael Flynn, famously known as Mattress Mick. Michael shares his rem...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #88, I interview Fionn Barron, co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Tracworx. Fionn...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #87, I talk to Stuart McCaul, founder of Ishikawa Technologies. Stuart shares his journ...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 10, Episode #86, I interview Greg Clarke, founder and CEO of Digicom, a company specialising in hig...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. Welcome to Series 10, Episode #85, where I chat to Rachel Bright, a celebrated children's book author an...

*This episode was originally aired in April 2022* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. This week I caught up with Brian Keegan. Brian was founder...

*This episode was originally aired in June 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. Welcome back to another exciting chat, this time with Anne H...

*This episode was originally aired in November 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. I'm thrilled to welcome Dan Hobbs this week, Co-Fou...

*This episode was originally aired in May 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. This week I caught up with Pat Caslin. Pat is currently CFO o...

*This episode was originally aired in May 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. Welcome back to Season 4 of Irish Business Builders! I'm...

*This episode was originally aired in February 2021* Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. This week I chatted to Niall Wall, Executive Chairman of...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 9, Episode #84, I talk to Shay Lally, the man behind the successful social media channel 'Hous...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 9, Episode #83, I interview Sean Moran, CEO of the Home Project Centre Group. Sean shares the story...

Hire world-class accountants and in The Philippines. Visit Outsource Direct to scale your operations with higher flexibility, maximum efficiency and much lower costs. Subscribe to the Business Builders Newsletter for the very best ideas I've discovered on business and personal growth. In Series 9, Episode #82, I talk to Will Meara, co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Bingo Loco. Will s...