The team from Ireland’s foreign direct investment agency IDA Ireland are delighted to be attending Velocity2 this Wednesday and Thursday in London, and like you we’re looking out for the best talks to get to. We thought we might give you some tips on three of our compatriots who we can promise you will not disappoint! These Irish speakers represent three world class SaaS companies with a base in Dublin. Combined, these companies employ over 8,500 people, have raised over $420m in funding, and two have IPO'd.
Des Traynor: Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer – Intercom
Wednesday 9:20am – 9.45am
What comes after product market fit?
Des is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Dublin born company Intercom. The company has been on a mission to make internet business personal since the concept was formed in a coffee shop in Dublin. In 2011 Intercom launched the first to bring messaging for sales, marketing, and customer service to one platform – helping companies of all sizes grow faster by building personal relationships with customers.
For those who haven’t seen Des speak before I can promise you that it will be worth your time getting that coffee early and grabbing a seat! Des’s talk will demonstarate how a focus on product quality and customers delivers a long-term growth business. Expect Des to reveal how to monetise effectively, differentiate your offering, grow your product to expand the market, decide what your next product should be, move upmarket and how to react to competitors and new entrants.
This writer is a massive fan of Intercom’s content whether it be their blogs on sales, marketing and support, e-books (particularly on sales) and podcasts with Des hosting the Intercom on Product podcast.
Kieran Flanagan: VP Marketing – HubSpot
Wednesday: 11:55am – 12:20pm – Accelerate Stage
A Framework for growth: Three decisions to scale your business
Having seen Kieran at numerous SaaS related conferences and meet ups I can tell you this talk is worth putting in your diary. Kieran started with HubSpot as they just start scaling out their EMEA HQ in Dublin and has helped scale their international business, move the company’s go-to-market towards freemium and manage all of the global customer acquisition teams. Kieran’s podcast and blog are definitely worth checking out!
Karen Muldoon: Sales Leader, UK, Zendesk
Thursday 9:45am – 10:10am – Vector Stage#
Adapting team structures with scale
Hailing from the west of Ireland (the most beautiful part of Ireland!) Karen Muldoon brings over 20 years experience as a sales leader working for large multinationals spanning a wide range of industries including banking, legal and high-growth SAAS technology in the US, UK, and of course Ireland. For the past 12 years Karen has worked in senior management roles in London with companies such as Salesforce and Zendesk who both have their EMEA HQ’s in Dublin. Having watched Karen’s talk at the SAASGROWTH2019 event in London on ‘Developing and Coaching the Next Generation of Sales People’ I can tell you that Karen’s insight on how to hire the right talent while scaling in a hyper competitive market will be of value to you.
Companies tell us that a key reason for scaling their business from Ireland is their ability to source talent. New and established companies continue to invest in Ireland and build out their EMEA operations making Ireland the destination of choice for mobile investment projects of the world’s fastest growing companies.
For practical advice to speed up the process of setting up in Ireland check out our Playbook
For more information reach out to the Emerging Business Team who are at Velocity2 this week:
Michelle Conaghan, VP Emerging Business - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleconaghan/
Paul Curley, Project Executive, Emerging Business – https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulwcurley/
