Originally Published November 2nd, 2010 on the BestConnected Blog, by Paul Browne
Click on the image for the full Bloomberg report video.
I was lucky enough to be at the F.ounders Event at the Dublin Web Summit on Friday and Saturday (including Enterprise Ireland’s CEO welcome to the Founders). Aside from thinking “What I am doing with my life?” ( as most of the other attendees were multi-millionaires in their late-twenties , or at a push , early thirties), the buzz and ideas from the event were incredible. This is reflected in the media coverage of the event, which shows Ireland in a very good light and highlights what is positive about the Internet in Ireland today.
CHAD HURLEY: “Right now I am in the process of transitioning into the role of adviser, stepping down, still being involved in the company, but it’s given me an opportunity to work on new projects,” he told the F.ounders international web conference in Dublin last night.
“The last laptop lid has shut, the closing tweet sent, the final Gowalla check-in made. TheF.ounders Conference has ended. Was it just a talking shop where self-congratulatory geeks could indulge in mutual appreciation of their own cleverness, or was it a signpost on the road to a brighter future for Ireland?
It is too easy to be cynical. Sure there was an air of unreality about the place. And the conference was, at times, just a touched too pleased with itself. But actually it was more than just a conference and if it was pleased with itself, then it had good reason to be.”
“Paddy Cosgrove, the man behind the event should expect to be a man in demand.”
“So impressive was the list of attendees circulated before Founders that at least two people asked me if the whole thing was a scam. “The only invitees missing were Princess Diana and God,” said one social gaming entrepreneur.”
“Yet, beyond the free champagne, swanky dinners opened by the Mayor and Niklas Zennstrom and the ridiculously posh hotel, there’s something more concretely exciting about this gathering. There’s a feeling of optimism grounded not just in entrepreneurial pecker, but in the feeling that very soon, Europe is probably going to get its One Big Exit; the billion-dollar acquisition that will make navel-gazing Silicon Valley sit up and take notice.”
“Founders might just have been the place a promising entrepreneur from Berlin met the journalist who introduced him to the VC who recommended him to the guy at Yahoo! who signed the papers for a lot of money, ushering in a new era of prosperity and success for European start-ups. That’s what Founders is about, and that’s why, if you can see past the posturing, it’s so riveting to observe.”
Irish Times Editorial:
“THIS WEEK, the real “smart economy” came to Ireland, as Dublin played host to some of the most influential and successful entrepreneurs in the 21st century’s most dynamic industry.”
“There is a sense of exhilaration and of creative ferment around this industry. At a moment of collective national gloom, we should be happy to see its optimism and intellectual energy celebrated on our doorsteps.”
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