A decade ago, there were more megabytes on a floppy disk than startups in Dublin. Now, there are anywhere between a few hundred to a thousand. Across the Samuel Beckett Bridge away from the Silicon Docks setting of Facebook, LinkedIn and Google, stands the rising stature of Dublin startups. From technological to humanitarian, this startup culture breeds a new set of companies that are cheap to set up and move faster than any traditional monoliths. These startups will often require assistance from the likes of a tech startup lawyer to ensure that the company’s inception is as smooth as can be and that legal issues are resolved swiftly. And the way that these companies are competing vigorously for the best students means that you can be one of only two types of student: you’re either interested in startups or you haven’t thought about it yet.
you’re either interested in startups, or you haven’t thought about it yet
A startup is a small company set up recently that’s trying to enter a marketplace, often technologically focused. One man who has plenty of experience here is Sean Blanchfield, as he was co-founder of DemonWare (sold to Activision in 2007) and is now among many other things running ScaleFront, a startup lab with many successful companies to its name. When asked about the opportunities at this time for startups he said, “It’s unprecedented in history for any kind of maker, professional, craftsman or artist to be able to put their work into the hands of so many people as easily as we can today. Whether you’re a writer, musician, artist, videographer or programmer, your only production cost is your time, marketing is nearly free, and distribution is completely free.”
As the startup scene has begun to flourish, it’s done so without the stereotypical thick-framed-glasses exclusivity that might feed it in other countries. The Irish have always had an allergic reaction to anything that could be termed “scenes”. So it seems obvious now that when something like these companies sprout up, a support structure will appear to get students involved.
Even beyond that students are beginning to startup companies even before they reach college. Marco Booth will be a new student in Trinity this September and has already started up a company not yet launched trying to get free Leaving cert lessons available to all students. He’s very optimistic about how easy it is to try to get an idea off the ground: “I’ve gotten a lot of support from things like Enterprise Ireland and the NDRC so there’s a lot of optimism around to get these things started”.
A good example of this student friendly structure is Dubstarts, a free jobs fair and startup event. It was previously held in the Button Factory and is in Café en Seine at the end of October. It’s both an event for students/graduates to get into new businesses popping up around Dublin and also for students to build friendships with these companies while they’re still small enough to spend that time with you and help you grow. They’re not only interested in programmers but people in law, marketing and design.
Some people say that Dublin is just trailing a trend that lost its rockstar quality a few years ago. Yet these people are missing the point; as the rose-tinted glasses get removed, the real businesses will just benefit from that and rise to the top. The Dublin Startup scene is heating up just when the opportunities for startups are moving from a trendy scene to one where two or three people can actually build up a viable business and impact millions of lives in a small or large way without external funding
When talking about students’ opportunities in the startup area Sean Blanchfield was definitely encouraging. “No other generation has had so much opportunity to create meaning and impact with their lives as we do today”.
Basically, if you want to be excited about your work from the very start and not after ten years of promotion, join a startup.
“No other generation has had so much opportunity to create meaning and impact with their lives as we do today” Sean Blanchfield
The single most exciting thing is that each story these companies have to tell starts with a little moment. A small idea coupled with access to the type of people you need to get that idea off the ground. If you’re a programmer you need either designers or marketing people (or both). If you’re a business guy you might need people with a more capable set of technological skills. I have personally found the Dublin technology crowd the most generous people with their time that I have ever been around in my life. To begin mixing with these circles has never been so easy and so fruitful.
So go talk with Dubstarts during Freshers’ week. They are student focused and will have a constant presence with the Trinity Entrepreneurial Society (TES).
Dubstarts will have its next event at Café en Seine on October 29th. Register here.
