On Wednesday night, Trinity Entrepreneurial Society (TES) presented an opportunity for students to meet some of the world’s leading young entrepreneurs, hosting a panel discussion, Forbes 30 Under 30, with individuals who had in the past featured on Forbes’s fabled list.
The panel consisted of Shane Curran, the founder of cryptography startup qCrypt; Colin Keogh, who co-founded a social enterprise that aims to distribute 3D printing techology in third-world countries; Mark Moriarty, a former winner of the San Pellegrino World Young Chef of the Year award; and Iseult Ward, the CEO of social enterprise FoodCloud, which redistributes leftover food from supermarkets to charities.
Speaking to The University Times before the event, Curran told a great story about how he discovered he was nominated for the list: “I remember getting a nomination email, and thinking that it was my mother who put my name down for the craic. Which I still think is the case, but I still don’t know. And then in school one day I remember getting like seven or eight congratulations texts, wondering like, ‘oh, what have I done’.”
Curran, who has just completed his leaving certificate, is in his first year of law and business in University College Dublin (UCD), and was quick to make jokes about being in enemy territory.
Keogh told The University Times that sometimes being successful comes down to two things: trusting your gut and networking effectively: “Networking is so important, and being in Ireland is the best place to do it. We don’t have six degrees of separation, we have two.”
For Moriarty – who has spent 11 years in professional kitchens, starting when he was just 15 – selling your image and talent is paramount. Moriarty engaged with his audience throughout the panel discussion, with quips aplenty: “In the same way a band might release an album, I released a menu.” He currently works as a sous chef in Michelin Star restaurant The Greenhouse, located just off Stephen’s Green.
Moriarty, though, wasn’t the only one who kept the audience’s attention, in a panel discussion that was lively and full of laughter. Ward, a former BESS student in Trinity, said the idea came about in her third year and was initially just a college project. Ward, to laughter, joked that she failed miserably in the beginning.
The panel also discussed the importance of timing, and the sacrifices that their successes have demanded of them. Failure was also a theme that cropped up throughout: each described many experiences of it. “Failure”, said Keogh, “is beneficial”, while Moriarty insisted that “you have to not care, [and] that might sound cheeky and arrogant”.
