The Big Tech Show

This week, Adrian talks to one of the thorns in the side of big tech companies. Dr Johnny Ryan recently joined the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, having spent much of the last two years taking action against Google and the Interactive Advertising Bureau in his role with the privacy browser, Brave.His main point is that the system still tolerates big tech and online ad companies brushing over our data privacy rights on issues like consent and what happens to the sharing of our personal profiles once we click on a website.Adrian asks him what his idea of an internet with stricter enforcement of European rules might look like and whether he thinks this is likely.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Bank Of Ireland’s volte-face on refunding customers who were conned in an SMS phishing campaign, this week’s podcast looks at the ‘smishing’ issue in some detail. How does smishing actually work? Is it the fault of SMS gateways that lots of companies use?Joining Adrian is Dr Jessica Barker, co-founder if Cygenta and a cyber security expert who’s particularly good at explaining cyber issues. She points out that sometimes the dodgy grammar used by phishing fraudsters is deliberate, to make easier marques more clearly identifiable to them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks to Alan Holland, founder and CEO of Cork-based Keelvar, a procurement AI technology firm that recently raised €16m in a funding round.Adrian asks Alan about the growing trend among Irish tech founders to go abroad for venture funding instead of relying on investment sources here.The two also discuss the transition from being an academic in a university to a startup entrepreneur and the change of pace required.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian and Sunday Independent business editor, Samantha McCaughren, discuss the rise of paywalls across major newspaper brands. Adrian argues that while they sometimes attract narky comments from online readers, paywalls have simplified the news consumption process and set a more solid path for future business models.They discuss whether it’s ethical to put critical news, such as Covid-19 updates, behind a subscription paywall. They also look at how related business models, such as reader contributions and online advertising, are faring for those who depend on them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“March 12, 2020 was the day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its largest drop since 1987, the year I was born. That was the day I decided to take the next step and start fundraising for our Series A.”But how on earth did Corkman Robert Fenton, founder of life science data management firm Qualio, do it?This week, he gives Adrian the story of how he went from zero to $11m, from multiple VC firms, in 90 days. He also talks about the temptation that some companies now have to leave San Francisco, where he now lives.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian tackles the two giant breaking news stories of the week: Apple’s €13bn tax win against the European Commission and what the Schrems data privacy ruling means for ordinary Facebook and web users here.On the first topic, he’s joined by tax expert Brian Keegan, who attended the court case last year.On the privacy ruling, Adrian grills data protection expert Katherine O’Keeffe (from Castlebridge) about where the ECJ decision leaves ordinary people who are now wondering whether their use of cloud services might soon fall foul of European law.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks to John Goulding and Joe Lennon, co-founders of the workplace communications software firm Workvivo. The two just raised almost €15m in venture funding, having decided not to shilly-shally around with Irish VCs. Instead, they followed the bigger money trail stateside and landed it.The chat involves raising money, growing a company from Cork and a host of other things.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian has a lively chat with one of Ireland’s most interesting serial entrepreneurs, Norman Crowley.Crowley built and sold three companies for $750m by the age of 40.But he came tantalisingly close to selling one of them for $1bn. He explains how that episode hit him hard for a year. But he also now says that it was “the best thing that ever happened” to him.Crowley has gone on to mix his love for the environment with new successful companies, including Crowley Carbon (which raised $31m earlier this year) and Electrifi, which reconditions classic sports cars into all-electric vehicles.He also challenged Adrian to walk on hot coals, a dare that the host is currently considering.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian is joined by the CEO of the country’s biggest online-only media publisher, Journal Media, and the CEO and co-founder of Silicon Republic, one of Ireland’s longest-running and most successful online publishers.Adrian Acosta and Ann O’Dea dive deep into commercial and business challenges that media companies now face in Ireland.Is online advertising for media firms doomed? That’s a big question that the panel discusses in some depth.Alternate funding methods are also discussed, such as reader appeals and membership clubs. Acosta reveals that The Journal has attracted over 5,000 financial contributions since launching its reader contribution scheme two months ago.O’Dea describes the factors around creating other businesses adjacent to media, such as conferencing.And the panel looks at the prospects for different Irish media organisations from any new or re-organised ‘media fund’ that might be put together by the Irish government.On the health of media, the panel also analyses some of the issues around trust, or lack of it, in press and media.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian dives into the amazing story of Ireland’s most fantastically controversial startup of the last 20 years: Steorn. The company raised €20m on the premise of having invented a perpetual motion machine using magnets. The startup claimed to have uncovered an “anomaly” in the laws of physics that would allow for never-ending power.From a full page ad in the Economist boasting of their breakthrough to a dramatic demonstration fiasco in London, the story of Steorn is a mixture of ambition, delusion and hubris.To explain the ins and outs of the story to Adrian is Barry Whyte, chief feature writer for the Business Post. Barry’s newly-published book, ‘The Impossible Dream’, recounts in great detail the entire Steorn story, painting a brilliant picture of the characters involved, the key moments and the ultimate outcomes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.