Maebh Reynolds, GoPlugable. Image: Jess Lowe Photography
Ambitious start-up leaders ranging from Emma Meehan of Precision Sports Technology to Pierre Yimbog of SoloBook Limited outline the business founders they admire.
Everyone, no matter their age or level of experience, has their role models – especially the most successful among us.
This is especially true when it comes to entrepreneurs. After all, it only makes sense to meticulously study the blueprint of a success story, and strive to achieve (and in some lucky instances, even surpass) the same level of success as your idols.
Over the course of 2024, SiliconRepublic.com asked several of its Start-up of the Week picks about the companies, founders and other people they admire.
Maebh Reynolds and Andrine Mendez (GoPlugable)
GoPlugable is the brainchild of Maebh Reynolds and Andrine Mendez created to make EV charging more accessible.
Founded just last year, GoPlugable is a marketplace app that connects owners of EV chargers with drivers in need of the facility to make EVs more accessible.
One of their admirers is Pierre Yimbog, co-founder of SoloBook, which provides an AI platform designed to take the stress out of solo travel. Yimbog explained that he met the duo on a programme in Belfast last year, at the same time he met his co-founder Rachael Aluko.
“We’ve been following their journey and amazed by what they’ve achieved, the innovative ways they’ve marketed their product and how they continue to grow since they also completed a New Frontiers Programme prior to us,” he said.
Hicham Shatou (LeQuest)
Hicham Shatou serves as the CEO of LeQuest, a Netherlands-based start-up that helps healthcare professionals build their skills and knowledge through online training.
Shatou is also an investor who also serves as an adviser to a number of medtech start-ups.
Another Netherlands-based medtech Happitech, headed by Yosef Safi Harb, is a big fan of Shatou “for always cutting out the ‘BS’ and focusing on what really matters”.
Honourable mentions
Harb also said he admired Dan Vahdat, founder of Huma, previously known as Medopad, “for thinking big and communicating inspiring visions”, Daan Dohmen founder of health-tech company Luscii and his team “for the power of focus and sticking to what matters”, Youssef Youssef from GSK “for planning out his whole career vision and making it a reality”, and Giovanni Laurcelli, CEO of Lifeblood “for his incredible work ethic”.
Alan Farrelly and Brian O’Rourke (CitySwift)
Galway start-up CitySwift uses data to give public transport networks the intelligence to deliver dynamic services.
Emma Meehan, who leads fellow Galway start-up Precision Sports Technology, added them to her list of admirations. “To look at companies much further down the road than we are, I really admire CitySwift, a Galway company which has successfully scaled,” she said.
Honourable mentions
Meehan also praised Workvivo, which was founded by John Goulding and CTO Joe Lennon, referring to it as “one of Ireland’s best exits yet” when it was snapped up by Zoom, and spoke about the wider start-up ecosystem.
“People underestimate the power of a peer network, and we have made fantastic friends along the way through so many supports we have availed of through Enterprise Ireland programmes, NDRC, AwakenHub, local hubs and Digital Irish.”
Rahmon Agbaje and Maatin Adewunmi (Loud Parade)
Loud Parade is a music creative agency headed by Rahmon Agbaje and Maatin Adewunmi. Founded in 2021, the UK-based agency has collaborated with brands such as JBL, Fenty, Nike and Samsung.
One fan of Loud Parade is Ethan Monkhouse, who forms one half of Naviro, which is an analytics platform, alongside Lola Nolan.
Monkhouse said he admires the founders of Loud Parade because “they’ve crafted a unique approach by integrating bespoke music tracks into ads”.
“Their work not only boosts brand marketing but also supports emerging artists, making advertising feel genuine and impactful,” he said
Honourable mentions
Nolan pointed out some additional founders she looks up to. “I admire the founders of Bounce Insights. Their team constantly showcases what it takes to be adaptive, innovative and people-centric,” she said.
“The founders are incredibly hardworking, intelligent and skilled, but they also have an incredible entrepreneurial spirit that can be seen from the outside in.”
Priya Giuliani (EarthID)
Identity fraud is a genuine concern that is only rising in the digital age. It is for this reason that EarthID, a start-up headed by Priya Giuliani, uses digital identity verification by leveraging blockchain technology.
One fan of Giuliani is Haiti-born entrepreneur Genevieve Leveille, who leads the London-based start-up AgriLedger, a start-up that leverages blockchain technology and data analytics to improve parts of the agricultural industry.
“Giuliani’s leadership and vision have been instrumental in driving the company’s mission to provide secure, decentralised identity solutions that protect user privacy and enhance trust in digital transactions.”
She also commended EarthID for its “commitment to sustainability” and said that the start-up is “making significant strides in the area of digital identity verification”.
Barry Lunn (Provizio)
Limerick man Barry Lunn is the founder and CEO of Provizio. The company uses long range imaging sensors and AI in order to predict and prevent automotive accidents in real-time. Last month, the company made headlines when it announced its latest imaging radar platform, which utilises tech from Nvidia.
Future Mobility Campus Ireland, which is based in Co Clare, is headed by Russell Vickers and Wassim Derguech, the former of which is a self-proclaimed fan of Lunn. “This pains me to say because when he reads this, I will never hear the end of it,” he said.
“As a key partner for us, Provizio’s growth has been on the same timeline as ourselves and it really help us hone in on our product.
“As a previous founder, Barry has always been there to offer advice and quickly and heartlessly tell you when you are wrong, which to be honest you need to hear to keep progressing and moving forward. OK, now I need to brush my teeth.”
Brian Chesky (Airbnb)
In recent years, Airbnb has quickly become a household name. Its CEO is Brian Chesky, who is also one of its co-founders. According to Forbes, Chesky has a net worth of $9bn, so its understandable why some entrepreneurs would look up to him.
One such founder who admires Chesky is Eugene Kashuk, who established edtech company Brighterly in 2021. This Ukrainian start-up aims to help K-12 students succeed in mathematics, improving learning outcome through personalised online instructions.
Speaking about business founders he admires, Kashuk gave three people who he said have “heavily inspired” him.
Kashuk chose Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky as his main pick, and said that Chesky shows “a brilliant insight into customer development and customer experience”.
Honourable mentions
For his second pick, Kashuk chose Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings for possessing “such a great way of managing corporate culture”.
And for his last pick, Kashuk chose OpenAI’s Sam Altman, for his “enormous contribution to the start-up ecosystem and for providing so much go-to advice on building things, growing, and testing”.
Ryan Donnelly (Enzai)
Ryan Donnelly founded Enzai, an AI governance platform designed by lawyers, which can be tailored to individual cases and policies. The company has offices in the cities of Belfast, London and New York and its investors include Cavalry, Seedcamp and Techstart.
Donnelly is looked up to by Michael Guerin and Adele Keane, founders of Imvizar. The Dublin-based start-up, which delivers storytelling through augmented reality (AR), has been described as “the Netflix of AR”.
Explaining their pick, they said they have “a lot of respect” for Donnelly due to his work in the field of AI governance.
Honourable mentions
Other founders the Imvizar leaders commended were Conor McGinn and Niamh Donnelly of Akara Robotics for creating “a potential game-changing solution for hospitals”, and Marie Toft, the co-founder of Emotionise, for creating an “AI engine with emotional intelligence”.
Whitney Wolfe Herd (Bumble)
Despite launching dating app Bumble while in her mid 20s, Whitney Wolfe Herd has already built up a huge reputation in the business world.
Herd said she started the app because she saw a problem she wanted to solve. “It was 2014, but so many of the smart, wonderful women in my life were still waiting around for men to ask them out, to take their numbers, or to start up a conversation on a dating app.”
Aisling Browne of Glitch, previously known as GlitchAds, which provides a platform to streamline advertising for various businesses, referred to Herd as her “number one female CEO inspiration”.
“I don’t think anyone can deny the amazing things that she has done for the female community through setting up Bumble, as well as their amazing initiative, Bumble Business (which I have had the pleasure of attending many times living in London),” she said. “If I achieve half the things she’s achieved, I will be doing well.”
Honourable mentions
Thinking more locally, Browne highlighted Wayflyer’s Jack Pierse who she said she was lucky to work with. “Jack is the definition of a start-up founder, charismatic, charming and a complete hustler,” she said.
“But the one thing I really admire about him is that he has time for anyone. I think this is such an amazing trait in someone so successful and is unfortunately really rare.”
Meanwhile, GlitchAds’ other co-founder, Kingsley Kelly, held Mistral AI founders Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample and Timothée Lacroix in his personal hall of fame. “It’s really exciting to see deep tech developed in Europe be able to compete with and outperform companies like Meta and Google,” he said.
“I was lucky enough to be in [San Francisco] in 2012 and went to meet-ups at ‘no name’ companies like Stripe, Twilio and Airbnb as well as companies like Intercom and Boxever in Ireland.
“Right now feels like the first time since then that the start-ups are taking on the established tech giants and are winning, and the ‘indie’ AI companies are at the heart of that. Tech feels like it’s in the midst of the biggest shake-up in a long time.”
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