Established in 2015 by Bank of Ireland, ThinkBusiness.ie serves as a comprehensive resource hub supporting Irish entrepreneurs and SMEs in their growth journey. Initially focusing on offering tailored information, tools, and templates, the platform has evolved to include diverse content such as guides, case studies, and podcasts featuring interviews with prominent figures in the Irish business scene. 

Having joined the brand in 2019 current editor of ThinkBusiness.ie John Kennedy has emphasised richer media content to grow the quality rather than quantity of content that the website puts out.

While most content is internally generated, occasional contributions from guest experts enhance the platform’s offerings. The introduction of ThinkBusiness.ie Podcasts adds another layer to content delivery, enabling audiences to engage with insightful conversations at their convenience. ThinkBusiness.ie aims to continue spotlighting and supporting Irish businesses of any kind in their achievements and innovation.

How did ThinkBusiness.ie begin? What has it morphed into now?

ThinkBusiness.ie was begun in 2015 by Bank of Ireland as a business reference site that aims to support entrepreneurs and SMEs on their growth and scaling journey.

It has been created for business owners and managers who are seeking information, resources and help on a variety of business topics.

ThinkBusiness offers guides, tools, templates, checklists and a wealth of other content tailored to meet the needs of Irish business owners and managers. It also showcases case studies, with insights, tips and advice from Irish start-up entrepreneurs and business owners.

When did you join? How has the website developed since?

I joined in 2019 after decades of working as a business and technology journalist, including being editor of Siliconrepublic.com for around 17 years.

Thinkbusiness.ie has grown to accommodate richer media content, including podcasts with insightful interviews with entrepreneurs, as well as unparalleled and in-depth sectoral coverage and support for key areas such as diversity.

Having such a large social media presence, do you find certain content to work better on some website than others? 

Every social media platform has its virtues and its distinctive uses. You will always be learning. We have large, engaged audiences across LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and increasingly Instagram. Both LinkedIn and Facebook are sources of strong engagement when it comes to interviews with specific individuals while X and Instagram are fantastic when it comes to guides, tools and templates.

What would be the ratio between the content you create and the content you get from other sources? Where do you source this content from?

I would say 95% of our content comes from our own efforts with occasional input from guest contributors who happen to be experts in their respective areas, be it legal, HR or technology. We focus increasingly on evergreen content and to a lesser extent on the news cycle.

You’ve put a lot of time and effort into developing the ThinkBusiness.ie Podcasts. Why did you decide to diversify into this area? What are some of your favourite episodes?

They make for fun and engaging content and it allows people to engage with content in their own time and on their own terms. I enjoy a good conversation and I find people fascinating. It adds an extra layer of debt that sometimes the written word cannot capture by itself. We publish across ThinkBusiness.ie as well as platforms like Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple and Google. Some of my favourite episodes include Cork entrepreneur Pat Phelan, OOhpod’s John Tuohy, Wayleadr’s Garret Flower and Medb O’Riordan from Academy Films who won a BAFTA this year along with Shirley O’Connor for their film Earth Mama.

You go to a lot of events every year to obtain content. What are some of the best business events for networking purposes? 

I will never stop loving technology and entrepreneurship so those events are a must. I believe it is important to give every founder a chance. We know statistically that only one in 10 might go the distance in terms of success but also it is important to recognise that failure is also part of a journey to success. If at first you don’t succeed …. So give everyone a bit of your time and support if you can. You never know.

Networking is important – I used to challenge myself to never leave a room unless I walked out with at least five potential stories. 

In terms of events themselves, I used to go to the big global tech events like Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and CES in Las Vegas or the Web Summit in Lisbon. Locally, I think the Dublin Tech Summit last year had a nice attendance and an interesting cadre of speakers and entrepreneurs.

I like to get around the country and recently attended Scale Ireland’s Autumn gathering and its recent regional summit in Limerick and have to say they really hit the mark in terms of the quality of speakers and attendees and driving forward the agenda that innovation can come from any corner of Ireland.

Being in the Bank of Ireland world has brought me into the orbit of events like The Ploughing in Laois as well as Blas na hEireann in Dingle which is a must for discovering the best of Irish food businesses.

I’m glad to see that physical events are fully returned, but in a time of sustainability and video conferencing tools like Teams, jumping on a plane for days overseas is harder to justify, so good quality local events are a must.

Do you see new applications such as Chat GTP being a help or a hindrance to websites such as ThinkBusiness.ie in years to come?

While ChatGPT is a fascinating technology with a myriad of uses, you can easily spot writing that was put together using that kind of tool. It will be quite scary if it gets harder to spot. The same is true of art like illustrations and photography. The technology is sophisticated and has its uses. We are really only scratching the surface of what is coming.

I think we must not lose sight of the value of originality and quality content. If software eats everything the world will become a boring place. So sanity needs to prevail.

Will it be a hindrance to publishing? It goes back to my original point, people will know the difference. For journalists I think they should embrace these tools to give them efficiencies in areas like research, for example, that frees them up to focus on more in-depth work and the quality of the writing.

The challenge will be economics, and ultimately who will pay for it. The problem is the world doesn’t always value or see the work that goes into creating content. Sometimes the easier it looks, the harder it was to create. If media and journalism ends up on a treadmill or a race against AI, it will be a race to the bottom.

I’m an optimist, however, I believe people will put a premium on quality and effort and tools like AI will be viewed in a utilitarian way in the same way we look at word processing or spreadsheet apps. Just tools that ultimately will free us up to do better work. The tractor never spelt the end of the farmer, did it?

How do you look back on this year from an Irish business point of view? What are some of the favourite stories from the past year?

I have to say that despite the funding challenges, Ireland has built a solid coterie of high value digital businesses such as Wayflyer and I think the Collison brothers’ Stripe is navigating the ups and downs of the tech world with aplomb. The big question is will they or won’t they float on the stock exchange. 

It’s fascinating to see how Irish tech businesses are doing on the world stage. For example, Barry Napier-led Cubic Telecom’s recent deal where it sold a controlling stake to Softbank for €473m gave it unicorn status (worth more than $1bn). That was a business that originated in Cork. Likewise, Terry Clune’s Clunetech sold its payroll business Immedis to a UK firm for €575m. That’s a business from Kilkenny.

All across Ireland there are scaling businesses emerging such as Payslip in Mayo, ACMS in Limerick, Scurri in Wexford, to name a few.

So that’s fascinating to watch.

What are you really looking forward to covering in Irish business in 2024? 

Pretty much what I described there, businesses doing extraordinary things. I think Ireland really needs to create a base of scaling indigenous companies that can match our success in foreign direct investment. The key to this is exports. I think businesses born inIreland have that international mindset from day one, because they have to. Our job at ThinkBusiness.ie is to give them the know-how and expertise to embark and thrive on that journey.

What are some of your favourite companies that you’ve covered in recent years since you’ve moved to ThinkBusiness.ie?

There are too many to mention. I have to say I think Pat Phelan’s Sisu Clinic has been a monster success story in terms of retail prowess and global ambition. I love local businesses, and one that comes to mind is Highbank Orchards in Kilkenny which grew out of an accidental creation of a tasty syrup into a fully-fledged brewer of cider. Also on the drinks front, young whiskey businesses like Foxe’s Bow which is making inroads into America are fun to watch. I really enjoyed interviewing David Gluckman, one of the co-creators of the Bailey’s, Kerrygold and Sheridan’s brands. It’s non-stop!