Of Grand Plans and smaller bytes 'n pieces

1) Congratulations to Ger Hartnett of CoClarity on winning the Innovation and Market Entry award at the LEAP Programme Showcase. And a big fat cheque!

2) The same Ger Hartnett started colating Startup Ireland Ideas based around the debate ensuing from the publication of Patrick Collison's Irish Times article - The Grand Plan. My own modest little proposal went as follows - 

What I’d like to see too is more €6,000-ish grant schemes like the level 1 awards made by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland each year. I was one recipient of such a grant last year and it gave me the opportunity to invest a lot of time getting my project off the ground.

Keith Kennedy is after announcing on Twitter that he is to receive a level 1 award through this year’s scheme. And I know that’s going to make a big difference to him in terms of the commitment he can give to his project idea. 

In some ways there’s not a lot you can do with €6k but in other ways there is. As many other alumni of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland have proven over the last few years. And access to the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland network is invaluable. 

I often wonder why us Tuesday-pushers don’t create a similar but crowdsourced grant scheme using Pledgebank or other crowdfunding service to fund (non-social) business ideas IQ-prize style by the group of people donating to the fund… and I do mean donating. We could then provide advice/feedback on an on-going basis in the same way Social Entrepreneurs Ireland do, through an on-line forum / network / twitter. I for one would be happily pledge €60 to such a fund as I’m sure would 100 others canvassed through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and so on. In fact I’d be happy to make such a donation every couple of months. Anyone want to help make it happen?

3) Speaking of the IQ-prize, the shortlist has been announced. Congratulations to all who've made it this far and best of luck in the final round.

4) Coworking / hotdesking is an ongoing interest so when I came across a rather grand coworking space located in London, under the label of 'Private Members Club' I asked my twitter followers if there are any comparable locations in Ireland. And got surprising answers.

5) Alex O'Connor says - "These guys are helping Irish business think their way out of recession. Its a 'not for profit' initiative". I hate to be cynical but I don't like the focus of the seminars on one particular book and 3 hours of personal exercises.

Comments

[Siobhan O'Dwyer]

I've been keeping an eye on the itaskforce twitter stream and followed through to your blog.

I like your 60 quid idea, count me in. I also agree that small grants can make a huge difference. We've got so used to throwing around big numbers that we forget many entrepreneurs just need a small financial cushion to get the idea up off the ground before moving on to the next stage.

Siobhan O'Dwyer

[James Corbett]

Thanks Siobhan, it's an idea I wish I had more time to pursue. Would you be interested in helping me get it off the ground?