Last September I tipped Jerry Kennelly of Stockbyte in Tralee to win the Entrepreneur of the Year award 2005 -
I'm probably biased of course because, as I've said previously, I did an interview with Jerry a few years back which gave me a special insight into the mind of a great entrepreneur. Not only was the job description (Internet Marketing) a little ahead of its time but I was struck by Jerry's vision, optimism and determination. As well as the fact that he was remarkably grounded and down to earth.
As it happened he didn't win but I guess he hardly minds too much now,.... now that he's after selling Stockbyte for $135m to Getty Images!!!
Wouldn't you think an entrepreneur who was after hitting that kind of jackpot would be jumping out of his skin with excitement? Not good old Jerry - he was the picture of composure (no pun intended) when interviewed on RTE news tonight. In fact he said it was a bittersweet day due to the loss of 28 jobs in Tralee. But fair play to him he's softening the blow by dividing out $5m after tax to the staff.
Holy s**t, that's $178,571.42 each!!! Aaaaarrrrggghhhhh, boooohooooo, .... why oh why did I fail that interview? :(
PS. Jerry's a guy I'd certainly like to hear Tom Raftery interview.
Holy money monkeys batman, thats a lot of cash. I surely doubt that those 28 folks won't mind too much if they've just been handed a few years worth of salary!
Always great to hear these kind of stories though, sure would make an interesting interview!
Posted by: Ken McGuire | April 07, 2006 at 08:49 AM
Yes, these are the kind of inspiring stories I'd love to see pacakged and sold as a book. Come to think of it I think there was a book launched recently with a collection of interviews with successful Irish entrepreneurs.
But a podcast where they get to share their stories in their own voices would be much better IMHO.
Posted by: James Corbett | April 07, 2006 at 09:54 AM