Networking and Irish Football!

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Dear Reader,

Another week has come to fruition. This time it is filled with fun networking and the exploration of an Irish sport!

Startup Grind Dublin

Fred Karlsson (left) and Interviewer (right)

Startup Grind Dublin was founded within NDRC (National Digital Research Center), where I currently intern. Since Dublin is exponentially growing as a city for entrepreneurs and technologists, Startup Grind was created to help nurture this growing culture. The event that I attended was hosted by Google and the outline of the night is as follows:

  • Enter the facility and start networking
  • Everyone gathers in one room and listens to the enlightening Q and A
  • Food and more networking

I personally find these events incredible, especially as a non-Irish citizen. I have a better understanding of the startup culture in Dublin and the opportunity to meet incredible entrepreneurs from every corner of the world. For this particular event, the speaker (Fred Karlsson) spoke about his experience creating the company DoneDeal. DoneDeal allows people to buy and sell items from their website and has an emphasis in posting images of the product.

Mr. Karlsson mentioned that there was a long wait period  of approximately three years before he was able to make any revenue. Additionally, he mentioned that the time that the business was created seemed to have contributed to DoneDeal’s success. Finally, Mr. Karlsson mentioned that there are so many variables to creating a business and that it seems to boil down to hard work and luck.

He’s a very charismatic speaker and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to listen to his journey.

Irish Football

Where the action happens
Getting into the spirit! Go Dublin!

After a long week of interning and networking, I decided to continue exploring more of Ireland. To do this, I went to my first Irish sporting event. When I first bought the ticket, I was expecting it to be similar to rugby and American football. However, it turned out to be more of a mix of soccer, basketball and American football.

The scoring system was a bit unusual as there were two scores being tracked. One scoring board for the net goals and the second for the goals made in the net above (similar to a football kicking goal). Although the scoring system seemed more different than I was expecting, the movement across the field is what truly grasped my attention. The players alternated between dribbling and kicking the ball. Thankfully, as the game ended, I gained an idea of how the game is played.

The atmosphere was lively and there were over 65,000 people there! Since I’m residing in Dublin, I was in favor for the Dublin team and luckily…they won! Going to a sporting event is a great way to see how the heart of a country enjoys the outdoors and how they celebrate victories.

 

Going home after the game.

This week was so incredible and I can’t wait to share future adventures!

Until next time,

Kazandra Zelaya