Education + Work
2012 - 16 (Dublin, Ireland)
I went to university. I coasted through my undergrad without learning much. Then I did a masters in business and marketing.
I'm not sure studying business was a wise decision.
I wish I'd chosen a more rigorous subject.
But it's done now and I made some nice friends, so on we go :)
2016 - 17 (New York, USA)
After university I learnt about a graduate program available to Irish kids where you go to America for a year and intern in your field of study.
So, I went to New York for most of 2017. Through a well connected family friend I landed a job with a small angel investment group.
Since it was effectively a startup, I did whatever needed doing. Sometimes it was buying cheese and wine for investor social events.
I learnt it is best to serve expensive wine first. When people get too tipsy to notice you can switch to the cheap stuff.
Once we went downtown to Goldman Sachs to pitch something. I recall being very excited to see the inside of a Wall Street bank.
Probably this was because I had seen The Wolf of Wall Street and wondered if I'd catch any debauchery. Sadly, no.
One memorable day a production company sharing our office borrowed me to be a props boy on the set of a Scarlett Johansson movie.
So I spent 3 hours handing her props including a feather boa and a glass of champagne. She was very bored.
I had hoped she would notice my Irish accent and be immediately charmed. Wasn't to be. We haven't kept in touch.
Anyway, the most important thing is the managing partners were willing mentors. My internship was effectively a very practical MBA.
2018 - 24 (London, UK)
Then I moved to London. My first job was with a healthcare services company. We had some sucess in winning a couple of NHS contacts.
There were also some difficult moments. I learned how some good people comport themselves in difficult working circumstances.
These were useful lessons.
Then I was recruited by a research institute in Chelsea. The main goal was to help market what we were doing to big pharma
to fund new studies. We had some sucess in that with Sanofi, and I was also involved in disseminating some of the findings from a large Bayer-funded Real World Evidence study called GARFIELD.
But I would say the high point was attending a conference in Paris. Reason being I travelled on the Eurostar for the first time. The Eurostar is a train that goes from London to the coast,
crosses the Channel via an underwater tunnel, emerges in France, and rolls into Paris. I can't comprehend that! Anyway, in Paris I spoke to many luminaries in the field of cardiology about thrombosis and such, about which I know precisely nothing.
I got comfortable with being ignorant and asking questions. Hopefully I still am.
Time moved on. In early 2020 a Chinese colleague returned from a visit home. Apparently this COVID thing we'd heard about was no joke.
Lockdowns ensued. Work went remote. We became involved in a COVID trial. It was not a sucess but I saw for the first time how clinical trials come together, from conception to publication.
Then the Americans came calling. I had an opportunity to rejoin that little angel group which was now a rather large VC.
I took it, and remain an associate there to this day. I occasionally get messages from people on LinkedIn trying to "break into VC"
(that's the phrase they always use). Each time I have to tell them I have no idea how to break into VC. I fell in. Anyway.
The work mostly involves speaking to founders and conducting due diligence on prospective investments.
Looking ahead...
Part time I created a small business of my own. Nothing high tech.
I have a huge interest in local sport, gym going, and nutrition, and sought to create a small business at the nexus of these things.
I sell healthy, high protein smoothies at local sports meets (park runs, tag rugby tournaments etc.) and an independent gym in Battersea.
This was a fine way to learn about point of sale systems, negotiating, and sales. Perhaps in the future it can be something more than a side interest. Who knows.
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