All my writing is now being posted on Founderware so if you’d like to update your bookmarks accordingly, that’d be smashing 
(and no, I’m not starting a TechCrunch clone. Well, probably not anyway).
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It’s almost impossible to imagine something dislodging Facebook from their social throne. Certainly, nothing short of an asteroid collision will stop them thundering onto the NASDAQ sometime in 2012. But lately I’ve been seeing some data which makes me wonder about what lurks on the horizon. In particular, I’m beginning to get scared by your mom. [continue reading…]
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Fight My Monster has been one of the most entertaining and educational (in the ‘I’ve actually learned something new’ sense) companies I’ve ever been involved with (I’m Executive Chairman). I’m delighted to announce that we’re hiring. You should join us. Here’s why: [continue reading…]
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Location apps in general have come to occupy the same place in my heart as X-Men movies. Promising so much yet leaving me unsatisfied and with a bunch of merchandise I need to throw away. Take Foursquare for example. Their churn rate must be enormous-I’ve installed it on at least four separate occasions only to nuke it about a week later. But then yesterday I discovered Hailo, which shows the world how a location-app should actually work (assuming you’re in London). [continue reading…]
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On Thursday I was in Dublin to announce a new venture fund with Enterprise Ireland. The ‘Fund for International Startups‘ (yeah, we probably need a catchier name) is targeted at startups around the world who want to base themselves in Ireland. It’s essentially the FourSquare of venture capital: check in to Ireland and get funded. I’ve accepted the role of International Ambassador for the fund. For one very good reason: it’s a fucking awesome initiative. [continue reading…]
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I find myself frequently feeling like Batman. Not because of my dark, brooding, cape-wearing habits (although I have my moments) but because of my double life. These days I am both pitcher (usually for investment or other deals) and pitchee (for advice or advisory/board positions). It’s taught me a few things about emailing busy people to maximise a response.
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We started our first games company (DemonWare) in Ireland in 2003 to hoots of laughter and utter incomprehension from the local investment community. In 2008, we were laughed at (again) by local investors when we started Jolt Online (again in Ireland), who told us that people wanted more sophisticated games, not simpler ones they could play from Facebook. [continue reading…]
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I polled thirty-six game startups about what platform they were basing their companies on. It was a pretty diverse group, representing Ireland, UK, US, Norway, India, Lebanon, Italy and Turkey. Based on this sample, it seems as if Facebook has been completely dropped as the game platform of choice for most new games companies. [continue reading…]
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Fight My Monster is one of the most entertaining startups I’ve ever been involved with. It’s also been one of the fastest-moving. The entire kids space is going through a transformation as companies start to realise the potential of online games and communities to drive more conventional channels (hat-tip to Moshi Monsters and Angry Birds). Although Fight My Monster is still early, it’s created a big enough impact with 7-12 boys to warrant the attention of the Oscar-nominated (twice!) Brown Bag Films. Today they’ve announced a joint-venture to develop a TV series based on the game. [continue reading…]
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