We were delighted to welcome Mark O'Sullivan, co-founder and CEO of NeuroBell, to IGNITE for a practical and honest session with our current start-ups.
Mark shared his journey from academic research at University College Cork to building a high-potential medtech company, including Mark's recent recognition as Enterprise Ireland HPSU Founder of the Year. He spoke candidly about what it really takes to build a company in a regulated environment and how early decisions can have long-term knock-on effects as a business scales.
Mark shared his journey from academic research at University College Cork to building a high-potential medtech company, including Mark's recent recognition as Enterprise Ireland HPSU Founder of the Year. He spoke candidly about what it really takes to build a company in a regulated environment and how early decisions can have long-term knock-on effects as a business scales.
Key themes from the session included the importance of needs-led innovation and getting out of the building early, balancing customer insight with commercial and investor realities, understanding inflection points and raising the right money at the right time, and using non-dilutive funding to de-risk the business. Mark also stressed that cap tables tell a story about a company and should be treated as a strategic tool rather than an afterthought.
He closed by emphasising the value of clarity when pitching: being precise about the problem you are solving, knowing your market, and resisting the temptation to be everything to everyone.
Thanks to Mark for generously sharing his experience with the IGNITE founders. Sessions like this give start-ups a grounded, real-world perspective on building, funding and scaling ambitious companies.