Irish show of force in California

THE POWER of the Irish network in the United States can never be underestimated and it is no different in the tech heartland of Silicon Valley.

The Irish Technology Leadership Group’s (ITLG) annual get-together last week at Stanford University, the alma mater of a disproportionate number of Valley entrepreneurs, once again underlined the number of well positioned Irish and Irish-Americans who can potentially assist in developing Ireland’s tech sector.

Participants in a panel discussion about venture capital provided a snapshot of how well-positioned many Irish and Irish-Americans are in the US tech world.

At first glance, John Denniston would seem to have little connection with Ireland.

With his sharp suit and warm American accent, it would be easy to assume Denniston, a partner in Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB), the venture capital firm which since 1972 has backed the likes of Amazon, Electronic Arts, Google, Netscape and Zynga, was a buttoned-down investment banker from the midwest.

However, in person he speaks knowledgeably about Ireland’s political and economic history, is a regular visitor to the Mayo farm on which his father grew up and thinks Ireland has huge potential in green technology – the area where his own investments are focused.

“We are at the very early stages of the green tech revolution and, based on what I’ve seen from Irish entrepreneurs, I’m very optimistic that Ireland can capture a very important part of this market.”

If KPCB represents the old guard of Silicon Valley, Andreesson Horowitz, the VC firm established by Netscape co-founder Marc Andreesson, represents the new.

John O’Farrell, a UCD engineering graduate whose early career included a stint at Eircom, is one of just four general partners at the firm, which has close to $1 billion under management.

While O’Farrell is interested in investing in “great Irish companies”, anyone who is serious about building a technology company “has to have at least an outpost” in Silicon Valley.

Travel up Highway 101 to San Francisco and it is not hard to find ambitious young Irish entrepreneurs such as Philip McNamara of TapMap, Fergus Hurley of Clixtr and Eoghan McCabe of Contrast, who have taken that advice and upped sticks to move to California, at least temporarily.

Emily Chang, host of the Bloomberg West television show, drew an audible reaction from the attendees at the awards when she said: “Ireland, a country with a population of 4.6 million people, has a disproportionate impact on global technology.”

The challenge now is to convert that influence into something tangible and create a new generation of profitable companies that can contribute to our economic recovery.