Nominee for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year competition: Jim Breen

PulseLearning was founded in 1999 in Tralee, Co Kerry, to provide revenue-generating learning solutions to Global 2000 organisations in the life sciences, financial services and technology sectors.

With an initial investment of €10, it has grown to a current estimated worth of € 30 million and has achieved a turnover growth of 6,000 per cent since inception. The company is looking to double growth this year for the sixth year in succession. PulseLearning now employs 85 people and has offices in New York, Canada, Tralee and Limerick.

Product/service:

PulseLearning specialises in providing integrated learning solutions to meet the business needs of mid-tier, Global 2000 organisations. Its solutions address key problems in product sales effectiveness, enterprise compliance, talent management and innovation. The key selling point is that they enable clients to roll out training programmes through a variety of technologies and platforms to improve profitability and earnings per share through effective cost-control and increased revenue-generation. The company's reputation relies on its ability to reduce clients' time-to-market and cost of training development through proprietary, quality-centred, rapid-development processes.

Customers:

The company has 23 clients, including global giants such as CA (formerly Computer Associates), Philips, Dell, NASA, Pfizer, Roche, Schering-Plough, CitiGroup and Bank of America. All of its major clients recorded turnover in excess of € 1billion last year.

Describe your progression from start-up to your current status?

We grew aggressively from the start, with a rapid increase in our global client base. In 2001, however, the market started going into freefall. The toughest early decision we made was to transform our market focus, especially our geographical target market. By 2003, our dogged efforts in North America began to pay off, and we have doubled our revenues every year since.

Q: Are there any interesting or unusual circumstances surrounding the inception of the company or its evolution?

A: The company was founded in, and initially run from, my son's bedroom with a second-hand PC and initial capital of € 10. I'd convinced my daughter and son to share one room so that I could use the other one as an office. The deal was closed when I told them that their sacrifice would be remembered as the place where the global giant PulseLearning was born.