The Highs and Lows of Fundraising

Every entrepreneur knows that having a great idea is just the beginning. The real work begins with sourcing funding, building the right team and keeping focused on your goal. 

Today we meet an entrepreneur who shares his experience of turning an innovative idea—using space technology to improve sports safety—into a real business. He breaks down the realities of securing half a million euro in investment with the help of networking and mentorship, a

s well as the importance of resilience in navigating the ups and downs of bringing a product to market. 

Our guest today has worked with the European Space Agency and is using that experience to create technology that can detect head injuries. It’s a pleasure to welcome Founder and CEO of Sports Impact Technologies, Eoin Tuohy.

https://ie.linkedin.com/in/eoin-tuohy

https://sportsimpacttechnologies.com/

Transcription

For your convenience, we include an automated AI transcription

Larissa Feeney  00:01

Today we’re meeting an entrepreneur who is utilizing his experience with space technology to bring better safety to sports 

Eóin Tuohy  00:09

Like I think it was really the realization that this is not massively unattainable, like people can do it.

Speaker 1  00:15

No unicorns, no brands, just hard working people who built their business from the ground up, sharing their experience so others can learn. Presented by Larissa Feeney from Kinore. This is Real Business Conversations.

Larissa Feeney  00:30

Hello. My name is Larissa Feeney. I am CEO and founder at Kinore Finance and Business Services. Personal Tech has been developing at a rapid pace over the last decade and has found an important place in the sporting world. Our guest today has spotted a gap in the market for a wearable technology that solves one of sports hidden dangers, head injuries. 

Eóin Tuohy  00:54

So we really want to, like, try and help the amateur club by giving an affordable solution that’s reliable,

Larissa Feeney  01:00

Having combined his passion, purpose and experience working with the European Space Agency, we hear about the challenges of building a product that could save people’s lives, and the business attitude that has carried him here, 

Eóin Tuohy  01:13

We have to be careful not to take off the blinkers and completely be away with it. So that’s kind of where, okay, let’s get the laser focus. Let’s get the first one over the line.

Larissa Feeney  01:21

It’s a pleasure to welcome founder and CEO of sports impacts technologies, Owen Tuohey, 

Eóin Tuohy  01:27

Thanks, a million Larissa, and thanks for having me.

Speaker 2  01:29

I’m delighted you’re with us. Can you please tell us? I think we’ll start. I have to hear about the European Space Agency. Owen, can you tell me about that, how you ended up there, and what you did there? Yeah, can

Eóin Tuohy  01:41

1. So just a little bit of context, I guess my background, I’m a mechanical engineer, and I did a master’s there in UCD, combined mechanical engineering and business. And after I graduated, I went traveling in Australia and worked a plethora of different jobs. And it was really about this time that I was like, Where do I want to go, and what do I want to do? I’m not ashamed to put my hand up and say, I done five years of engineering and didn’t realize that the European Space Agency was a thing. So it was only there. When I looked at I genuinely thought, you had to be American and go work for NASA. That was the only route to it like so I kind of looked into that. Thought it was, this is something I could possibly pursue. And so what I did is I went back to I was living in Australia time, and then moved back to Europe, and I went to study in France to do a master’s in Space Studies. So that was nine month masters with a placement on it. And essentially, from there, that is what brought me to working in the European Space Agency. And so where in particular I was working, it was in the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, in Germany. So it’s the European Space Agency centers all throughout Europe. And this is, I think, I think I’d be confident saying it’s the smallest center. There’s only about 200 people there, thereabouts, working in it, and but it’s obviously the home of Europe, after Europe’s astronaut so it’s where they where they train them, where they do any space medicine with them. They do research around astronaut missions. Pretty much anything to the astronauts, is based out of the European Astronaut

Larissa Feeney  03:13

Center. And why space on Did you always have an interest in that like you were in Australia? What made you decide to either even go to France and do a master’s. Do you speak French? No,

Eóin Tuohy  03:25

not at all. I didn’t school that. I safe to say I don’t speak French, but the Masters, thankfully, was in English, which, which was a serious leg up. So I picked up a bit while I was there. But yeah, I always had an interest in space, but I, like, definitely wasn’t like, as you’d say, like a space nerd, or whatever. I call myself a space nerd now, but I wasn’t growing up like I had much interest as the next person, maybe a little bit more. But yeah, I think I just kind of like, I think it was really the realization that this is not massively unattainable, like, like, people can do it. And I think what really made it relatable, there was a couple of Irish figures knocking about that were somewhat involved in the space. And more I looked into it, it was like, oh, that’s there Irish people working in this. Like, even when I went working for the astronaut center, my direct manager was a man from Dublin, Dr Aidan Cowley, so he was like, he’s leading the team I was working for there, and still is. So I think, I think it was just kind of like, Yeah, this is, this is attainable. But actually, then I was like, Okay, this is actually really, really cool as well. To be, to be working in the space industry is interesting.

Larissa Feeney  04:36

It must be interesting. And what, what were you so, tell us about your role and how long you spent there, yeah.

Eóin Tuohy  04:41

So I actually started off as a placement there from an internship, so that was six months, I think. And then I actually got a traineeship role, which was two years, and that was funded by the Irish Research Council. And then from then on, I got a contract extension, then on by ESA themselves. So all in it. A little over three years. And what I was doing there, I was working for, I was kind of between two teams. So the first team are the really, really cool team, and they’re called spaceship EAC, so they kind of adopt a skunkworks type model, and it was all about lunar research. So how can we get astronauts to the moon? So everything like, Okay, we obviously need oxygen to breathe and for fuel and stuff, but what if we can use the lunar soil there, which is called regular, what if we can use that to actually build the structures we want here on the moon? And then are the things like, of course, like mixing in, like augmented reality and virtual reality for the astronauts up there, for like, training and helping their workflow. What I was kind of looking in was kind of that, within that oxygen extraction piece, where we kind of discovered a weird phenomena that happens with the lunar soil that just kind of acts in strange ways in the microgravity environment. So we’re looking at a bit of research into that, but also what we’re doing, and probably the kind of flagship of my time, there was something around the astronauts health on the International Space Station, and there’s a condition, and I’ll go into a little bit, but there’s a condition called San so space associated neurolocular syndrome. And this is where, in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station, astronauts visions can be affected. So their vision can get blurry, and it’s completely random whether it happens to you or not. It’s random when it happens one eye or two, and random whether it’s permanent or not. So we, we were trying to understand this better. So we made, as a little piece of technology, the previous piece of equipment to scan your eye to understand it was 10 kilograms away to cost 100,000 euro. And we made a little piece of equipment that weighed 30 grams and cost

Larissa Feeney  06:34

100 euro. Oh, my God, so 10 kilograms to 30 grams? Yeah, yeah.

Eóin Tuohy  06:38

And did the same thing. And then, of course, we threw AI on top of that to help diagnosis. But our little, our kind of little flag, unofficial flag, was that we got it from literary concepts, from idea to actually flying and operational within the space of a year, which I think is some unofficial record for getting it up in record time. And

Larissa Feeney  06:55

did I read somewhere that that is that technology still in use in the International Space Station today?

Eóin Tuohy  07:00

Yeah. So it’s, it’s had a couple of iterations, so I’m, I’m pretty sure the actual one we sent up is still signed up there in a storage locker somewhere, and they used it a few times, and now they have a couple of iterations. I think they’re looking at sending up the next version soon enough now, which, again, has enhancements built on, built on the previous stuff. That’s

Larissa Feeney  07:18

fascinating. That’s fascinating. So then what happened? What came next?

Eóin Tuohy  07:21

Yeah, so next, I think I was, I was working for them, and at the time, I kind of a job offer was coming with them, which would be a bit more permanent, and it was for the Eurocom role, which is Capcom, Houston. We have a problem the person who talks up the European equivalent of that, pretty cool. But then I kind of knew I wanted to be back in Ireland. And there’s not too many of them in Ireland. That is one of the few roles you need to be abroad for. So I kind of had the eye on the horizon for a few little things, and I was looking and I knew, I knew somewhere deep down I wanted to try my my own thing. I think my parents had their own business as well. So I’ve always been exposed to it a little bit, and I like the entrepreneurial stuff we did in college, so I was just keeping an eye out. And it was literally my dad had sent me an article on head impacts in soccer. So I’m a game player, still playing until the hip gives out, but we’re still going for the moment, and a massive, massive rugby fan. So I knew it. I knew well about it than there, but I didn’t really know about it too much in in the soccer space. And essentially, it was an article. I think it was about 2020, 1220, 20. I think the article is or the paper anyway, but it was just about the cumulative effects of heading the ball in soccer. And the research was early, and it wasn’t like it was statistically significant, but, but not conclusive, but they’re like, hey, there’s, there’s some interest in here that has long term effects, and just heading the ball in soccer. So I’m like, this is, this is really interesting. So really, I was just thinking away in my own time, while still working away and coming up with a bit of a designs here and there, and then reach the point where it’s like, maybe this is, maybe this something to actually put more effort and time into, you know? So

Larissa Feeney  08:59

that all came from your dad sending you an article. He thought she might be interested in us. Or did he think that it might be a business idea? Was that what he was thinking? He

Eóin Tuohy  09:08

Yeah, he always has a he has a good head, no, for little, little ideas here and there. And he was like, there could be something here, like a business like, yeah, it was, it was with the business angle in mind, you know? And he was like, No, he didn’t say what it was and or like, he’s like, like, this is interesting. Like, this is a problem that people are from the foremost, you know, that they’re having to deal with right now. You know. So the impact

Larissa Feeney  09:27

of, like playing soccer over the longer term. I know the careers aren’t very long anyway, but I suppose started to play as a child and then played right through adolescence and into adulthood. The the impact of of consists or small injuries over time, or contact with with the ball over time, I suppose,

Eóin Tuohy  09:48

yeah, yeah. This study that was referred to in particular was was about heading the ball in soccer. So it looked, it looked at the prevalence and And essentially, what it was getting at is, is something called CTE. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. So it’s, it’s a condition developed that’s essentially, it’s an increase in neurodegenerative diseases, an increased risk and later in life. So Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and motor neurons. And it’s essentially saying, as as you had this, and it was looking at professionals and professionals back in the day, where the ball was a heavy leather ball as well. So like, there’s, it was just an interesting study at the time that it was like, Okay, there’s an increased three and a half times more likely to experience this increased risk. It was just that kind of came up and they’re like, Hey, this is, again, it’s statistically significant. We need to do more research. And there’s more and more research coming out and pretty much nearly every day now at this point, you know. But it was that that was the thing, because, again, we know about the big impacts in Gaelic and rugby concussion, the big, big, heavy impacts, but it was this cumulative effect. It was like, Okay, this is actually, this is bigger than just the immediate thing you see that happens on the pitch. You know.

Larissa Feeney  10:53

Yeah, fascinating, fascinating. So, okay, so he saw that, and then he thought, okay, there’s something in this. And so did you kind of go out start developing that straight away then?

Eóin Tuohy  11:03

Yeah, so it was a, I know sometimes you hear people like, oh, just giving up everything and remortgage the house 17 times. Blah, blah, blah. It wasn’t, it wasn’t really that we actually had quite a nice parachute landed in a, I don’t have a house to remortgage 20 times. So that was, that was an option, but, but No, literally. So we started, started a genuine, just tinkering as an engineer kind of project. Let’s see what I can build, but in the bedroom, just as beautiful, you know? And let’s build a little sensor and see little app, and really, just basic stuff. And then I was like, okay, there might be something in here. So then what I did is the, and I think this, the parachute thing will still work in part time I did the New Frontiers Program. So we started at the the part time courses. And phase one was pretty much, is this, is this a nice idea, or is this a business? Is it go or no? Go. So did that?

Larissa Feeney  11:57

Is there a market there and is there? Yes, our product to Yeah, is it product market fit?

Eóin Tuohy  12:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it doesn’t, the first one doesn’t hash at all. The thing, it’s just like, Is this more than just your little side project for the crack? So yeah, at the end of that, it was like, Okay, I know myself, yeah. So I applied for the phase two, and that’s where you get, you get a stipend, and it’s a six months, pretty much a crash course, business Crash Course. And it was exceptional. And I was lucky enough, fortunate to get into that. And that was September of 22 and that’s, that’s where I said, Okay, let’s go. Let’s go full time. So that was full time on it from there. That’s

Larissa Feeney  12:31

the timeline. So September 22 whenever you said, right, I’m going to give this all of my time. Then, yeah,

Eóin Tuohy  12:36

yeah, yeah. That was the, that was the jump point. Then, yeah, okay, okay.

Larissa Feeney  12:39

So phase two, new frontiers. Did you have, like, a minimum viable product coming out of that program then on, or was there another, another step? No,

Eóin Tuohy  12:48

we didn’t have an MVP. I think as we’re hardware censored, there’s always like, I guess there’s always the question, what truly is the MVP? But we had coming out of that. We had a version which is nearly a proof of concept, you could say. Now, I think we went through a few prototypes, but we had something that a customer could hold in their hand, they could shake, see, get an idea how to wear it and stuff, and they was unable to portray the picture well then actually engaging and activating the sensor. So essentially, that gave us a platform to be like a lot of it was on the business side of it that gave us the good backing, and it kind of gave us the next steps. Like, okay, where are we going next? Essentially, where are we getting our next influx of cash from? You know, was that’s what we’re coming out of. Like, you know, okay, we have, we know we have a good business idea, we know I have a little bit of traction here and some customer discovery. But where, are we going next, with how we moving it forward, next, you know. And for us, it was like,

Larissa Feeney  13:44

and I know that you’ve raised money. So this was September, 22 you went through Phase Two through 2023 at this point. And did you start raising at that time? Yeah, so

Eóin Tuohy  13:54

I think we finished in March, and we were raising, raising probably hard time we were looking so like, Okay, where are we going to go? And so the immediate thing we kind of had in the pipeline coming out of March was the European Space Agency Business Incubation Center. So they’ve a they have a great program here, if anyone’s listening, and they have any technology, whatever, hardware, software that can be used, either in space or it’s using space technology. And space technologies is air observation, so like satellite imagery or GPS, that that all counts, you know. So if it’s applicable in that sense, you’re applicable to apply. And essentially what that was is a 50,000 euro grant. It’s co funded by enterprise Ireland and the European Space Agency, and we were applicable. We’re looking at upstream, actually using it as well, and potential. We use some downstream elements as well. And essentially, we were applicable. We went through the process, and I think by June then, that kind of opened that up for us. So that was our first kind of chunk get going and and just at the end of March as well, we got lucky. I entered a pitch competition to TU dump. Perfect competition, which has a 5000 euro cash prize. I was fortunate enough to win that which gave a bit of a bit of legs, and they give the office space as well. So it was nice for having the hardware, having, like, somewhere to put things and leave behind a lock door, you know. So they were the they were the first kind of steps coming out. But then we knew, like, Okay, that’ll be short lived. We gotta kind of start looking for our next, our next real batch of funding, if that makes sense. So I think the plan, and I think this is probably one of the biggest lesson learned of just how long that takes and how much work is required behind to get that. I know everyone that said, like, it takes so much longer, and it’s so cliche, but it did. It did really take long. I think this,

Larissa Feeney  15:38

I think it’d be really interesting, because, you know, to hear about that, because you’re right. Everybody says that, but and everybody says, Really, you need to be dedicated all of your time to it, which is very difficult whenever you’re also trying to build a product, and, you know, find potential customers and all that. So how did you approach that fundraising journey that? Yeah,

Eóin Tuohy  15:55

so I think when we sat down and we got the easy thing, and there’s a little bit of breathing room, we write down the fee paper, and we’re like, okay, September 23 we’ll have our half a million funding in and just to cut, cut a short like we only just closed around at Christmas the last year. Okay, there was definitely no, yeah, there was definitely naive there right now in the September time frame. But so what we did, I think the first thing, when we went out looking, kind of got a feel, and I think between the new frontiers. And so if it gives you a good idea for the landscape, and we kind of knew, Okay, we’re looking for the kind of private angels, friends and family, and this that’s, that’s where we’re at. We’re not at a VC level of investment. So then what we started to do is, was a lot of conversations, we did some pitches and stuff, but very few of that came to actual fruition, especially to kind of come into front door stuff next to none of it, I think, came to, like any anything tangible at the end of it. And what was a big, a big step up. And really, really helps along the way. I think timelines around so coming around that September time we actually applied, and I can’t remember when we were granted it, but, but around that time, we went through enterprise Ireland pre seed start fund, and we got that so, so that was, that was a big chunk. So that was 100,000 euro, and then, essentially you’re an enterprise Ireland client, so, and that’s, that’s tranche now, so you get 50 and 50, but, and you have to hit milestones to do it. But that was huge. So that that essentially enabled our first hire, which was, which was great, and then gave us that runway to be like, okay, like, now we know what we need to do. It gives us cash to actually move the product on, but actually, actually gives us that runway for the for the next funding. So, yeah, I think, I think funding wise, then to just keep on the funding journey. So at Argo we wanted to hit was half a million. And then I think when we started out, we had what we thought were the guts of it coming into the summer, or just started coming out of the summer. But then the summer hit, and it’s just kind of a lot of stagnation there. So what we had, we had a bunch of angels and some family offices and a syndicate, and yeah, so it was by Christmas, of Christmas just gone, that we officially closed it, closed it out, and now it said the hate band was in part of that as well the halo business angels network. But it was amazing how much of that was I can actually all tie it back to one connection, from introductions. So all of them, with the exception of one, so like, I think we had a bunch, maybe about 10 or so different investors. Of all of them with the exception of one, all came from one introduction, who introduced me to other people. So I think that was what I was trying to get to her. Like the the warm the old going in the front door, and the cold entries, it actually all stemmed from one individual like, you know, and that individual was an investor, but he didn’t invest with us, but he just did the intros that led to next to more, to more, to more, you know. So

Larissa Feeney  18:53

isn’t that amazing? And so it just points to the importance of your network, because the more people that you know in that space, and the more people who know you, the more people they know, and so on you know. So you just never know. And even being like taking part in New Frontiers and taking part in phase two of new frontiers, most have opened up that space for you a lot and opened up doors for you. Or did you find it difficult to get those initial conversation

Eóin Tuohy  19:21

the door, I definitely 100% opened up doors. And I actually say like that was actually some of the better, more valuable than, like, the stipend or so. It was actually those introductions to the right people. And some of them were direct introductions. They also have, and the mentor network enterprise Ireland have you get, part of that as enterprise Ireland that was truly invaluable to us, one of the strongest elements we got. And just having that is huge. It also gives you, like I did, the language to use, like, you know, I remember I met someone, I met a business owner before going into this, and just ran things by him. And I actually came across the old what I showed him on the day. And I’m just looking back at it like you must have been looking at me with two heads. So, you know, because it just just did the language use and the way and what people actually really care about, like, like, people don’t care too much about the nuts and bolts of the product that you love. Like, it’s nearly a box tick sometimes. Like, does it work yet? Okay, move on. Like, you know, so all that,

Larissa Feeney  20:15

yeah. So what’s the advice you would give then, say, for somebody who’s starting that journey now, just on that particular topic you raised, because you’re right. I mean, the it’s not that they don’t care about the nuts and bolts of the product. They assume that you can do that right. They assume that the product will work. They’re more concerned about, you know, other aspects. What should you have focused on, that that maybe you didn’t or, you know, what details should you not have gone into that you did go into? Yes,

Eóin Tuohy  20:42

I think probably like to someone in the boot boots. Now, I think a lot of people have said to me, when they’re investing, it was like, or they’re looking at it’s like, Okay, what’s the idea who’s the person, and is there a market? And that’s what they boil it down to three things that they’ve actually said that to me. So I think when I say a big focus on the team, you might be on your own, which I was, and actually I did waste a bit of time being like, I need a I need a co founder. I need someone, actually. But it’s like, no, no. Just kind of big yourself up and be identify like, oh yeah, I don’t have these people. We’ll get them, you know. So kind of lean into your your if you’re in like a you’re kind of selling to them, or trying to sell the idea, lean into these things, then the market is it, like, a lot of the time, and this might be a bit boiler pay, but a lot of time, I always kind of did the bottom up market. So like, how many actual people are there? Let’s multiply that, as opposed to 5% of x up here, you know. And often, even though you’ve done the work, they’ll never ask that. But sometimes, when they do it means, you know, everything behind it, you know. So you can kind of, well, these are where the numbers came from. And actually, I’ll bring this element in, and then the the other thing is the idea, just like, if you believe it yourself, like, like, do, do, sell it, put the best foot forward. I’m still trying to improve the messaging and stuff. But even, like, someone said to me the other day I was telling something, I’m like, no, no lead. Lead with that. Like, say that first day we’re talking 10 minutes here, and you haven’t told me this element, you know. So I think just trying to get the not super clear, but, but trying to get the messaging across easy. Yeah, yeah. I think, I think that is key. But one other side is, like, that’s kind of, if you’re talking to investors, but I’d really just say, like, on kind of nothing, if you can find a mentor who’s good, and even just an element, and as many as you can, it’s like gold does for me. There’s a good few of them. Some of them come on investors, or there’s a sales, mentors and advisors, but honest God, like it’s, it’s a phone call with either tiny, big problems or big strategy elements, and they know, and they can do intros. So if you can just find someone, anyone that’s kind of in your field, or any way loose that is just, it’s so, so valuable because you don’t know what you don’t know. I think that for us has been and we’re still getting introduced to more people who are more and more value like so. And it doesn’t have to be anything formal, just just find someone who will, he’ll give advice, like, you know. And I think Ireland, I’ve experienced this exceptional for that. Like, people are really, really willing to help, you know,

Larissa Feeney  22:52

oh yeah. People are really, really open to help and happy to help. And will help for free. And, you know, will give you their time for free, which is so important to start up. So that’s, that’s fantastic. You’ve gotten that well done. You’ve raised your 500 you’ve closed you around future plans for for raising. Would you think you’ll have to raise again? Own will you have to start the process again? Or, yeah,

Eóin Tuohy  23:15

yeah, unfortunately. So no, but we are, we are planning on raising again now, hopefully before the end of the year, and lessons learned. So that’s, this is not the this is not the September. This should hopefully be before the end of the year. But no, this is kind of the plan. Now we’re gearing up. So our plan is now to do another raise, significantly larger raise. And what that’ll do is that’ll that’ll get us the the capital, to drive forward, enter the market, and really just, just capitalize on this opportunity that we have. I think for us, it’s, it’s the timing is so key, and it’s, it’s such a good time to be solving the problem that if we were to go slower, say, or like, non not raising money and not being able to capitalize this, we lose the opportunity. So that’s why I think we’re like, okay, let’s, let’s try and go that investment, that VC route now and and really capitalize on the timing that we have, you know,

Larissa Feeney  24:11

and you’ve mentioned your mentors. I mean, even having the thought process that you’ve just gone through there, that you’re happy, that you have to move fast to get there quicker, and some companies have to do that, and then other companies don’t. It just depends on the sector. But for you, on how did you come to that conclusion? I mean, your advisors, do they work together to advise you, or do you have, you know, individual discussions with various people and then come up with these, with these decisions yourself,

Eóin Tuohy  24:38

primarily individual discussions with with the advisors and the mentors. So we have our Patrick Ryan is was one of my mentors that he still is, and he’s come on as a non Executive Director, and again, really that you don’t know what you don’t know. He’s, he’s had his own business. He’s, he’s successfully exited. So he’s helping a lot in that kind of to see investment route, this is the way to go. And. Also saying that, like, we talked to other advisors, a good few different people, and then you’re kind of piecing it all together. You know, sometimes you have a few of them in the room, and it’s great, but it to be honest, yeah, not, not too often is it like, let’s talk about the business altogether when they’re when they’re separate advisors. So really, I think it’s just trying to get bits of advice, and it’s all valuable. But then you have to pick what, because, you know, you know, you know every element of it, so you have to pick which is best for you, but really things like that, like investment route and stuff which, again, obviously, is the previous round. How long it took, I don’t know. So really leaning heavy on the the good advice, and you know, the good advice, because you know, the people behind that has, has really helped.

Larissa Feeney  25:35

Yeah, okay, no, well done. Well done. Well done, getting this far. Um, can I just change over to the team then, because you said the 100,000 from enterprise Ireland allowed you to make your first hire. What was your first hire? Yeah,

Eóin Tuohy  25:49

so our first hire was an individual called Tez. Testimonial power. So tes is a computer programmer, or he’s computer engineer, should I say? But he is a wizard, I don’t say that lightly, he He’s unbelievable just putting his hand to anything and getting it done. So Tess had actually done an internship with us, and then it was like, Okay, this like, I know what you’re doing is great. And I think at the early stage when obviously we’re hardware, we’ve a ton of software, we’ve everything in between, to have someone who can just put their hand to everything, and you get on with, well, that the value it gave to the business was like it exponentially, brought it forward, you know, which, which was great, you know,

Larissa Feeney  26:33

yeah, yeah. So it was a great first hire. And have you made any additional hires since?

Eóin Tuohy  26:37

Yeah, so have a few. So we have, at the minute, we have two data scientists with us, so one’s one’s an intern, and one’s in, in with us, part time. So just a huge piece of our product is the algorithms and turning that impact into meaningful data. So we’re being heavy on that. Next month, we’ll be taking on a CTO who will actually be my own brother. I noticed answering, but he’s Donald, is the same, but he’s been senior programmer for, I think he’s over seven, eight years experience in senior programming. And ultimately, what we we have a piece of hardware gathering data, but, but it’s, we’re a software company with a hardware front door. So it’s, it’s really important we have that kind of setup from the from the ground up, you know,

Larissa Feeney  27:18

tell me about then the market for the product. So who’s the customer?

Eóin Tuohy  27:23

Yeah, so to mention, we’re pre revenue, so we’re still in that development. So we’re doing pilots and stuff with the I might use the word customer, but it’s potential customers, if that makes sense. So what we’re really looking at is teams and clubs. We’re really, really targeting the amateur game. So we obviously watching six nations at the minute, the Scotland game on the weekend, the really bad head clash, obviously, with the two Scottish lads, everyone sees that. It’s a lot of visibility, and they’re really, really high impacts there. But actually, when you look at the amateur game, they’re having just as bad impacts. Because especially like say, say, secondary school boys, you got some lads who they’re both 14 years old, and one looks like Andrew Porter, and wood looks like the Gucci, you know. So they’re, they’re completely different, and still discovering their bodies, and might not have the same professional tackling experience. So actually, the impacts are, that’s where they’re, they’re, they’re worrying, you know, and they’re still as prominent. So that’s what we’re really targeting. And what we’re really trying to do is, just like, I placed for it. I love it, you know, if we can just remove the the worry and reduce the risk around head impacts, you’re never, you’re never going to stop all head impacts. I mean, I mean, if you, if you fall or you turn the wrong way, theoretically can get a concussion, you know. So, like, even with no contact, so you’re never going to remove it. But if we can just ensure that we catch them all, and that’s what we’re going for. So we really want to, like, try and help the amateur club by giving an affordable solution that’s reliable, and then the the amateur sports can, can move forward without, without that concern, you know? So

Larissa Feeney  28:51

the idea, so it’s almost like a B to B product. Then, so you’re not, you’re not going direct to the customer, you’re going to the club, exactly.

Eóin Tuohy  28:59

So, it’s, it’s kind of a kit where B to B, we’re focused on The Club. And there’s a couple of reasons there, we know, for parents are very, very keen to get their hands on this. But essentially just, it’s kind of hand in hand with the development piece, what we’re at. So if we start, we’ll have one customer, only have 300 plus users, you know, and we can really iron out decreases with them, before offering that, that B to C, offering, which, that’ll be look at, something we’ll look at down the line, but really starting with, with that kind of club piece,

Larissa Feeney  29:27

and what’s the biggest? Because that’s, I think, that’s, I think that makes sense to me, like that, B to B would be, certainly easier than the one by one. You know it would be, it would be harder. I have actually a question that I should have asked whenever you were talking about funding, and that was whenever you were pitching the product or and pitching to investors or potential investors. Did they quiz you a lot on the numbers? You know, how much you’re going to sell it for? What’s the margin? All of that? Did you find? Were you able to talk easily about the numbers? Or did you find that aspect difficult? Because a lot of founders find that

Eóin Tuohy  29:59

hard. Yeah. Think always when you’re like, so I’ve sat down far too many times and looked at financial projections and the cost, the unit economics and stuff. So I think there is always an element of it, like Jesus. Like, when you’re looking at all the numbers, how are we looking? But I think for for our case, a lot of the time people were understood where we’re at. We’re pretty revenue. So like, when they’re like, actually, a lot of the investors were really, really clued in to kind of where we were at, which I think helped. We were kind of talking to investors who do where we’re at, and they’re like, Okay, we understand you might not have the unit economics nailed down, because you’re still prototyping which was, which was great. So you’re speaking off the same page, you know. But then they did ask the questions, and I think it was really valuable to be like, Okay, no, this, this is why we have this number, and this is why we’re expecting this to stand over it. But obviously, as people say, like, I’m not accounted not a financial guy, but, but I think that’s where you’ve I’ve had to put the little bit extra work in and do that more and more to make sure I’m like, again, I’m not. I’m not being like, No, this is exact answer. But like, this is my justification and my thinking behind it. And a lot of times, I think they were looking for that, rather than the they know at the stage you’re at nothing’s concrete, and probably in a month time, it’s all null, the void, but, but at least they can see the thinking behind it. I think that was a big element they

Larissa Feeney  31:12

were looking for. And you might find, I think that speaks to, you know, you were very clear. You are very clearly pre revenue, and it’s very much about getting a viable product to the market at this point, and as you move through your funding journey, you might find that there’s different questions asked of you are of the business in terms of numbers, whenever you start looking for those bigger numbers and those bigger investors, the VCs, for example, yeah,

Eóin Tuohy  31:34

yeah. I think, like even, even that you’re giving up, and it’s gone from like, oh yeah, idea person and market to, like, okay, potential customers, letters of intent. And let’s, let’s see your traction now. That’s that’s not just like, Oh, here’s this thing down the line. It’s like, you’re, you’re close to it now. And let’s, let’s see proof of that. So, yeah, it does. It does evolve. And the questions very much differ. And I know talking to other founders around who are that stage ahead, and they’re like, oh, it changes massively. Like, then, you know, so, and that’s where, again, speaking from not being there, but they say that’s where it really comes down to the numbers, like, you know, nailing down to numbers, you know, yeah,

Larissa Feeney  32:09

I would imagine so. And I think that’s why you were, you know, you were very right to do what you did when you did it, because that, that that money allowed you, would allow you to bring the product a bit further. But actually, the focus on the numbers at that point probably wasn’t important, because you were nowhere near ready to talk about numbers in a detail level, you know. Yeah, okay, no, that’s very interesting. What has been, what have you found has been the biggest challenge then, you know, on a personal level, because this is a very different journey to working as an employee own, isn’t it? And as you say, you’ve got you do have business in your background. There is entrepreneurs in your family, so it’s in your genes. Anyway, is it what you expected? So far? Yes,

Eóin Tuohy  32:50

and no, I’d say yes, yes, in the sense that I really love the freedom is probably the wrong word, but the you’re able to drive the ship, so to speak, you know? And it was like, Oh, we’re not just doing this because, you know, it’s coming down the line. It was like, No, this is, this is where we need to go, and you’re able to just drive that and be reactive and early. So, like, I think that’s the DS element and the No, and again, probably a cliche, but, but, like, it is, every day is a little different, and it’s a whole new challenges. And I didn’t know I’d be doing something with that or and I end up meeting this person or whatever, whatever is the no element in what I expected is I didn’t have a clue what I’d be expecting. You know, it was all completely new. And the thing is, like, it’s it’s always new, always learning, always something different and not always good. But I think coming back to the challenge piece, I think on a personally obviously, as I said, the fundraising, fundraising challenges, we have lots of technical challenges, all the from the minutia, the little things that are bigger problems. But on a personal note, I think it’s kind of nearly like the emotional regulation, like the highs and lows are, are, I kind of say it’s like, it’s nearly like a pendulum. And if you had a little pendulum, and this is like, a good day and this is a bad day, it used to be slow and just swing. And I feel now the extremes of the pendulum up here, and I’m nearly swinging back on the minute. You know, like, you get a good email and something’s great, or a good bit of progress, and you turn around, you get another email, and you’re like, another email, and you’re like, Oh, the dread and the Doom. I try. I’m trying to emotionally genuinely, and I must thank my fiance, Sarah for this, for being a bit of a grounding rock, you know. But like trying to bring it back down and be like, okay, like, don’t take it personally. Move on. Like you look at the next thing here. Don’t be too into dreads and also celebrate wins. But don’t go off here like you know, so I think that’s that’s been more than I’ve ever experienced. You know, this this pendulum, if that makes sense,

Larissa Feeney  34:50

the highs are highs and the lows are lows, and that’s, and I don’t even know whether that changes, like you’re talking about emails. I just got an email this afternoon, and as soon as I seen that, the guys. Name, I thought, oh, you know, and it’s,

Eóin Tuohy  35:03

and that’s, like, I was really hoping you’re saying it does get better, but,

Larissa Feeney  35:07

like, I think you get used to it. I think you get used to it. I think the the nature of it, and you definitely get used to it. And I don’t experience those vicious highs and vicious lows like you do in the early days. Um, but purely because, once you deal with an issue, once, then you know how to deal with the issue. So the next time you come across a similar issue, well, you’ve dealt with it already. So it’s not the same challenge. You know what I mean? So it’s that resilience. You’re continually building a resilience. You know, we hear that word, don’t we a lot about how it’s important to build resilience, but actually it really is. It’s a cliche, but it really is, you know,

Eóin Tuohy  35:43

yeah, because, like, I think I got, as you probably know yourself well, but the amount of like, nose or just let down, or silent nose, or ghosting, and all the like, the knockdowns you get, and you’re just like, Oh, Jesus, go again. It is. And you get that in all walks of life, I think. But then we’re like, you’re, this is your baby. You’re bringing it forward, you know. And you’re really banking on this, and it seems great. And to be deflated then, yeah, I think there is that resilience has to be there, you know. And

Larissa Feeney  36:11

then the high, whenever you sign, somebody sees the opportunity in the product, you know, that nobody else can see, or that very few others can see that it aligns with your vision. I can understand what your the vision, the picture that you’re painting, and what the vision you’re trying to portray. I mean, there’s nothing like that feeling either. So that’s but it’s just finding those people on and making sure they have the money to back you. Yeah,

Eóin Tuohy  36:34

and we have, we’ve, we’ve got that like we had. We had someone pull out of the umpteen hour, and everything was a kibosh. And then we got someone else in and actually, like, Jesus myself, over a line. They’re just someone that totally gets it buys in, bringing so much more. And you’re like, yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s the exception. Yeah,

Larissa Feeney  36:50

that’s, it happens for a reason. Yeah, it happens freeze and like, when are you hoping, you know, if you were to look forward, when are you hoping to be ready for the market?

Eóin Tuohy  37:00

So we’re hoping all going well to be kind of September this year. Now it is. We’ll have kind of a soft launch, like with these pilot customers, you know there. So we’ll have users before we’re selling, if that makes sense. So we’ll building up that data and that reliance. But all going well, by next year, we’ll have a product ready on the market for like. By next year, we’ll have it ready, ready for purchase. And

Larissa Feeney  37:25

do you have any like? Is there like? So you’re building technology now, and I can understand what you’re doing, and it sounds great, because I have three teenage boys, so obviously I can understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Do you have anything in mind for the future development of it, like, is there anything that you know, you see is possible with this product, you know, once you get it past this first iteration?

Eóin Tuohy  37:49

Yeah, so we’ve, we’ve a couple of things tagged on. So obviously, what we’re looking for right now is safety and just enabling participation. You know, that’s kind of, kind of what we’re going on for and there’s kind of two routes. One where we’re in the sports industry, that’s where we see a big, a big application. But also there’s applications there in other sports industry. So that’s or in other markets. So other sports, like you obviously think the field sports straight away. But then individual sports, like horse riding, skiing, anything on a bike, of course. But then obviously industry applications where head bangs are concerned. So like, from forestry to factory, you know, so there’s, Oh, very good, okay, yeah, bring it to other applications. But then also adding in additional benefits and features. So like, if we can add in performance elements, that’s, that’s quite attractive then to coaches and that sort of element. So you got that double element. So, yeah. So a few things are kind of be working on, working in a parallel, you know, but right now we’re kind of, so there’s a lot of potential there, yeah, yeah. And I think that’s it. And we have to be careful not to, like, take off the blinkers and completely be away with it. So that’s kind of where, okay, let’s get the laser focus. Let’s get the first one over the line, and then then we can kind of assess

Larissa Feeney  39:06

it, you know, because you’re there is a dangerous, there was something like that, that you can go after the shiny new thing all the time, and that, yeah, that focus so important just to get it to make progress, to make real progress, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eóin Tuohy  39:17

And I think, I think we might even fall victim to that. It’s like, oh, we do this and this. And then you look back and you’re like, back and you’re like, Oh, we never really moved anything. Like, let’s stop lying in the sand. We need to get here. Okay, you know, it’s just easy done. You know it

Larissa Feeney  39:29

is easy done, but it’s very much down to your personality, actually, the personality of the founder. So are you the type of person that can focus on something and see it through, or are you do you find yourself being distracted? I definitely

Eóin Tuohy  39:41

find myself being distracted. But I think, I think it’s okay to be like, Okay, no, let’s laser focus. Like, even, yeah, I mean, very tangible, simply. And it’s like, Okay, here’s the four things I need to do in the next three months. Like, if they don’t get done, we haven’t got it done. Like, like, I literally have four lines on the whiteboard in front of me, like, you know, and it was like, how are we getting on with them? So. To bring yourself back around. But then as well, I think it’s also good to get that little distraction sometimes, because, like, little opportunities pop up that may come to great fruition. And if you’re, if you’re too in the weeds, like you might not see that, that bigger element. So I think trying to get that execution correct, but also just, just pop your head up above the parapet sometimes to see what’s going on. You know,

Larissa Feeney  40:19

yeah, I’m reading a book at the minute, or listening to the book at the minute calls, I think it’s called the four disciplines of execution. And the point they made is just that, you know, they use the example, if you have 12 goals, then that’s not really goals. They’re just 12 tasks that you have to do. You have one goal. So, you know, the equivalent to your four things that you have to do in the next three months, they would say, have one thing and be focused on that one thing and yes, acknowledge all the good ideas that might come up, and even acknowledge that there are great ideas, and they may well be great ideas, but you have to have the one goal and focus on that one goal, otherwise you’ll never, you know, make the boat go faster, I suppose. Or, you know, progress towards the

Eóin Tuohy  40:54

goal. Yeah, yeah. Give us the name again.

Larissa Feeney  40:57

Four Disciplines of Execution is the name, yeah, okay, yeah, good, yeah, it is. It’s really good. Okay, last question I have for you on and that is the one piece of advice that you would give to somebody who has an idea and ambition for business. What’s the advice?

Eóin Tuohy  41:15

Yeah, I kind of Lewis earlier, but like, single handedly, and I shall say to sleep, get a mentor, run it by someone you know, or just just get advice, even things like new frontiers you might not know about them unless the mentor says it, yeah, or, and that can be anyone, anyone like, ideally, someone who’s maybe in a similar like, say for herself. It’s someone who’s doing, like, an investment style business, you know, that’s good to kind of gig. It get the feel. But like, if it’s for business, you know, like, find a business owner and talk to them and get the feel. Like, I mean, a great starting point is the local enterprise office. But really, I honestly got, like, a mentor, an individual who’s been there, done there. It’s, it’s, again, it’s just invaluable. Like, it’s, it’s, you can’t, you can’t put a price on it and and when you’re sharing with them. Like, be open and sharing. I know a few people like, they’re like, oh, like, keep the idea precious and stuff and, okay, I think it’s some really extreme cases that might be it, but for the most part, people aren’t. Everyone’s busy. They’ve got their stuff going on. They’re not going to stop and steal your idea. And they’re more than happy to help like, and we’ve found that, like, share it all, and they’ll be like, Yeah, that’s great. And go here and don’t do that and that it’s just, just find a mentor, even just go up and ask someone, maybe it’s a friend, a family, a loose connection, a cold outreach call into a shop and asking someone, but if you can get someone there, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s life changing in a good way, yeah,

Speaker 2  42:38

yeah. And I would absolutely agree. I think that’s great advice. I even did it on LinkedIn, you know, I would have messaged people on LinkedIn and asked them, would they give me like a virtual coffee and the relationship can go from there, you know? So there’s so many ways of, and people are so generous, so incredibly generous with their time. So absolutely great advice. Thank you very much. Eóin Tuohy, founder and CEO of Sports Impact Technologies. Thank you very, very much. 

Eóin Tuohy  43:03

Thanks a million Larissa. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1  43:04

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