Bill Liao

We are delighted to welcome well known entrepreneur Bill Liao as our guest speaker at the Greenshoots Awards & Launch on Wednesday 6th June.

Diplomat, investor, entrepreneur, business mentor, speaker, philanthropist and author, Bill Liao co-founded the business social network service XING and is a venture partner at SOS Ventures, a global venture capital firm and investment management firm. Bill is a special diplomatic envoy for St Kitts and Nevis for sustainable development and the environment. He is also the founder of WeForest.org, an international not-for-profit organization combating global warming in the most natural way possible by sustainably and holistically reforesting previously degraded land – the organisation is approaching planting it’s millionth tree. Bill is also the Co-Founder of the Coder Dojo movement to assist young people to learn how to program.

Bill is dedicated to the vision that business and enterprise, both commercial and social, conducted fairly and with respect for the environment, can and will create a better environment for work, life and the world that we all share. This vision is captured in his book: Stone Soup; a Secret Recipe for Making Something from Nothing.

Additionally, Bill is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars speaking on social media and networking, entrepreneurship, how to make something from nothing, global warming and sustainability and development.  Events he has spoken at include TED at Long Beach California, The Globe Forum in Stockholm Sweden, The London School of Economics and many others.

What a perfect fit to celebrate the ten wonderful 2012 Greenshoots business people and invite applications for the 2013 Greenshoots Programme!!!

To celebrate and ackowledge the ten superb businesses that have taken part in the programme, we will hold a ceremony on Wednesday 6th June at 10.00am. This event will comprise an exhibition to showcase each business, followed by an awards ceremony.

We will also take this opportunity to officially launch GS3 – Greenshoots 2013 – and invite applications from start up companies looking to take part in the next programme due to begin in September 2012.

So save the date and watch this space for more details!

Congratulations Eileen!

All in the same boat...Greenshoots Participants 2012

Pictured from l-r Colin Hayes, Hayes Group; Dennis Taylor, Get With It!; Ben Redman, BKR Cleaning; Anthony Neville, Sports Tours Ireland; Connie Cronin, CC Photos; Eileen Moylan, Claddagh Design; Derek Binchy, Winner Kayak; Piotr Szober, iTek Computers; Jaco Nel, Greengate Energy

From 10am, each GREENSHOOT business will host a stand in the foyer of County Hall where the business owners will be on hand to meet the public, provide information and showcase their products and services.

Exhibition runs from 10am to 12noon. All welcome.

From kayaks to cookies and silver to sports, lots of sectors are represented within this group and will make for an interesting and dynamic time at Macroom E.

1. Avoid the begrudgers. They will drag you down! Surround yourself with positive people!

2. Do something you enjoy doing & have fun doing it!

3. Health & family are number 1!

4. There is real value out there – negotiate, negotiate, negotiate

5. Be honest and do your work with integrity – it’s easy to remember the truth!

6. Make sure you have a clear plan – set goals and targets for yourself

7. Don’t be afraid to change or adapt your plan – life changes, so should you

8. Be realistic, everything will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think – be prepared for this!

9. Network as much as you can, make connections and learn from others

10. Make sure you “stay in the ring” – do what you need to do to survive, things will improve and you need to be one of the one standing when this happens

RTE’s Dragon Mr Bobby Kerr was on hand to give the key note speech and words of wisdom to budding entrepreneurs.