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Big Ideas 2009

So back at the start of October (the 13th to be exact), I gave a presentation about Suura to the Big Ideas ’09 conference (as those of you on LinkedIn might have spotted). It was definitely something new – I’ve been in a client-facing role before, but standing up in front of 150 VCs is a different kettle of fish, and the nine or ten one-on-one interviews with various people that followed were equally intense (albiet in a different mode).It’s definitely odd to see yourself in the promotional brochures for an event…

…but if that was intimidating, the presentation is even worse. Imagine this view, but fill every seat with someone who might be looking to invest in your startup…

The large screen at the bottom was meant to show you your slides (which were also displayed behind you) so you didn’t have to turn round and ignore the audience in order to remember what was on them.… Read the rest

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Tetra

Or, as I first said on watching this, “Holy *****….”

I mean, myself and Ian Dowse built a micromouse robot once, way back in the mists of prehistoric time, but, well…

It wasn’t exactly going to finish in 4.766 seconds, you know?

And it certainly didn’t look as slick as Tetra did:

Makes you wish there was money and facilities for doing robotics hardware in an Irish college, doesn’t it? I mean, look at it, the sheer elegant efficiency of the design, the purpose to it – the PCB extends out in front to put the weight on the front drive wheels so that it’s fast when turning, and the rear wheels come into play when it’s accelerating forward – it’s very elegant minimalist design, mechanically. We just never had the money, facilities, tools or other necessary things to do that sort of work 🙁… Read the rest

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