Working originally from his bedroom, Wicklow man Paddy Cosgrave has managed to build what has been dubbed the Glastonbury of Tech Summits. The two-day event has attracted some of the biggest names in the tech world, including the heads of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Now in its third year, Paddy sat down with Hot Press to discuss the secrets of its success and what to look forward to this time round in the RDS.

Tell me about the genesis of the web summit?
It started in my bedroom, I kind of felt that Ireland was a tech hub, yet CEOs of tech companies seemed to bypass Dublin whenever conferences were on. I felt it was time that Ireland had its own. Also, I thought for many people here who wanted to attend a tech conference, it would often cost an arm and a leg in terms of flights and accommodation. So to have one in your backyard made attending more feasible. Gradually, back in 2010, I managed to persuade the founders of YouTube, Skype and Twitter to fly to Ireland.
How did you do it?
I just messaged them. It took months and months to persuade them to come – but eventually they did. The first time they came I brought them on a pub crawl – they saw the fun side of Dublin and it became easier to persuade more guys to attend. They all wanted to be a part of what I was doing. I then asked them would they introduce me to the founder of Dropbox or whatever. They’d say, “Yeah, sure and I’ll tell them about the pub crawl we went on, he’ll love that.” Sometimes these guys just want to have fun.
What do they make of Dublin?
They love it. Listen, Dublin is the best small city in the world. There are more live music venues per capita here than any other city in Europe. We have so many pubs – it’s a great atmosphere for having fun. It might sound odd, but Dublin is not dissimilar to San Francisco: it rains a lot, it’s culturally very vibrant, San Fran is very liberal and it’s associated with music.
So this is not just your typical web summit then?
Bono and the Edge came last year and they both spoke. I think what’s powerful about those guys being there is that they didn’t just come and speak, they came because they wanted to meet some of the IT guys. The music industry has changed and it’s embracing so many of these companies. People don’t consume music on a track-by-track basis, they’re moving towards Spotify: they want a vast library to listen to on-demand. Soundcloud and Bandcamp allow musicians to get their music out there. This year we have one of the founders of LastFM as well as the founder of Soundcloud coming in, so we’re embracing this change.
So what’s changed?
There was a stress point about a decade ago: everyone was saying Napster’s fucking the music industry, what’s going on? Why aren’t people doing anything about it? What we’re beginning to see now is that we’re finding a common ground. So yes, we’ve decided to incorporate a stronger focus on the music industry. In fact, Spotify are throwing a party at the summit. Lady Gaga’s manager Tony Hawk is coming in and he has, what, six million followers on Facebook and Twitter and if he sees an Irish band and says, “These are great”, that’s important.
Does the web summit help in creating jobs?
It’s definitely done things to help with jobs: just look at the number of company CEOs we’ve brought to Ireland for the summit and who’ve subsequently set up offices here. We get them here, then the IDA do the hard part. Jack Dorsey came in 2010, Twitter subsequently set up here in 2012, and they’ll soon employ hundreds of people. Qualtrics have 150 positions open; they came here for the web summit. We also give a platform to connect with investors. Datahug and Logentries, probably the two most successful start-ups in Ireland said if it wasn’t for the web summit they wouldn’t have met their investors.
How do you rate the government and their attitude to the tech industry?
We’re quick in Ireland to knock political agencies, but when I compare the IDA to the equivalent in Denmark or Sweden or France or the UK, we really punch above our weight. Essentially I think the IDA is the Bayern Munich of Europe. You need to know the other teams to make that comparison and by getting to know them, I feel we have a world-beater. Comparable to our size, the only country that plays at our level is Israel. Look at the stats. There are more software and hardware engineers here, according to Eurostat, than anywhere else than Europe. We have more people studying computer science and maths than anywhere else in Europe, bar Germany. Most of the European Tech HQs have set up in Ireland. HP has 900 staff, IBM has 1,000, Intel is developing cutting edge technology…
What do you say to people who say the tax regime is the only reason these tech companies are here?
When Google came here first, yes it was for the tax. But then Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin turned up. Dropbox are the latest to arrive here. What matters now is that there has been a cluster effect; when an American tech company needs to open in Europe, they ask themselves, “If we have to hire a whole lot of people where do we go?” They go to Barrow Street, hang out there and scout our talent.
What role do U2 play in tech Ireland?
They’ve been incredible: it’s because of Bono that a lot of tech companies have come here. He’s very interested in this side of things and has invested himself in companies like Facebook and Dropbox. I think those guys do an awful lot for Ireland; nobody really knows the half of what they do. I’ll give you an example. I invite somebody to the summit; I’m not getting any traction – and then he sends a text message and they arrive. Who else in Ireland can move these guys? There isn’t anyone. People complain about how little tax they pay but I don’t know anyone who has done more for Ireland than those four guys.

Web Summit takes place on October 30 & 31. www.websummit.net