The final NUI Galway-funded Exponential event - which allows students to meet company founders, entrepreneurs and like-minded people in a casual atmosphere - will take place at KELLY’S BAR on Tuesday, 19 March at 7:30 PM. The final guest speaker will be Barry O’Sullivan, Senior Vice President at Cisco Systems and one of the new “Dragons” on RTÉ’s Dragon’s Den show.

Over the past four months, Exponential has given hundreds of students the opportunity to meet some of Ireland’s technology start-up companies and innovative entrepreneurs, to share ideas, and to learn how some NUI Galway graduates started their own business, right out of college.

The final event will centre around a “fireside chat” with one of Ireland’s top technology leaders, Barry O’Sullivan. As well as his role as SVP at Cisco, O’Sullivan is a technology investor and co-founder of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), a network of Irish and Irish American technology leaders. O’Sullivan recently joined the investors on Dragon’s Den, now screening on Sunday nights.

Some of the topics for discussion on the night will include O’Sullivan’s take on how he found the whole Dragon’s Den experience, how startups should go about getting funding, and some advice for people on what to do (or not to do) when starting with their business model.

We'll be putting YOUR questions to Barry on the night, so tweet them to us @exponentialTeam or use the hashtag #exponentialQ 

Throughout the night, students and other attendees will be able to interact with other startup company founders, speak to potential employers in a casual environment, and learn what it takes to develop a business idea, form a team, raise finance, set up and run a company. Those who already have a novel idea for a product or business can share their idea and get advice and feedback from fellow students and other entrepreneurs.