Speaker Insight Series - Ciaran Walshe

• January 6th, 2020
• Ciaran Walshe

With just 10 days to go our very own Ciaran Walshe of Fund Recs offers his thoughts on our speaker insight series. We’ve borrowed the format from Tim Ferriss’s book ‘Tribe of Mentors’. You can read about the book here and buy it directly here.

Throughout the book, Tim poses 11 questions to his interviewees with the request to respond to 3 to 5 questions.. or more, if the spirit moves them. See Ciaran's answers below:

What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

Zero To One by Peter Thiel. It gives a very interesting perspective on business and start-ups especially. I read this shortly after I started working at Fund Recs and it completely changed my mindset. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Gives a completely different perspective on how we should be thinking about money & Investing. It also explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you. On a lighter note I always enjoy a good Ross O’Carroll Kelly book.

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)

In recent years I have been one of the organisers of Adminovate. To date we have raised over €40,000 for charity and this year we are hoping to raise another €40,000. It takes a lot of time organising the event but with these funds raised for basis.point & TAP it makes it very worthwhile. Also, backing myself through education and throughout my career have been very worthwhile. I have made a few decisions that have really paid off, and some that didn’t. Where they haven’t I always try to learn from these.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?

Moving away from social media such as Snapchat & Facebook. Instead of wasting hours on these I now try to read much more.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore?

“This is the way we’ve always done it”. This is one of the most dangerous statements used. Always try to understand why something is done in a particular way and see if there is a better way of doing this. Never accept “this is the way we’ve always done it” as a reason for doing something.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? My readers love specifics like brand and model, where you found it, etc.

I’ve gone with 4 here:

1. Flights to Liverpool to watch the champions league final and stay for the homecoming.
2. A ticket for the 2019 Connaught final to watch the Rossies lift the Nestor Cup.
3. Tinder Premium
4. Mobile Phone Insurance

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)

Put my headphones on and listen to any music on Spotify or a book on Audible. ‎