What Separates the Irish Companies That Land Well in the US with Michael O'Loughlin

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and strategies for Irish companies entering the US market with insights from Michael O'Loughlin.

In this episode, we sit down with Michael O'Loughlin, Managing Partner at Argonautic Global, to get into the practical realities of Irish companies entering the US market. Michael has spent two decades working across banking, payments, regulation, central banking and venture capital — with experience spanning Ireland, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. Before his current role, he served as Chief Advisor to the Deputy Governor at the Saudi Central Bank and Strategic Advisor to Fintech Saudi, helping build one of the region's fastest growing fintech ecosystems from the ground up. This episode is about what actually works when Irish companies come to the US — and what doesn't. We cover: Michael's journey from Ireland to Rochester and the investing lens it shaped The different types of investing he's involved in, from angel to growth equity, and why that full picture matters The readiness threshold — revenue, product maturity, team size — before a US move makes sense The mindset shift required when moving from raising in Ireland to raising in the US Where Enterprise Ireland's support ends and where the founder has to take over How much warm introductions actually matter…

People in this episode

Guest: Michael O'Loughlin

Topics covered

• Irish companies in the US
• investment strategies
• market entry challenges
• founder readiness
• venture capital
• fintech ecosystem

Keywords

• Irish companies
• US market
• investment
• founder readiness
• venture capital
• market entry
• fintech

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Argonautic Global, Enterprise Ireland, Fintech Saudi

Places: Ireland, US, Saudi Central Bank, Rochester

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