Ensure you are surrounded by the right people who will support you and encourage you.
UCC graduate Jayne Ronayne is the CEO and Co-Founder behind Talivest, which helps companies rethink talent networks for today and tomorrow’s world. We create solutions for employee lifecycle management, from onboarding to off-boarding. Talivest has offices in Dublin, Lisbon and New York and is backed by leading global investors including Nicolas Bergurren, Ronan Harris among others.
Jayne has been featured as one of Ireland’s top 30 under 30 two years in a row and was previously an ambassador for the Sandbox Dublin community hub. This is Jayne’s second start-up company which originally started in the middle of University after working for a summer in the Entrepreneur of the Year program in EY Ireland. Jayne is an active member in the start-up community globally and is on the board for Cork’s newest office hub ‘Republic of Work’.
Top tips
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Try and have a team who have experience in building a company. It can be a big risk to hire a team who are used to a stable professional career. The startup life, in many ways, is unpredictable and its important that your team are on board for the journey.
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Expect that it will not be easy. Its never a straight line so always have a plan B, C and sometimes D!
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Create a culture that aligns with you. When you are building a company it’s too easy to devote every waking hour to it and before you know it, the burn out happens! I decided that fitness and travel had to be incorporated into my career for me to perform the best. We worked together as a team to have a culture to enable fitness and travel such as work from anywhere in the world as long as you get your goals complete! I wanted to create a culture where it didn’t feel like the typical office job I wanted my team to be able to work from anywhere that motivated and inspires them!
The most memorable thing someone said to you
If it was easy everyone would be doing it!
3 events or experiences which have significantly shaped your career journey
1. Turning down my job in Dropbox, when I was in my final year I was offered my dream job but I just knew that I had to give the business idea at least a shot! I remember thinking at the time that even if it fails at least I can sleep at night knowing I tried it!
2. My first trip to San Francisco was something I will never forget. Myself and my co-founder were instantly hooked to the energy and the openness. It was an environment that was magical to be around and this gave me insight into the startup world and how there are no limitations to how big you can be!
3. Getting many many no’s when raising money. The first time we were rejected for financing was painful. It was a tough lesson and one of our first investors along the way explained that it never changes but I learned that for every 20 no’s there will be that yes!
One thing you wish you knew in your early career
Focus focus focus. This is still something I work extremely hard on, it is easy to focus on the things that don’t make you uncomfortable. Its alarming on how fast time really goes and without focusing really hard on your goals it is hard to achieve them otherwise. The best thing in our culture is that we speak candidly about our business as we don’t value distractions. In the beginning, we were too distracted and as a result, this slowed us down.
Favourite Quote
“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people”. Eleanor Roosevelt. This quote from Eleanor sums up the importance for me with surrounding yourself around positive people and ensuring to focus on the right things!
