Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.

That’s what I want for Northern Ireland’s software sector. And we are doing it together.

Northern Ireland is a great place to live. Culturally, we are a country of innovators and builders, and it is already a great place to build software. Whether you are starting something new or want to contribute to systems and tools used all over the world, the software industry in NI is well-established.

Yes, we have our challenges as a country, just like anywhere else. But we have an exciting and emerging startup ecosystem, circling venture capital, and we are the software development headquarters for big companies like Aflac, Allstate, and Liberty Mutual. And we finally have an official LEGO store.

I left Northern Ireland two days after graduating from Queen’s University Belfast in 2002, and lived in the United States and then England for a few years. But soon the love of grey skies pulled me back home and into a job at a newly minted startup, albeit one that struggled to find its feet.

After moving on from my first NI-based startup. I then watched Danny Moore sell Wombat Financial Technologies to the mighty New York Stock Exchange in 2008. This was a signpost of what is possible with great leadership and execution. So when Lee and I founded Cloudsmith, our goal was, and still is, to build a world-class product company headquartered in Belfast.

There are many challenges with building a business, especially in a small country with just under 2 million people. We have great universities in Ulster University and Queen’s (and not forgetting our friends at the Open University), producing a steady stream of graduates; there is a growing talent pool and lots of opportunity for innovation.

Those who have tasted success can inspire, guide, and expand the limits of what is possible.

It's pretty unusual to be more than two degrees of (Kevin Bacon) separation away from anyone from Northern Ireland here. We witnessed firsthand the power of diaspora: Northern Ireland looks out for its own, and we made connections all over the world with folks who left to seek their fortune in faraway lands. Some have been absolutely key to Cloudsmith’s success to date, and it’s always a pleasure to hear the unmistakable accent come back at you over Zoom.

We need more success stories. We need to show the workforce that share options are worth something. We need more exits. We need to create more wealth.

I’ve seen the power of being in a well-funded startup with great, founder-friendly early-stage backers (thank you, Techstart, Frontline, and MMC) that can elevate you to take on the competition.

How do we get more money into Northern Ireland companies? How do we get the light from Sauron’s Eye shining on our little country? OK, that sounds ominous, but I mean it in a good way. How can we position ourselves as a hotbed of innovation and talent, to rival Silicon Valley or Tel Aviv?

That is something we are tackling at Software NI, but we need all the help we can get. Software NI is dedicated to making Northern Ireland a global leader in technology and software innovation through community, education, advocacy, and support. Everything from championing software literacy in schools to affecting governmental policies to ensure software is part of our future.

We welcome you to engage with the community at the new Sales & Scale conference, organized by Software NI. The inaugural event will take place on Thursday, 26th March, in The Mac. It promises to be an excellent opportunity to listen to industry leaders, including Danny Moore, discuss how they scaled their businesses and created value. I’ll be there too :)

Remember, Northern Ireland is amazing, Cloudsmith is building something great, and Software NI is striving to create an ecosystem where people and software companies of all shapes and sizes can thrive.