”Finance, marketing, investor relations, personal morale – just some of the areas Alan helped us with in those crucial make-or-break years.”
Marco Herbst, former CEO & owner of Jobs.ie who sold to an acquirer.
“We don’t link up with other advisers unless they add some real value. Alan always adds value. He’s an original thinker who brings creativity, technical skills and doggedness to any challenge he’s presented with.”
Conor Killeen, Chief Executive, Key Capital
“Having just finished working with Alan on a deal that looks set to change my life – in a good way! – I can say, hand-on-heart, that Alan has an extraordinary grasp of the opportunities and pitfalls that exist in negotiations. His easy manner makes candid and sometimes hard discussions painless and productive.”
Michael Ferguson, Founder & President, Theatre Strategies Group (US)
“Our sales team negotiates sophisticated, multi-million dollar contracts with potential customers, involving complex technologies and long-term customer support. Alan’s negotiation training course – adapted to the needs of our business and given to our international sales team – provided valuable insight into how we can best serve our customers on terms attractive to us and them. To my mind, any negotiation or bidding team with Alan at its core is bound to execute to world-class standards – and to achieve real success.”
Shane O’Flynn, Global VP, Client Services, Openet
“I was involved with a consortium that owned a Datacentre in Ireland, the only Datacentre outside the US, at the time, in which Google housed its data. We hired Alan to value the company and provide us with advice in relation to funding our investment and, ultimately, selling our stake. Working as part of our team, Alan gained an immediate understanding of our business and provided valuable insight to our (successful) negotiations to monetise our stake.”
Robert Booth, Director, Bridge Capital Private Equity
“Alan Healy assisted RTÉ in the initial formulation of its rolling strategic plan… Alan quickly absorbed the key issues at play in each of RTÉ’s activities, and worked closely and constructively with the business teams involved… Alan displayed excellent project management skills while working under significant time pressures, and a very keen business acumen… He is a clear communicator, an energetic enabler and a very valuable resource for any team involved in similar projects.”
Cathal Goan, Director General, RTÉ
“Alan is one of the few people I’ve met who is as creative as he is savvy: a clever writer who knows more about marketing and strategic planning than most publishers. He also has incredible determination and never does less than the best possible job.”
Sam Hill, Creative Consultant & Project Editor/Writer
“Strategic/creative thinker, indefatigable project manager – these are just some of the qualities I can attest to Alan having in abundance, after working with him on a three-month strategy & fundraising plan. I’d recommend Alan to any company looking to interrogate its strategy and/or raise venture capital”
John Roberts, Partner/Director at Jo’Burger;
Director at Educate Together; MD at Hibernia Adriatic
“A creative, lateral-thinker, with the technical skills to back it up, Alan Healy is top of my list to call when I have a business issue that needs fixing, or a potentially lucrative opportunity that needs seizing. If I could have him negotiate my every business deal, I would.”
David McDonald, Senior Copywriter, Publicis Conseils (France)
“Alan’s been of immense help to Catapult in the area of contract negotiations, our Shareholder Agreement and overall strategy. Somehow, he always seems to get us to the optimal solution – one that takes account of all the financial, legal, marketing and timing factors, as well as all the ‘people’ issues.”
Louise Craig, Director, Catapult Ltd
“Alan worked with us in relation to one of our portfolio companies, working with us and the company to devise a five year plan that would form the basis of our investment – a significant investment in the millions. Alan worked very well with the team and his project management abilities were a significant factor in completing the investment within a tight timeframe. His insights and experience added enormously to the process.”
Eoghan Stack, Portfolio Manager, One Foundation
“I worked with Alan on a particularly difficult mediation. He showed an unusual ability to quickly grasp all the technical and emotional issues inherent in the case and, more importantly, to gain the trust of the parties and come up with a creative solution agreeable to all in a pressurised, think-on-your-feet atmosphere.”
Tom Byrne, Partner, Executive Venture Partners
“Alan’s proclivity to challenge long-held assumptions and to think ‘outside-the-box’ added hugely to the process. His project-management, communications and people skills ensured the plan was finished on-schedule, with the maximum buy-in from all involved. I’d recommend him to anyone looking for a highly creative approach rooted in analytical rigour.”
Bride Rosney, formerly CEO at Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice;
formerly Director of Communications at RTÉ
“After attending Alan’s negotiation course, I look at negotiating in a completely different way and have radically altered my approach – to much improved results! Subsequent to the course, I asked Alan to help me frame a strategic partnership agreement relating to my business. Alan’s input was invaluable and his insights proved to be the factor that saved us when that partnership became unstuck. I would recommend him to anyone.”
Emma Webb, Founder, MD Webb.ie
“We asked Alan to work with us in project-managing a complex, technical, multi-million euro proposal. Working on-site for two months, as part of our team, Alan’s financial, marketing and investment experience added huge value to the process. He came to grips with the technical aspects of the proposal in short order, and gelled well with the team. His firm management of the project enabled us to complete it on schedule. I’d have no hesitation in recommending him as a project-leader to any company contemplating a complex proposal.”
Mick Kehoe, Executive Director, RTÉ Transmission Network Ltd
“Dependable, supportive, insightful, uncompromising – Alan has a great ability to analyse the realities of a situation, break it down and assess the best opportunities for moving forward. I appreciated his straight-forward, straight-talking approach.”
Jude O’Reilly, Founder, J-Golf
“Alan is a superb communicator – dynamic, with an ability to connect with his audience at every level. He has presented at our workshops and been the key-note speaker at our International One Stop Self Publishing Conference. He always exceeds expectations.”
Vanessa O’Loughlin, founder Inkwwell Writers & Writing.ie
“Alan’s negotiation course opened my eyes to areas I’d been vaguely aware of before, but which I’d never known how to string together and harness to my own advantage. When I think of the weeks we spend tendering for contracts, the few hours we had with Alan were of value to us far above their cost.
“…We found the course so beneficial that I have already sold the virtues of the course to friends who work in non-competing businesses – and I’m first in the queue for any follow-up courses Alan gives.”
Richard Pike, owner who sold his banking software company to an acquirer
“We began working with ENOW at a very early stage in our development. Alan Healy has helped enormously in revealing the real value of our business proposition. He has been particularly helpful in the area of finance, but has also been involved across all other areas of our business. We recommend ENOW strongly to other early stage companies.”
Philip Doyle, CEO of TetraGen Ltd. (UK)
“Alan dealt with us in relation to a children’s fiction title he published. Alan’s book sold well throughout the country – over 3,000 in all, which is fantastic for a self-published title. Much of this can be attributed to Alan’s marketing, sales and media drive – which were second to none – and the way he dovetailed his efforts with our sales team.”
Mary Healy (no relation!), Head Buyer, Argosy Books (Wholesaler)
“Having attended Alan’s Better Negotiating course along with other Fortis executives, I was quite surprised at some of the things I learned. …Alan’s course has changed the way I approach negotiations. I’d heartily recommend it to anyone who needs to negotiate in the course of their job. In fact, I’d recommend it to anyone – period.”
Barry O’Brien, Global Support Manager, Fortis Bank
“Alan approached the sales, marketing and publicity campaign for his book, Tommy Storm, with great professionalism and energy, and he worked very closely with us to promote his book. Tommy Storm was one of the most successful self-published books of recent years – in no small part due to Alan’s business commitment to the project (and of course his writing skill!).
Maria Dickenson, Head of Purchasing, Eason & Son Ltd
“I would recommend Alan to any technology start-up company that is serious about building a major business and raising significant funds to do so.
“Alan spent three very concentrated months with a colleague and I on a business proposition. Alan added significant value to the proposition and was involved in every aspect of the process – legal, commercial and financial. Despite the fact that we had retained a reputable accountancy house to oversee our financials before Alan’s involvement, Alan revolutionised our approach to the projections and to the business plan.
“At Gazebo I come across many companies with first-class ideas, but with second-class strategies, revenue models and implementation plans. I keep a bundle of Alan’s business cards for such a purpose.”
Quentene Finnegan, CEO of Gazebo Ltd (UK)
“I worked together with Alan on a strategy project and can strongly recommend his strategic planning skills – his ability to structure problems, identify solutions, engage a broad variety of different perspectives, project manage a project with many stakeholders and write clear, compelling communication documents.”
Aileen O’Malley, Principal, O’MalleyQuirke