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This week I talk with Eoghan McCabe, Chairman and co-founder of Intercom! In this episode we talk about creativity, exploration of knowledge, how Eoghan and his co-founders met, the full story of how Intercom got started, how the problem they’re solving has changed over the past 7 years and more.
Show Notes:
- 1:10– Eoghan’s childhood
- 3:30– How creativity inspired technology interests
- 9:05– Paintshop Pro, Photoshop, special effects, and magic
- 12:10– Finding limitations and exploring/playing. Testing boundaries and taking risks. How kids learn about right and wrong/expectations of society.
- 14:50– Pursuit of knowledge transitioning to creativity and curiosity
- 18:00– “Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum”
- 20:43– Traditional/Analytical Intelligence vs. Broad Intelligence
- 24:09– “Technology” class inspired his love for electronics — vehicle for creativity
- 26:00– Made his first website (1996) via AOL
- 32:45– “Build the thing before you launch the thing”
- 34:20– Attending Trinity college in Ireland for Computer Science
- 38:40– Binary and the building blocks of computer science
- 42:20– Diversity of experiences
- 47:23– College gives you exposure to more people and an opportunity to learn who you are
- 48:45– Founded own company, Eoghan McCabe Ltd, right out of college
- 49:45– Started working with Paul Campbell and Dave Rice
- 52:00– Eoghan meets Des Traynor through blogging
- 53:00– Des joins Eoghan and Paul at Contrast
- 59:25– How did Intercom come about?
- 1:10:12– Dynamic of working with Des and how their styles compliment one another
- 1:14:14– How their view of the problem to be solved has shifted over time
- 1:17:15– Vision and potential of ideas
- 1:19:02– How Intercom has grown and changed in recent years
- 1:23:18– The biggest surprise!