Join Marie Donnellan, CEO of Platform94, as she navigates the exciting but complex world of international business scaling. Featuring real-world stories, insights, and advice from entrepreneurs, experts, and industry leaders, Smooth Scaling delves into the highs, lows, and lessons of growing an international business.
Whether you’re scaling your own business, supporting others, or simply curious about the journey, this podcast is your go-to resource for inspiration and actionable strategies.
Tune in to explore the opportunities, challenges and innovations shaping the future of scaling.
Host Marie Donnellan interviews Brightbeam co-founder Brian Hanly about scaling an AI company, moving from ambition to implementation, and navigating rapid technological change.
24 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT
Scaling Through Complexity with Brenda Dooley
Host Marie interviews Brenda Dooley, Founder and CEO of AXIS The Reimbursement Experts, about scaling a specialized firm through complexity and innovation in healthcare reimbursement.
2 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
Scaling Influence: The Galway Founder Building a Global Beauty Movement
Host Marie interviews Nancy Costello, Founder & CEO of The Belle Brush, about scaling a global beauty brand from Ireland and building a community at scale.
14 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
From Soil to Stock Exchange: Scaling Senus into a Global Environmental Intelligence Leader
Host Marie interviews Eoghan Finneran, co-founder of Senus, about scaling environmental intelligence from rural Ireland to a global stock exchange leader.
9 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
Season Two: Scaling with Intent
Host Marie Donnellan forecasts 2026 business challenges, including international expansion and AI adoption, for scaling companies.
16 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Building for Global Scale: Season One Lookback
Marie Donnellan reflects on season one of Smooth Scaling, revisiting conversations with global entrepreneurs and regional innovators to highlight key insights about building a successful international business, in this interview.
15 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Financial Foundations for Global Scale: Welcoming Joe O'Donovan to Platform94
Host [Host Name] interviews Fractional CFO Joe O'Donovan about building strong financial foundations for global business scaling and avoiding common founder blind spots.
24 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
From Global Giants to Scaling Innovators: Welcoming Sue Gannon to Platform94
Sue Gannon, Fractional Chief People Officer at Platform94, discusses people strategies, international expansion, and leadership structure for scaling businesses, offering insights into building high-performance cultures in this interview.
8 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Edge Within: Turning Culture into Competitive Advantage
Host Marie interviews David Mackey, Pamela Treacy, and Paul Conneally about how companies can use culture to attract and retain talent, creating a competitive advantage.
24 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT
Tried & Tested: Evelyn O'Toole on Science, Scale & Staying the Course
Evelyn O'Toole, Founder and CEO of CLS, recounts her journey of establishing a prominent scientific services company in Ireland, discussing pivotal decisions and leadership evolution in an interview with Marie.
9 May 2025TRANSCRIPT
Scaling to the UK: Market Experts Special
Enterprise Ireland UK's Patrick McMahon and other market experts discuss UK expansion strategies, funding, and opportunities in this interview.
29 Mar 2025TRANSCRIPT
Valley Backing: Navigating US Expansion
Máire P Walsh, Venture Partner at AiiM Partners, guides Irish entrepreneurs through securing US investment by revealing investor expectations and common founder pitfalls.
9 Mar 2025
Winning the Talent War: How Scaling Companies Compete for Top Talent
Brian Keville, Founder & Managing Director of MKO, and Michelle Murphy, Director at Collins McNicholas, share strategies for scaling companies to win the talent war in this interview.
15 Feb 2025
The Farmer Who Built an Empire: How JFC Scaled the Globe
In this episode of Smooth Scaling, Marie sits down with John Concannon, Founder & CEO of JFC Group.
From humble farm beginnings in Tuam, Co. Galway, JFC Group has grown to become a global leader in innovative solutions for the construction, agri-equine, material handling, and marine industries. Today JFC group operates across multiple continents with 14 international locations, employing over 650 people and delivering forward-thinking solutions worldwide.
In this episode John reflects on 37 years, sharing invaluable insights on the highs and lows of international scaling, with plenty of fun along the way!
31 Jan 2025
Scaling to Greatness: How Ergo became a Tech Powerhouse
In this episode of Smooth Scaling, host Marie Donnellan sits down with John Purdy, Founder & Chairman of tech giant Ergo, to explore what it really takes to scale a business internationally. With over 30 years of experience building one of Ireland’s most successful technology companies, John shares his invaluable insights on international expansion, overcoming scaling challenges, and the critical structures needed for sustainable global growth.
From navigating new markets to adapting to different business cultures, John offers practical advice for scaling leaders looking to take their companies to the next level. Whether you're an entrepreneur preparing for international expansion or a business leader refining your scaling strategy, this conversation is packed with actionable takeaways.
31 Jan 2025
Podcast Launch & 2025 Scaling Outlook
Welcome to the very first episode of Smooth Scaling. In this debut, we dive into the high-level findings of our 2025 Business Leaders Survey, uncovering key trends and insights shaping the scaling journey. Plus, we sit down with three great members of our SCALE by Platform94 community: John Clancy of Galvia AI, Matt Lawless of Clubforce, and David Ryan of Flynn O'Driscoll. They share their unique perspectives on the survey results and what they mean for scaling businesses in 2025.
Inside a recent episode
Brightbeam: Scaling at the Speed of AI
Published 10 Jul 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And then that helps organizations on their transition. And a lot of times you start at the efficiency side of it. So let's get you more efficient at what you're doing today. I can say hand on heart, not one person has lost any job through the work that we're doing. There's tons of work to do. So it's now figuring out how can we use AI to be assistive in doing work. But it is that as an assistant and then freeing up the capacity for people to do the higher value stuff or the stuff to make the decisions or to go out and meet clients or to do the R&D stuff and all this type, all these types of things. […]
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