The Entrepreneur Experiment

In this Mentor Moment, Gerry Hussey shares a simple but powerful way to visualise success that founders can actually put into practice. Instead of vague “future goals,” Gerry breaks it down into outcomes, daily process enablers, and identity — becoming the person who already lives the life you’re working towards.

You’ll hear his step-by-step exercise to map what you want, identify the habits that get you there, and close the gap between who you are today and who you need to become.

For the full conversation with Gerry Hussey, listen to Episode 413 of The Entrepreneur Experiment.

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In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with Eoin Cluskey, founder and head baker of Bread 41, the Dublin bakery business built on craft, care, and real food. From leaving school early and training as a carpenter to finding his calling in kitchens abroad, Eoin shares the winding road that led him back to Ireland to build one of the country’s most loved bakery brands. Bread 41 launched in 2018 and has since expanded across multiple locations while staying fiercely committed to quality and values.

This is a conversation about much more than bread. Eoin opens up about losing money in a failed early venture, writing the original Bread 41 vision in a copybook, building a 24/7 bakery model, scaling without taking on growth for growth’s sake, and why he’d rather walk away than compromise the product. If you’re trying to build a business that grows without losing its soul, this episode is packed with practical wisdom.

Show notes

In this episode, we cover:

🔥 Why “simplicity scales, complexity fails” applies to almost every business

🥖 How Eoin went from carpenter to baker after a chance opportunity in Australia

🌍 Why travel, loneliness, and coming home to Ireland changed his life

📓 The copybook vision that became Bread 41

💸 The failed first business that cost him €25,000 — and what it taught him

📍 Why opening on Pearse Street worked because of community, not just footfall

⏰ How Bread 41 built a 24/7 operating model around bread, pastry, and wholesale

📈 The real challenge of going from one bakery to two without breaking the culture

🧠 Why founders can’t scale if they need to be in the business 24/7

🌾 The long-term vision to move into Irish milling and support local growers

👥 Why care is the company’s number one value

🏡 The family wake-up call that changed how Eoin thinks about success

“The day I add an additive or preservative to the bread is the day I walk away.”

Links and resources

Bread 41 official site:https://bread41.ie/

Bread 41 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bread41bakery/?hl=en

Bread 41 locations: including Pearse Street, Stillorgan, Cabinteely, and Greystones.

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In this Mentor Moment, Lorraine Heskin — founder of Gourmet Food Parlour — takes us back to 2006, right in the heart of the Celtic Tiger, when she made the leap from a stable job into the unknown to build her own café brand.

Lorraine shares how she approached brand-building from day one, why finding a location was the hardest part (and why she refused to pay key money), and the magic of opening the doors to a queue down the street — proving the idea wasn’t just in her head, the community wanted it.

For the full conversation with Lorraine and the full Gourmet Food Parlour origin story, listen to Episode 423 of The Entrepreneur Experiment.

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Andrea Reynolds, Founder & CEO of Swoop, joins Gary to break down what founders actually need to know about funding, cash flow and building a business that lasts.

Andrea started Swoop after becoming deeply frustrated by how hard it was for business owners to access grants, loans and funding quickly. What began as anger at a broken system became a fintech platform helping businesses access cash faster, automate funding applications and identify savings across essential services.

In this conversation, Andrea shares the real-world funding lessons most founders only learn the hard way: why you should raise debt before you need it, why revenue solves more problems than almost anything else, how to think about investors properly, and why profitability matters more than hype.

She also opens up about building under pressure, raising millions across multiple rounds, expanding internationally, surviving market shocks, and why empathy is still her most important business principle.

If you’re a founder, operator or business owner trying to grow without losing control, this one is packed with practical insight.

Show notes

Andrea Reynolds is the Founder & CEO of Swoop, a fintech platform helping businesses access funding faster through data, automation and smarter financial decision-making.

In this episode, Gary and Andrea discuss:

Why businesses fail when cash flow gets tight

The original frustration that sparked Swoop

How Andrea manually tested demand before building the product

Winning early funding through timing, momentum and experimentation

The open banking opportunity that accelerated Swoop’s growth

What founders get wrong about fundraising

Why you should raise before you actually need the money

The difference between debt, grants and equity

Why some investors can become a liability

How to think about boards, board observers and investor fit

Why diversification matters in a volatile market

The shift from “growth at all costs” to profitability

Expanding from Ireland and the UK into the US and beyond

Building a forever business instead of chasing hype

Andrea’s personal approach to time, energy and staying grounded

The books, habits and mindset shifts that have shaped her

This episode is full of practical advice for founders navigating growth, fundraising and uncertainty.

Links and resources mentioned

Swoop: https://swoopfunding.com/ie/

Enterprise Ireland: https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/

Books:

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

High Output Management by Andrew Grove

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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In this Mentor Moment, Anthony Gallagher, founder of Petstop, Ireland’s leading Independent Pet Retailer, shares what he’s proudest of after decades in business: the people who stayed. From team members who have been with him for nearly 30 years to multi-generational families now working across the business, Anthony reflects on why great companies are built by investing in people, staying close to customers, and never losing touch with what’s happening on the ground.

He also shares why he still visits stores every week, how innovation helped Petstop scale through major change, and why the basics — listening, learning, and paying attention to detail — matter more than ever.

For the full conversation with Anthony, listen to Episode 425 of The Entrepreneur Experiment.

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