Introduction: 0:00

• Sarah Irwin, CEO and Founder of Irish Tech GC, joins the podcast.
• Building a community of GCs and legal leaders in Dublin, Ireland.
• Operating a consultancy, angel investing, and more.

What inspired Sarah to be a lawyer: 2:19

• Sarah on her interest in European law.
• Becoming a barrister.
• Advising at a big law firm.
• Looking for roles at tech start-ups.
• Becoming the first legal hire at Tines.

Assessing Dublin’s start-up landscape: 7:47

• Sarah on Irish unicorns.
• Founders leaving for Y-Combinator.
• Big tech bringing great talent.

Working with founders at Tines: 9:44

• Sarah on the perfectly positioned GC role.
• Thriving because you are treated with respect.
• Helping founders with their blind spots.

Founding the Irish Tech GC community: 12:17

• Sarah on realizing she needed support in the GC role.
• Reaching out to other GCs.
• Attracting interest and organizing events.

Seeing yourself as a founder: 15:12

• On building a community.
• Leveraging LinkedIn to grow your reach.
• Building a personal brand.

Deciding to go all-in on your own company: 18:31

• Sarah on having a supportive CEO.
• Overcoming a modesty complex.
• Monetizing & leveraging your network and position.

Operating a start-up and legal consulting practice: 20:01

• Sarah on helping founders grow their business.
• Teaching GCs to run a lean legal function.
• Identifying what holds clients back.

Common mistakes that GCs make when working with founders: 21:51

• Sarah on working in a changing environment.
• Developing an appetite for risk.
• Becoming revenue-focused.
• Emphasizing cross-functional collaboration.
• Making friends across the kick-off.

Documenting the ups and downs of your founder journey on LinkedIn: 26:39

• Sarah on holding herself accountable to her readers.
• Talking about worries and difficult moments.
• Connecting with her audience.
• Taking on a “build in public” strategy.

The best and most challenging parts of being a founder: 29:07

• Sarah on the best parts of being a founder.
• Seeing clients get good results.
• The most challenging parts of being a founder.
• Keeping on top of the market.

The future of Irish Tech GC: 33:01

• Sarah on generating revenue.
• Prioritizing your passions.
• Reacting to changes in AI.

Getting in touch with Sarah: 34:31

• Subscribing to Sarah’s beehiiv newsletter.
• Reaching out to Sarah at LinkedIn
• Attending ITGC webinars and events.

Rapid-fire questions: 35:15

• Sarah’s favorite part of the day-to-day.
• Professional pet peeves.
• Reading recommendations.
• What she wishes she’d known as a young lawyer.