I attended the F.ounders event last week and felt inspired to write about it.

F.ounders is an invitation-only event for around 150 people – mainly founders of technology companies with a few investors, media and others thrown into the mix. It is based in Dublin and is naturally focused more on the European scene although there is fairly strong representation from the US.

I had a great time and think that is has clearly consolidated it’s place amongst the few events that manage to attract a high quality crowd and provide real peer to peer networking that we are so often promised but is so rarely is delivered.

My view is that meaningful relationships are forged when people spend a good amount of time together, when they respect and like one another and also when they are relaxed enough to let the ‘corporate guard’ down and really talk about interesting stuff, openly and honestly.

I think F.ounders manages to achieve this and that it is principally down to three things – the quality of the people, the cultural experience it provides and the effortless vision of its founder Paddy Cosgrave.

The founders are roughly divided between those that have done it, those that are well on the way and those that are up and coming. This approach works well and makes for a more stimulating event seeing founders at different stages, tackling different issues and with the next generation given something to aspire to and with the older guys being kept on their toes by those trying to eclipse them. You then throw into the mix a small selection of investors and media and you have a great cocktail.