Gareth Sheridan inspires packed room at Founders Friday in Tullamore
Over 50 business leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs filled Eugene Kelly’s Bar in Tullamore, on Friday evening, for yet another sold-out Founders Friday, hosted by Allpro Recruitment in association with More Sure Life and Pensions. The fireside guest this month was Gareth Sheridan, CEO of Nutriband Inc. — a pharmaceutical company listed on the Nasdaq — and a recent hopeful in the 2025 Irish presidential race.
In a moving and candid talk, Gareth traced his journey from a college dissertation idea to ringing the opening bell on Wall Street — and the many near-failures, setbacks, and triumphs that shaped the road in between.
“I changed my dissertation two weeks before submission,” he said, recalling how he replaced his original dissertation, that read as a business plan for Nutriband to a piece on corruption in football. “I realised this wasn’t just an assignment — it was a business I believed in.”
Sheridan shared how early recognition and award wins in Ireland led to interest from investors in the US, and how a promising deal quickly soured when his ownership was diluted. “The company went from being worth €1.5 million to €15,000 — overnight. That was rock bottom.”
But a chance introduction to his now Chairman, Sergei Melnik, changed everything. “He told me: go get your company back. And we did.”
From the beginning, Gareth decided “to act as a NASDAQ company and grow into the company we wanted to become”.
Gareth detailed Nutriband’s journey: acquiring companies, enduring a multi-year SEC investigation, and continuing to drive for Uber to survive as he built Nutriband from the ground up. After delays caused by Covid-19, the company eventually listed on the Nasdaq in December 2021, a milestone he described as “a surreal moment of zen — not because we made it, but because now we could truly begin.”
The crowd of founders and professionals was moved by Gareth’s honesty, perseverance, and sense of purpose. He also reflected on his decision to enter public life, launching a bid for the Irish presidency earlier this year from the Tullamore Show.
“I want my three-year-old daughter to inherit an Ireland we can be proud of,” Gareth said. “I believe younger generations deserve a seat at the table — and a voice in what comes next.”
David Gleeson, CEO of Allpro Recruitment and the driving force behind Founders Friday, praised Sheridan’s story as one that will stay with the audience long after the event:
“Gareth was the perfect guest for Founders Friday — open, grounded, and relentlessly brave. His story is one that shows resilience, it’s lived and earned. The way he stayed to chat with guests afterwards really captured what this event is all about — connection, community, and the courage to keep going.”