Irish Business Builders Podcast interview with Stuart McCaul, Ishikawa Technologies

Host: Conor Kearney / Show: Irish Business Builders Podcast

Conor Kearney, Entrepreneur and Podcast Host

Conor Kearney is an entrepreneur and podcast host with a knack for asking insightful questions and putting his guests at ease. I was delighted to be invited to join him for this wide-ranging conversation. Thank you, Conor.

His company offers offshore accounting services, and during our chat I picked up on his idea that SMEs may benefit from a fractional accountant to provide proper controls and segregation of duties — a point worth exploring for many growing businesses.

Introduction and Acquisition Thesis

Conor: Stuart, give us the big picture. What is Ishikawa Technologies and what kind of companies are you looking to acquire?

Stuart: Ishikawa Technologies acquires founder-led, vertical market software companies in the lower mid-market — typically €5–20 million in revenue. We’re often talking to founders who are considering their next venture or retirement and want to turn the value they’ve built over many years into a clean, fair exit.

It’s not a crowded space. Smaller companies can be expensive relative to their size, so there aren’t many active buyers. We’ve set up a lean, quick process that allows us to go from letter of intent to closing in about 10–12 weeks. We’ll move at the founder’s pace, but if they want to get it done quickly, we can make that happen efficiently.

Many founders who want to sell end up in drawn-out processes with other private equity firms that can take a year and sometimes collapse before completion. By being honest at the start about what the deal will look like, we avoid mismatched expectations. We have the difficult conversations upfront so that once the LOI is signed, all that remains is due diligence.

“We move at the founder’s pace, but if their head is in the right place, we can close in 10–12 weeks.”

Why Founder-Led Businesses

Conor: Why focus on founder-led companies?

Stuart: Founder-led businesses often have loyal customers and strong teams, especially if they’ve been running for a long time. They might have been operated to fund the founder’s lifestyle, so there’s usually an opportunity to sharpen performance. Customers are loyal enough to tolerate some change.

The transition for both the founder and the team needs to be handled carefully, but I have backers who treat people well, so we can make that change in ownership smooth.

Founders usually care deeply about what happens to their team and their customers. After decades of building relationships, they want to protect that legacy. I’m all about that.

“I want to buy companies that matter — and then make them matter for another 20 years.”

Case Study – Big Red Cloud Acquisition

Conor: You’ve got a case study in Big Red Cloud. Tell me about that deal — what you liked about it and what the founder wanted from it.

Stuart: Marc, the founder, had a price in mind, and we agreed it. He wanted to know what would happen with his business partner and CFO, Paraic — could he stay? The answer was yes, please.

We introduced a voluntary redundancy programme that was very attractive. Nearly half the team opted in, many of them with 20 years’ service. They felt the ownership change was the right time to go and left happy and well looked after.

Big Red Cloud had about 8,000 SME customers in Ireland, mostly on its core bookkeeping product. People love its simplicity and, more importantly, the friendly bookkeeping support. Customers can call not just about software bugs — which are rare in a mature product — but for help with actual bookkeeping tasks like year-end procedures.

Marc had hired people from non-software backgrounds — a baker as business analyst, a carpenter as head of support — and built a strong culture of great service.

The company also had Turbo Inventory, a newer product only really taken to market in the last year. It already had 100 customers, about 80 of whom were existing Big Red Cloud clients. We paused selling Turbo until we could strengthen the services and development teams to ensure we could deliver for every customer. I think Turbo could be huge.

“We gave everyone the outcome they were looking for.”

Background and Career Path

Conor: How did you get involved in software acquisitions?

Stuart: I was supposed to be a doctor. In my first year at Trinity, I realised medicine wasn’t for me. Career guidance suggested computer science because I enjoyed tinkering with computers.

I discovered I was an average coder, but good at sales. I joined Quest Software in a sales role and had an advantage because I could talk to customers at a technical level. I sold solutions to the health service, helping consolidate 27 healthcare trusts in Northern Ireland into five, and later replaced the Oracle database behind the UK’s central patient record system with open source, saving the NHS about a billion pounds.

A “tap on the shoulder” led me to a Texas family office with over 150 software companies, where I learned to acquire, integrate, and improve them. I worked on 24 acquisitions there.

When I returned to Ireland, I met Brian O’Sullivan, who told me I could raise money to buy software companies myself. That idea shocked me — I didn’t see myself as “worthy” of that trust until Brian’s encouragement. Through networking, I met Melior Equity Partners. They immediately saw the opportunity in mature software companies, and we agreed to build a portfolio together, starting with Big Red Cloud.

Operating Philosophy

Conor: You’re very hands-on. Why is that important?

Stuart: I like being in the weeds — reading support cases, answering the phone, reviewing code. It’s not about control; it’s about being fully informed so I can make the right calls.

At Big Red Cloud, we closed the office (the team preferred remote work) and reduced costs, giving us the headroom to invest in people and the product. That shift moves the company from survival to growth.

During due diligence, I try to learn everything about the target company. After acquisition, I meet everyone, understand their inputs, processes, and outputs, and start making changes quickly.

“I get my kicks from delivering outcomes for customers.”

AI and SaaS Outlook

Conor: There’s a lot of talk about AI. Where do you see it in SaaS?

Stuart: I’m a techno-optimist. AI is about efficiency and service, not replacing products wholesale. At Big Red Cloud, AI powers near-perfect invoice data capture — a huge time-saver for bookkeepers.

AI can help us write 20–40% of our code, achieve 100% test coverage, simulate users, and triage support tickets more effectively. The key is to reinvest cash flow into these improvements so customers see real value.

I don’t feel threatened by AI. We’re still in the early “dial-up modem” stage. Tacit knowledge will always matter — AI will make people more productive, not obsolete.

“The opportunity for AI in SaaS is to remove friction, not remove people.”

Long-Term Vision

Conor: What’s your long-term plan?

Stuart: Acquire one founder-led software company each quarter, hold them long-term, and keep improving them. Some might be sold on if it makes sense, but our model going in is to buy, improve, and keep.

I’m 44, so I could work another 30 years. If we had 120 “Big Reds” by then, I’d be delighted.

With Melior, our timelines are aligned. They may exit a fund after six years, but I’d aim to keep the portfolio and, if possible, buy them out or keep them as partners.

“Buy good companies. Improve them. Do it again.”

Remote Work Philosophy

Conor: You mentioned closing the Big Red Cloud office. How do you see remote work?

Stuart: Remote work is a luxury for some roles but suits mature software companies with experienced specialists. It doesn’t work as well for training juniors.

If people are willing to write down decisions and processes for peer review, remote can work brilliantly. In our case, it saved significant cost and matched what the team wanted, helping retention.

I believe most people want to work and be engaged — being at home just makes that easier for many.

"When you hire remotely, you open up a world of talent, rather than limiting yourself to an area within an hour of your office."

Operations Mindset

Conor: You’ve done sales, operations, leadership. How do you balance those hats?

Stuart: Operations is about processes with inputs and outputs. Assess the quality of both, and you’ll quickly find issues. My acquisition plans start from the income statement — what’s in COGS, what’s in expenses, and what can be controlled or improved.

I look for waste elimination and simplification. The company is named after Kaoru Ishikawa, whose ideas influenced lean and agile thinking.

In one telecom acquisition, I reduced a 27,000-line price book to two items. I enjoy deep dives into data to decide what’s important and eliminate the rest.

Call to Action

Conor: If someone listening is thinking about selling, what should they do?

Stuart: I’d be happy to have a discreet conversation with any founder or advisor considering an exit. Please visit ishikawatech.com — and get in touch.