Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme published a detailed profile of ILYAN founder Stephen O'Sullivan, tracing the development of I Left You A Note from its original simple idea to the complex, AI-powered hotel management platform it has become. The article covered the client discovery process, the role of the New Frontiers programme in shaping the business, and the commercial and philosophical thinking behind the platform.
New Frontiers is Enterprise Ireland's national entrepreneur development programme, delivered through Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities across Ireland. Being featured on the New Frontiers blog represents recognition from one of the most credible startup support organisations in the country.
The article opened with the concept that sits at the heart of ILYAN - the service recovery paradox: the well-documented finding that customers think more highly of a company after it has corrected a service failure than if the failure had never happened at all. The problem is that this only works if the company knows the failure occurred in the first place.
New Frontiers noted that Stephen had crunched the numbers on the cost of silence - calculating that a single bad review could cost a 70-bed hotel between €15,000 and €20,000 the following month. A loss that's difficult to spot by nature, but very real - and often avoidable.
The article detailed the depth of customer research that shaped ILYAN's development - research conducted as part of the New Frontiers programme:
"The client discovery was so valuable. We spoke to about 80 restaurants and 40 hotels and did a handful of pilots. What we learned was that restaurants did value the tool but that its benefit was much higher in a hotel. The breakdown of communications in that environment has a bigger impact."
Stephen O'Sullivan, Founder - I Left You A Note, New Frontiers BlogThe New Frontiers article highlighted how ILYAN was built at exactly the right moment to take advantage of the AI boom - and how Stephen has embedded AI not just into the product but into how he runs the business day to day.
"We were building the first version of I Left You A Note as the AI boom was happening. We were lucky in that regard - if we had been building it a year earlier, we would have had to essentially start again to bring the AI capability into the platform. Our competitors have the advantage of being established in the market, but retrofitting AI into their solutions is not proving easy for them."
Stephen O'Sullivan, Founder - I Left You A Note, New Frontiers BlogStephen also spoke about using AI to run the business itself - building custom GPTs for programming, sales, marketing and other functions, allowing him to grow faster without the cost of a large team at the early stage.
The article traced Stephen's journey through the New Frontiers programme - joining Phase 1 in Cork in May 2024, moving to Phase 2 in Limerick, and subsequently being accepted onto Phase 3. During that period he built out the platform, onboarded hotel clients across Ireland, assembled his advisory panel, and prepared to raise funding. He won the Best Business Innovation award at the Phase 2 showcase event.
"I can't put a price on the satisfaction I get from doing this. We've gone from 'maybe this could be a handy thing' to now hotels using and loving the platform and being happy to pay for it. It's just phenomenal."
Stephen O'Sullivan, Founder - I Left You A Note, New Frontiers BlogStephen's advice to other founders on AI:
"If you can use AI to unlock data or information or services, the money and effort you'll put in are very small compared to what you'll get back. The return on investment for AI is through the roof, so don't let the data sit there wasted but find ways to tap it!"
Stephen O'Sullivan, Founder - I Left You A Note, New Frontiers BlogA 30-minute demo tailored to your property. No pressure, no commitment - just a live look at what the platform would mean for your operation.