CITY JOURNAL
HOOTSUITE’S RYAN HOLMES
[ BY DANI KREMENIUK AND CRYSTAL CARSON ]
A CHAT WITH FOUNDER AND CEO OF LEADING SOCIAL MEDIA SITE HOOTSUITE, RYAN HOLMES…
T
he first thing I notice walking into the HootSuite office is how alive the energy is. Te second thing—that there is absolutely nowhere to sit. An occupied sofa is eventually offered to us, Ryan Holmes introduces me to his dog, and we begin. With ‘Awesome? Apply here’ as one of the categories under the
Careers section of his website, I ask Ryan what credentials qualify to apply under this category. He laughs. “We’ll put up a job posting and sometimes it doesn’t re- ally speak to someone’s skill set—they are amazing in other ways—so that is what the ‘awesome’ category is about. Tere are times when I have offered people roles that we have and that is okay, but I really want to fit them with something that aligns with their passion, where they want to go, and their skillset.” Ryan’s attention to these elements has HootSuite on the radar of the ‘tech- nologically artistic’ set, and this reputation has lead to some really awesome applications. “Someone built a blog on why they want to work at HootSuite. Someone filmed themselves outside of HootSuite telling us how great it would be to work there, then started a social media campaign around it. Someone took the HootSuite interface and turned it into their resume. It’s pretty amaz- ing that people are that excited and that interested to come work with us!” Ryan’s flair for innovation and his successful team-building strategies have led him to exceed the scope of his original vision for the company—HootSuite recently passed three million users and his goal is to have six million by the end of the year. Owners of small and medium businesses are finding products like HootSuite University approachable and valuable. “Te content is world class and we are building it up all the time—we have a team working on production constantly, as I want to build content that is accessible and current for everyone.” HootSuite’s success has definitely changed the scope of Ryan’s ambitions and what now drives him. “What my plan requires is a ‘billion dollar exit’—a bil- lion dollar company to make sure that everyone who was involved at an early stage will benefit significantly. My goal is to create financial independence for fifty people around me, so they have the ability then to reinvest in what they know—which is consumer web, business web and startups. I think the legacy effect of that could be really huge in terms of startup and web technology in Vancouver. Tat is what I would like to see happen.” Ryan’s contribution to the industry has already left an indelible mark on technology in Vancouver and beyond. His choice to remain based out of rainy Vancouver is reflected in his definition of style: “Style is an umbrella for the way you interact with the world—your words, actions and fashion sense are all found under this umbrella.”
May 2012 VANCOUVER VIEW 29
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