Sell out? No way, HootSuite founder Ryan Holmes wants a legacy
Great article and interview in yesterday's Globe and Mail with HootSuite's founder Ryan Holmes.
David Ebner digs deep into Holmes' history and his plans for the Vancouver-based social media dashboard.
Holmes doesn't want to follow the pattern set by most Canadian Startups and jump at the first attractive takeover offer from foreign buyer. Holmes has bigger plans.
Holmes is HootSuite's largest shareholder and believes $100-million in annual revenue and $1 Billion market valuation are within reach.
Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – whose companies have a collective value of at least $350-billion – did not dream of selling out to the first bidder.
“I’ve had offers along the way. My ambition is to build something large,” Mr. Holmes says. “I’d love to build a brand, a legacy. I’m always thinking about how big we can make this, about how big this industry is going to be. It’s sticking. It’s not going away. Initially, it was: ‘How big could this be?’ We’re seeing it’s going to be massive.”
A year ago, HootSuite had no revenue. As it cracked the one-million-user mark they released premium versions of its product and it currently brings in about $1-million of revenue a month.
Check out Ebner's complete article online.
Image: Anthony Jenkins, The Globe and Mail
