The man who helped make revolutions possible through the use of social media used to have to hot-wire his family car to power his computer.
Ryan Holmes childhood home in Vernon had no electricity. His parents chose to live off the grid so when Ryan won his first computer as part of a school contest, he had to pop the hood of his fathers car, run a wire from the battery into the house and hook it up as the power source for his Apple IIc. If I played on the computer for too long at night my mom would get mad because wed wear down the cars battery and wed have to jumpstart the car in the morning, he told a bemused crowd at Sam Sullivans Public Salon at the Vancouver Playhouse last Wednesday night.
This from the man before whom the most fearsome dictators tremble, Sullivan said.
Holmes is now one of the most plugged-in internet entrepreneurs as the founder and CEO of HootSuite.
Three million people use HootSuite to help them manage 150 million Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn messages a day. (The goal is six million by the end of this year.) Instead of having multiple screens up on your computer, or posting the same message on various types of social media, HootSuite lets you do everyone all at once. And its free.
Holmes showed a photo of his staff shot-gunning beer when the company reached revenues of $1 million. He wants to take another photo when HootSuite reaches the $1 billion mark.
It was tempting in the beginning to move the company to Silicone Valley, Holmes said. On Wednesday night he gave the reasons why Vancouver is still the best place to foment his own brand of technological revolution.
1. Silicon Valley attracts top talent but everyone is looking for the next shiny bauble. Talent moves from company to company. HootSuite is home to 100 dedicated employees.
2. Investment trends change. Instead of centralizing areas of expertise, now there are incubators, places which nurture new companies. Vancouver is one of them, thanks in part to government support.
3. Theres a crystal cave of solitude in Vancouver which allows you to think differently and yet theres proximity to Silicone Valley.
4. Vancouver has better beer and bacon.
5. Liveability. Access to healthcare and proximity to family are mightily strong practical reasons for staying in Canada, but really, would you like to live anywhere else?
