Christer Holloman

Christer Holloman’s Background

Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, Christer Holloman first became successful during the internet boom of the late 1990s and has never looked back. Having now worked for, or with, numerous international companies, Holloman has built up his reputation and is now keener than ever to share his knowledge through his books and speaking work.

• Glassdoor.com’s Senior Business Development Manager (Europe)
• Chairman of First Tuesday
• Author of The Social Media MBA and the First Time Entrepreneur Series

Christer is also a writer at Forbes, covering technology, finance, and sustainability, where he shares his insights on emerging trends and their impact on industries.

What makes Holloman unique as a speaker is that he not only writes and talks about technology trends, but also regularly consults for major businesses and start-ups on how to take advantage and monetise these opportunities. This means he will not be providing theories, but instead tried and tested hands-on advice that will inspire and empower your delegates to take action.

Prior to setting up his own tech start-up Divido and raising £5m in the process, Chris launched Expedia founder Rich Barton’s £1bn start-up Glassdoor in Europe. In addition to his work with Glassdoor, he is a blogger and expert writer for Sky News Tech Talk and is the Chairman of First Tuesday, a networking forum for technology start-ups, their investors and related service providers.

Holloman was previously Head of Digital Product Development at The Times and The Sunday Times, responsible for award-winning apps and delivering new digital revenue streams.

He has worked as a speaker since 2009, tailoring each of his talks to meet the individual needs of his client. His enthusiasm and knowledge have already earned him a reputation as one of the leading inspirational speakers focusing on new media, creativity, technology and entrepreneurship.

He has worked as a speaker for several Fortune 500 companies, including Dell, Intel, Panasonic and Nokia and has advised or worked alongside businesses including MSN, Yahoo! and the Daily Mail and General Trust.

His most recent book is How to Sell Online, he is also the bestselling author behind The Social Media MBA series, published by the world’s largest academic book publisher, Wiley, in multiple languages and chairman of First Tuesday, the UK’s largest network for high growth technology companies and their investors, Chris is frequently invited to write for The Guardian about how organisations can make the most of opportunities presented by new technologies.

Holloman achieved a BSc in Business and Economic at the Universality of Ume in his native Sweden. As well as Swedish and English, he can speak conversational Danish and Norwegian.

In his spare time Holloman seeks to help young entrepreneurs achieve their goals using new media techniques and via volunteering. In recognition of his work in this area, he has been given an award by the Princes Trust and was named 2008 Volunteer of the Year (Young Achievement) by Young Enterprise. This interest in inspiring young people stems from Holloman’s own childhood a born entrepreneur, his early business plans included becoming a Lego retailer!

In his teens, he started an advertising and a rent-a-Santa agency.

Positions and Honours

• Senior Business Development Manager (Europe) – Glassdoor.com (2013 present)
• One of Londons Thousand Most Influential Individuals London Evening Standard (2012)
• Head of Digital Product Development The Times/Sunday Times (2011 2012)
• Digital Innovation Award – The Telegraph (2011)
• Head of Commercial Product Development – Zoopla Property Group (2010)
• Blogger/writer Sky News Tech Talk (2009 present)
• One of the Top 25 within New Media – London Evening Standard (2009)
• Head of Product EMEA – CareerBuilder.com (2009)
• Head of UK Advertising – CareerBuilder.com (2008 2009)
• UK Business Development Manager – CareerBuilder.com (2007 2008)
• Chairman First Tuesday (2005 present)
• Business Consultant Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK (2004 2005)