Ryan Holmes is the CEO of HootSuite. Thought leader, dog lover and serial entrepreneur, he has redefined the face of social media — bringing Twitter, Facebook and other social networks out of the dorm room and into the boardroom.

Holmes has grown HootSuite from a lean startup to a global leader in social media with nearly 4 million users, including 79 of the Fortune 100 companies. A college drop-out, he started a paintball company and pizza restaurant before founding Invoke Media, the company that developed HootSuite in 2009.

Today, Holmes is an authority on the social business revolution, quoted in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and called upon to speak at TEDx and SXSW Interactive Conferences. An angel investor and advisor, he mentors startups in Canada and around the world. Through HootSuite University, he partners with major universities to deliver social media coursework to the next generation of business leaders.