Ryan Holmes

I'd love to build a brand, a legacy.

Everybody getting a significant exit creates a legacy and creates something that you can pay forward and bootstrap an industry in a substantial way.

I grew up off the grid in Vernon, and I saw my parents work hard every day, as teachers but also while farming and building a log home. So from a young age I knew the value of hard work.

Hammer down product fundamentals first. Make sure you've got something that works before doubling down on promotion and marketing. Create a groundswell of organic support, and only then leverage PR and advertising to spread the word.

Importantly, companies are using social media to do things that go way beyond just chatting up existing customers on Facebook. Sales departments use social to nurture leads and close sales. HR posts job openings and vets applicants. Community and support squads mine networks, blogs and forums with deep listening tools.

Payfirma has revolutionized the payment process, consolidating mobile, e-commerce and in-store payments under a single solution, much like HootSuite did for social media.

Social media has given companies access to unprecedented amounts of information on client behavior and preferences - so-called Big Data. But making sense of it all and turning it into actionable policy has been elusive.

Social media marketers have already shown unusual savvy in executing campaigns in Brazil.

South America's most populous country, Brazil, is also emerging as one of the region's most social-media savvy.

For an older generation of employees, social media often remains misunderstood and underutilized.

Customer service teams at many companies have already embraced social media, often out of necessity.

Social media has shaken up the world of sales, with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter offering new ways to hound leads and unprecedented insights into clients.