Brent Hoberman, together with Martha Lane Fox

Martha Lane Fox

Martha Lane Fox is an English businesswoman and charity trustee, who has been engaged as a public servant chairperson on various e-commerce projects and investigations...

, founded Lastminute.com

Lastminute.com

lastminute.com is an online travel and leisure retailer. The company was founded by Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman in 1998 and became an icon of the UK internet boom of the late 1990s, floating at the peak of the dot com bubble and trading on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol...

 in 1998, an online travel and gift business that floated at the peak of the dot-com bubble

Dot-com bubble

The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...

 and managed to survive the subsequent burst of the bubble.

After building revenues more successfully than his peers, Hoberman was a survivor of the bubble and remained as CEO of Lastminute.com Ltd. The company was acquired by Sabre

Sabre Holdings

Sabre Holdings or Sabre, Inc. is an American privately held travel technology company, encompassing several brands in three global distribution system channels: travel agency, airline, and direct to consumer. These areas are serviced by TSG's three main business groups...

 who purchased the company’s equity and bond debt for £577 million (including additional gross debt of approximately £79 million and estimated cash at bank in hand of approximately £72 million). In 2006, Hoberman handed over the CEO position to Ian McCaig. He now holds the position of chairman and chief strategic officer of lastminute.com.

Current business activities

Brent Hoberman remained CEO of lastminute.com through 2005, until April 2006 when he handed over the CEO position to Ian McCaig and took the position of Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer. He stepped down as Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman in January 2007. Hoberman founded VC-backed internet startup, mydeco.com, an online furniture and interior design site providing 3D technology for consumers to design their own rooms online in 2007 and the website launched in February 2008 Hoberman is a Governor of the University of the Arts London

University of the Arts London

The University of the Arts London, formerly known as the London Institute, is a collegiate university comprising six internationally recognised art, design, fashion and media colleges in London, England...

 and a Non-Executive Board Director of Guardian Media Group

Guardian Media Group

Guardian Media Group plc is a company of the United Kingdom owning various mass media operations including The Guardian and The Observer. The Group is owned by the Scott Trust. It was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd in 1907 when C. P. Scott bought the Manchester Guardian from the estate of...

 . In 2007, Hoberman took on the role of Non-Executive Chairman of wayn.com - a travel and leisure social network. In December 2009, he stepped down from the board of wayn.com. He is also an angel investor in several internet companies including Viagogo, erepublik, Wayn.com and academia.edu. Hoberman joined The Business Council for Britain in July 2009. In 2009, Hoberman was selected as one of the World Economic Forum's Global Young Leaders for the UK . In July 2009, Brent co-founded PROfounders Capital http://www.profounderscapital.com/team with Michael Birch, Peter Dubens, Jonnie Goodwin, Rogan Angelini-Hurll and Sean Seton-Rogers. The fund invests in early stage internet investors, and in 2010 invested in start-up Made.com, a joint venture between mydeco.com and founder Ning Li.

Biography and Education

Brent Hoberman was born on November 25, 1968. Hoberman was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, then Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and subsequently at New College, Oxford

New College, Oxford

New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...

. He is married with two daughters and one son.

Inspiration and Motivation

Hoberman says his mentors have been his father, and South African grandfather Leonard Shawzin who built an empire of over 650 clothes shops from a single store. He credits his entrepreneurial drive to the business successes of his father and grandfather, and says the catalyst for him starting his own business was being fired from his first job in investment banking for being "a prima donna". Hoberman has stated that he believes what makes a business successful is passion; in an interview with BBC 'The Bottom Line', he states his belief that the most successful small businesses are those where the founders remain passionate about their business, and are themselves part of their target market. He believes that by building a business to offer a solution to a problem you have yourself – as he did with lastminute.com and mydeco.com – founders stand a greater chance of remaining passionate and being successful.

Public and Political Activities

Hoberman is a member of the New Enterprise Council, a group of entrepreneurs who advise the Conservative Party (UK)

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

on policies related to the needs of business. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/parties-clash-in-corporate-credentials-battle