In the world of social media, what is being said about your business can make or break you. How you access these insights in a timely manner makes all the difference. In 2009, when Twitter was still relatively unknown and Instagram was not yet born, Stephen O’Leary spotted an opportunity and started to build a company to do just that – give businesses an ear to the ground on social media.

“With no savings, no plan, no experience in running a business, I decided the need exists, there is a gap, I’m going to give this a go” 

And so Olytico was born – an online news media and social media monitoring and analysis company that aims to help people make better informed decisions. After a slow and difficult start, the company started to scale incredibly quickly in line with the popularity of social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the many others that have launched in the last decade.  

In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook Podcast series, Stephen O’Leary tells host Richard Curran how he transitioned from journalism, software sales and business development, to eventually founding his own company, Olytico. They also discuss: 

·        What Elon Musk’s move to buy Twitter means for the company and its users.  

·        Forthcoming regulation of social media companies and how it might change them 

·        What he learned about the kind of salesperson he was, and why that led him to him start his own company.  

·        The future of anonymity and content moderation on social media platforms 

·        Becoming the youngest ever president of Dublin Chamber of Commerce in 2023