Alumnus and Co-founder of Photobox presented What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur event at the University of Westminster

During the event, Hobson talked about his beginnings, challenges and achievements as well as sharing advice on how to become a successful entrepreneur. He summarised his early career after graduating from Westminster and how that led him to start his entrepreneurial journey. He explained how his small start-up Photobox ended up owning Moonpig and had revenues of over £300m. Hobson has also discussed the business and personal highs and lows, while providing advice and key takeaways. Following the talk, the audience had a chance to take part in a Q&A session.

Hobson started his career in the finance sector, working for the London Stock Exchange, Baring Securities, Union Bank of Switzerland and Merrill Lynch. In 1999 he bought a digital camera and discovered there was nowhere to get high quality photographic prints. He wrote a business plan on the tube each morning to solve this problem and convinced some of his colleagues to invest, as well as a friend to join him as co-founder. 

In 2000 Hobson co-founded Photobox.com, a photo printing and personalisation website, which he was the CEO of until 2006. After merging with Photoways, he become the CTO of the Group. Later on, the company acquired Moonpig, and other leading brands in Europe. In 2016 the Photobox Group was sold to Exponent Private Equity. At the time of sale, Photobox employed 1,400 people and turned over more than £300m per year. 

Hobson is now an entrepreneur, board member and technologist. He is also a Strategy and Tech Advisor for a number of start-ups and scale-ups. He focuses on advisory and non-executive roles for scaling tech-enabled businesses and pro-bono advisory for social impact businesses and causes.

Talking about the event, one of the audience members said: “Graham’s candid approach was appreciated. Very nice talk to start the series off and I’m looking forward to other talks and events.”
Another added: “It was very interesting to hear the story of a business owner who shares his struggles throughout the journey. He was really personable and relatable.”

The What it Takes event series features exciting and innovative alumni speakers sharing their experience and advice on a range of topics, including employability, personal and professional development. The series is targeted at current students and recent graduates but is also open to all Westminster alumni and staff. For the 2022-23 academic year, a series of in-person and online events will be organised. 

Take part in the next event, titled What it Takes to be an Influential Communicator presented by Jenny Garrett OBE.