Alexander Graf is a serial entrepreneur with 10+ years experience in the digital sector and the CEO of Spryker Systems, a commerce-technology company which he founded together with Nils Seebach in cooperation with the early-stage investor Project A Ventures in 2014.
In 2011, Alexander started the management consulting firm e Tribes, which supports companies in building and executing digital strategies. Within this practice, he has formed a prestigious expert, entrepreneur and client network, including publishing houses such as Gruner + Jahr, manufacturers like Vitra, as well as corporations like the Otto Group. From 2011, he was also managing director of the agency group Net Impact Framework, which he founded together with Nils Seebach and Tarek Müller. It was acquired by the Otto Group in 2013 as the starting point of the much acclaimed venture Collins. Prior to that, Alexander was senior advisor Alexander Graf for the Otto Group and in charge of the conception, evaluation and M&A of digital business models.
Alexander publishes the e-commerce specialist blog ‘Kassenzone’ as well as numerous industry studies and books. His latest work ‘Das E-Commerce Buch’ (‘The E-Commerce Book’) is now published in English. Alexander Graf, born 1980, has studied economics and computer sciences with a focus on innovation and marketing at Kiel University in Germany and the Autónoma in Madrid, Spain.
Holger Schneider runs the bachelor’s and master’s degree courses at the Wedel University of Applied Sciences (near Hamburg, Germany), teaching both the strategic and operative issues of e-commerce. He is also a member of the board of the Digital Analytics Association Germany with the remit for supporting and developing young data scientists. As a partner in the e Tribes consultancy company, he advises manufacturers, retailers, and media organisations on digital business issues; working with Alexander Graf, he curates the annual Digital Commerce Day.
Previously, Holger Schneider worked as head of business development in new media for the Otto Group, where the focus of his activities was on analysing e-commerce business models and their relevancy to the Otto Group. Building on this, he contributed to the development of the Otto Group’s e-commerce strategy and made recommendations with regard to setting up or buying in e-commerce business models both on the domestic and international markets.
Holger Schneider read business studies and management at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management (Vallendar), where he came into contact with e-commerce and digital business at an early stage. He then completed a doctorate in pricing models in digital businesses at the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel; Holger Schneider has experience of international markets gathered during a range of hands-on projects and research stays abroad, including at HEC Montréal (Canada), KEIO Business School (Japan), and the Center for Digital Business at MIT Sloan School of Management (USA).