Simon Murdoch

Simon set up online bookstore Bookpages in 1996 and sold it to Amazon in 1998. As VP Europe for Amazon, he managed huge growth from start-up through to multimillion turnover and hundreds of staff. As an Angel investor, he has invested in Shazam, been chairman of VideoIsland (now merged with and renamed LoveFilm, and purchased in Feb 2011 by Amazon.com), Zoopla! and Shutl (currently chairman). Simon founded and funded FriendsAbroad.com, a social network for developing language skills and contacts abroad which was successfully sold to Lesson Nine GmbH, operators of language learning site Babbel.com. Simon is currently CEO of StormForward, an e-commerce conversion consultancy which helpsonline retailers to increase their online sales and profits.