That Certain Something: Influential Entrepreneurs
Murthy is one of a number of software and technology entrepreneurs in India who started companies from scratch and have made them into huge, values-based institutions.
Judy Olian
Dean of UCLA's Anderson School of Management
Bill Gates
Microsoft
He changed the nature of sharing and accessing information, and the nature of collaboration. On top of that, through his philanthropic work, he took that kind of game-changing business thinking to a different sphere.
A variety of companies have built empires based on experience-based retailing, but Schultz has had the most pervasive impact.
Fred Smith
FedEx
He leveraged a variety of network models to create a globally interconnected marketplace of goods. How many entrepreneurial companies were created just because of these new global supply chains?
Muhammad Yunus
Grameen Bank
He created a socially based financial network that has the ability to transform society and communities.
Pierre Omidyar and Meg Whitman
eBay
eBay is truly the world's bazaar. These two built a marketplace without boundaries of scale or place. And they used the power of a community to create a whole new class of business people.
Paul Graham
Co-founder of the venture capital firm Y Combinator
Steve Jobs
Apple
The original young founder. A lot of start-up culture is Apple culture. More remarkable still, Jobs has stayed interesting for 30 years.
TJ Rodgers
Cypress Semiconductors
Rodgers may be the best writer among Silicon Valley CEOs. The first essay of his that I read was so electrifying that I remember exactly where I was when I read it.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Google
Their hypothesis seems to have been: If you hire all the smartest people and put them to work on a problem where their success can be measured, you win.
Paul Buchheit was responsible for three of the best things Google has done: Gmail, AdSense, and the Google mantra, "Don't be evil." One of his sayings I now pass on to every start-up we fund: that it's better, initially, to make a small number of users really love you than a large number kind of like you.
Sam is, along with Steve Jobs, the founder I refer to most when I'm advising start-ups. There are only a few entrepreneurs with such force of will that they're going to get whatever they want.
Julian Lange
Associate professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College
Steve Jobs
Apple
He has great vision and attention to design, and he regularly anticipates customers' needs before they even realize them.
Bill Gates
Microsoft
It's hard for me to mention any great entrepreneur without talking about Bill Gates. His vision and persistence over time have made Microsoft what it is. Now, through his foundation, he has found a way to use his entrepreneurial instincts and methods to make the world a better place.
Benson is a great entrepreneur who co-founded one of the early networking companies. When he became governor of New Hampshire, he applied entrepreneurial principles to government.
Meg Whitman
eBay
One of the first people to really see the power of the community.
Bono is illustrative of the broadening role in society for entrepreneurs. Through his organization, ONE, he has helped to persuade governments to forgive $100 billion worth of debt. Like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, he has used his expertise, his fame, and his contacts to make some truly impressive gains.
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