Cool Person of the Day

In the tech sector, it is shocking how many businesses are run exclusively by men, even in the United States.  It is interesting to note, then, that the businesses in the technology sector that have influential women as corporate officers are also some of the industry’s most successful operations.  One influential technology company with a prominent woman on their management team is the Symantec Corporation. Their powerful woman is none other than Janice Chaffin! Read more »

There are not many successful businesspeople who advocate dropping out of college if it is necessary to pursue your dreams.  Steve Jobs often referenced his dropping out of college as a seminal event in the creation of Apple Computers.  Similarly, Joe Born frequently advises those considering the tech sector for employment to use the freedom college life affords to explore all of the options your imagination can conceive.  Born now sees college as an occasional impediment, as he believes it frequently leaves graduates unprepared for the modern business and tech markets.  Why should anyone care what Joe Born’s views on college are?  He is the CEO of Neuros Technology! Read more »

Sometimes, it is unclear what a business did before a certain point in its corporate history, even by researching the company.  Sometimes, a company exists for a time before it hires an individual who turns out to have a great impact on the company; that is the type of hire that puts a company on the map! Joyce Fleck had exactly that level of impact on the Navarre Corporation. Read more »

One of the big stories in the technology sector at the end of 2011 was the initial public offering of stock for Zynga.  Zynga, the creator of some of Facebook’s most popular games, was all set to leap into the business of making money off its popularity and the IPO sought to raise billions of dollars for the company.  Amid news reports of other video game companies experiencing financial hardships, the Zynga IPO was viewed by many as catastrophic, with the stock losing value its first few days.  While this might have made a lesser CEO cringe and get out of the game, it was nothing to Mark Pincus. Read more »

One of the most interesting aspects of the World Wide Web has to be that it has forced companies to truly work on an international level, as opposed to simply within one country.  The fascinating corollary to that is that many companies have a vastly different presence on the Internet, depending on where in the world one is accessing them.  So, even as Yahoo! has made a decline in the United States, it remains a powerhouse company in the Pacific Rim countries, despite a few setbacks with failed attempts to acquire existing companies there.  Part of the reason for Yahoo!’s continued relevance in Asia is Rose Tsou. Read more »

It is sometimes amazing to think that so many viable business entities in the tech sector rose around niche products.  More than any other industry, the tech sector fosters the concept that for every great idea, there is a way to make it real and form a business with that product as its centerpiece.  Yellow Springs Instruments (YSI), the manufacturer of the ProOdo dissolved oxygen sensor, knows just how that sort of specific and esoteric product can build a viable business.  In fact, YSI built so many scientific instruments so well, they were bought by Zylem. To manage the new company, Ron Geis accepted a position as Vice President and General Manager of YSI.  With Geis’ strong record of growing companies and increasing profits, this appointment would seem to be a strategic move by the parent company, indicating anticipated significant expansion. Read more »

You might think, given the sheer volume of portable devices and portable memory options, that marketing flash drives and other memory products would be exceptionally easy.  Nothing could be further from the truth, though.  With so many available options, consumers frequently become confused or simply buy the least expensive option that is right before them.  Few companies know how complicated a business it is to effectively market new memory products.  Since 1985, Patriot Memory has been delivering quality computer storage devices and flash drives.  As Patriot looked to the crowded marketplace, the company knew it had to make some changes.  That was when they promoted Mai Kosla! Read more »

There is something awkward and fascinating about geniuses who peak at a young age.  While most people work for years to accomplish all that they want, many young geniuses achieve early and spend their adult years taking on projects they enjoy, more than working for money.  On the eve of his move out to San Francisco to start Posterous, co-founder Sachin Agarwal declared that he had accomplished everything he had dreamed of.  That’s not bad for a twenty-eight year old!  Now, four years later, Sachin Agarwal continues to redefine social media on the Internet. Read more »

With every emerging industry, the process of discovery and development often moves faster than the law.  Changing public policy and laws to accommodate the growth of industry can be a painstaking process.  In recent years, for example, the alternative energy industry has grown considerably.  However, environmental laws and other regulations have slowed the search for viable new energy sources or methods of refining or utilizing currently available energy sources.  Working with the alternative energy industry to make positive changes in the world is Teresa Irvin Copenhaver! Read more »

Privacy rights are some of the most contentiously debated human rights.  Most people in the United States and other free societies treat privacy as an innate human right, a position which comes into conflict with the views of other governments, agencies within the United States government, and Constitutional literalists (there is no explicit Freedom of Privacy guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution).  As technology has improved, the debate over privacy rights has only become more divisive.  That debate was what inspired Phil Zimmermann to create Pretty Good Privacy. Read more »