Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders

It's not just your strengths as a leader, it's your passion, says William Hagstrom, CEO of Crescendo Bioscence, in South San Francisco, CA. He strongly advises future entrepreneurs to think of your business as a worthy crusade. Giving example with his own career, he urges those starting a company to architect their venture deeply, form a culture of excellence, and think about risk early. The culmination of his experience has redefined the role of CEO for him as way to empower others.

Don't set sail without thinking first: this sage advice sums up risk analysis for Elisabeth Paté-Cornell, department chair of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. She explains that risk assessment involves the study of scenarios, probabilities, and consequences. A risk analyst uses logic and statistics to makes sense of uncertainties and provides possible solutions to derail disaster. While some events force quick thinking, most can be avoided with a little forethought. After all, she simplifies: risk analysis isn't just nuclear reactors, it's also real life.

David Heineimeier Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails and partner at 37signals in Chicago, says that planning is guessing, and for a start-up, the focus must be on today and not on tomorrow. He argues that constraints--fiscal, temporal, or otherwise--drive innovation and effective problem-solving. The most important thing, Hansson believes, is to make a dent in the universe with your company.

Dr. John Adler, Jr. and John "Trip" Adler III discuss their entrepreneurial experience and evolution as a business leader: For Dr. Adler, he describes his bumpy course in developing his biotechnology company, Accuray Incorporated; for his son Trip, he emphasizes the persistence and luck in developing Scribd, a social publishing site. Despite building companies in different fields, the two offer the same central advice necessary in building a successful company: trust yourself, have common sense, and there are no rules.

Stanford instructor and seasoned serial entrepreneur Steve Blank looks back at the commonalities and quirks of the quarter's previous speakers. Blank outlines a thorough checklist of questions and analysis helpful to any new enterprise leader, and offers insight and case studies from industry giants and new technology plays alike.

Hip-hop artists Quincy Jones III and Chamillionaire discuss mastering the business side of the music industry. Keeping up with cutting-edge technologies, production logistics, and finding creative ways to gain direct audience contact are essential tactics for the self-produced artist in the digital age.

Serial entrepreneur and Zynga founder Mark Pincus and Bing Gordon, longtime Electronic Arts creative mind and investor on behalf of KPCB, provide a very laid-back and desultory conversation. Topics touched upon include successful CEOs, building sustainable companies, mentorship, and the consumer pay-driven Web 3.0.

Intel Corporation legend, former CEO, and Chairman of the Board Craig Barrett discusses his personal career path from a Stanford Associate Professor, to Silicon Valley consultant, to a 35-year career inside one of the globe's most prominent players in technology. His talk concentrates on Moore's Law and the myriad factors in place to ensure its continued progeny.

Whereas the 20th century belonged to the scientist, the 21st century, says Sun Micosystems' CTO Greg Papadopoulos, is the domain of the engineer. Rather than secretly toiling away on new discoveries, modern engineers are concerned about social responsibility, renewable materials and product lifecycles, collaborative and open source discovery, and furthering industry-wide innovation.

Steve Jurvetson, partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, offers perspective on the market opportunities in innovation and technology. Topics discussed include the necessity for utter market disruption, interdisciplinary solutions (particularly across the "bio-nano" life sciences and engineering), and advice for those interested in working in the venture capital arena.

Speaker, author, and entrepreneur Eric Ries shares rapid fire wisdom on building nimble, responsive, and efficient online software-based businesses. He also offers his wisdom on streamlining processes and progressing engineering systems, and puts forth front line insight into why some new ideas succeed where others have failed.

Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, speaks in detail about the launch and growth of the company and the search engine. He discusses how its intimate understanding of Chinese language and culture - and a unique social approach to search - have allowed it to succeed where many North American search giants have faltered.

Stanford Technology Ventures Program's Executive Director Tina Seelig shares rich insights in creative thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset. Her talk, based on her 2009 book, What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20, cites numerous classroom successes of applied problem-solving and the lessons of failure.

Steve Westly, Founder of clean tech investment firm The Westly Group and former Controller for the state of California, paints a landscape of the present and future opportunities in emerging alternative energy.

Numenta's Jeff Hawkins, a frequent company founder, inventor, and product designer for Palm and Handspring, highlights lessons learned during his tenure in technology. He also confesses that these accomplishments were mere way stations in his 30-year passionate pursuit of neuroscience.