Information Technology (IT) and Software is a fairly recent phenomenon in the field of business. IT is a term commonly associated with computers and computer networks, and also encompasses other information distribution technologies. Entrepreneurship in IT and software has contributed to business growth and development tremendously over the past few years. This field is also closely related to ecommerce, the internet business concept that revolutionized the way business is conducted all over the world. Several other industries like telecom, computer services, electronics and computer hardware are also related areas. Business people dealing in IT and software entrepreneurship have to adopt strategies that are different from other businesses that deal with products and services. This field is a very wide one which encompasses everything from online shopping, ecommerce, and software development to website development and web content creation. Several ambitious businessmen have built profitable ventures in this field as it allows for enormous economies of scale. Of course, there are inherent risks in this business as advancements in technologies take place at such a fast rate, but astute and alert businessmen have the ability to convert these threats into lucrative opportunities. This section gives you a collection of biographies and timelines that provide you with information about the various business people in the field of IT & Software.
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Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. An alumnus of IIT, Stanford and Wharton, Pichai has come a long way, from innovating Google’s products such as Chrome, Google Drive and Google Apps to leading the software giant and being one of the most sought-after names in the tech industry.
Widely recognized as one of the two important pioneers of the personal computer revolution, Steve Wozniak is credited with co-founding Apple Inc. along with Steve Jobs. Not surprisingly, he has been described as one of the men that changed the course of history through technology. Apart from being a programmer and technology entrepreneur, Steve Wozniak is also a well-known philanthropist.
Ratan Tata is a well-known Indian industrialist and the former charman of Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Sons. His reign as chairman was marked by acquisitions of iconic global brands, such as Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus by the Tata Group. Ratan Tata was instrumental in turning Tata Group from a largely India-centrist group into a global business.
Paul Allen was an American investor, business magnate, and philanthropist. He is credited with co-founding one of the most popular multinational technology companies in the world, Microsoft Corporation. Along with his philanthropic activities and ownership of several other companies and sporting clubs, Paul Allen had a major impact on sports, wildlife, education, arts, healthcare, community services, environmental conservation, and more.
As the co-founder and CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey continues to influence the lives of millions around the world. Also a well-known philanthropist, Dorsey is credited with funding 600 public school projects in Missouri. A prolific donator, Jack Dorsey has donated $24 million as part of various relief efforts. He also donated $10 million to Boston University.
Born into an affluent Jewish Brazilian family, Eduardo Saverin co-founded Facebook with his Harvard roommate Mark Zuckerberg and others in 2004. He was later involved in a lawsuit against Zuckerberg. He also renounced his U.S. citizenship and moved to Singapore, which some believe was his excuse to avoid paying taxes.
Business magnate Azim Premji revolutionized the Indian software industry with Wipro Limited. Twice listed to Time 100, he transformed his vegetable oil and soap manufacturing company to a leading IT solutions brand, through marked diversification. He owns a non-profit foundation and is the first Indian to join The Giving Pledge.
Jawed Karim is an American Internet entrepreneur and software engineer. Karim is credited with co-founding one of the most popular online video-sharing platforms, YouTube. He is also credited with uploading the first YouTube video named Me at the zoo. During his time working at PayPal, Jawed Karim had designed many of the company's core components, such as its anti-Internet-fraud system.
N. R. Narayana Murthy is an Indian businessman who is credited with co-founding one of the most popular and successful Indian multinational corporations, Infosys. While Fortune magazine named him as one of the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time, Time magazine called him the father of the Indian IT sector. Murthy serves as an inspiration to aspiring businessmen in India.
Netflix co-founder, CEO, and chairman Reed Hastings is also a Facebook director since 2011. He has previously served the California State Board of Education and the board of Microsoft. The Stanford alumnus is a Giving Pledge member, actively donates for children’s education and scholarships, and supports charter schools.
Computer programmer and entrepreneur Kevin Systrom is one of the co-founders of the photo-sharing app Instagram. He resigned as the Instagram CEO in 2018. He was named to Forbes’s 30 under 30 list in 2014 and was one of the U.S’s richest entrepreneurs below 40 in 2016.
Businessman Gabe Newell is the co-founder and president of the video game developer and digital distribution company, Valve. As a young man, he worked for Microsoft for several years before he quit to found his own venture. He was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 2013.
Kim Dotcom is a German-Finnish internet entrepreneur and political activist. He first gained fame in the 1990s as an internet entrepreneur. He is the founder of the now-defunct file hosting service Megaupload. He is a controversial person and was once convicted on charges of computer fraud. He loves music and has released one album and a few singles.
Jan Koum is a Ukrainian American computer programmer and entrepreneur. He is credited with co-founding the popular cross-platform messaging service, WhatsApp. One of the most popular billionaires around the world, Koum donated almost $556 million to the donor-advised community foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, in 2014.
Eric Schmidt is an American software engineer and technology businessman who served as Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, he served as the executive chairman of Google. A well-known philanthropist, Schmidt and his wife Wendy established the Schmidt Family Foundation in 2006. The foundation aims at educating people on the importance of natural resources.
Paul Buchheit is an American entrepreneur and computer engineer. He is credited with creating Gmail and developing a prototype of Google AdSense. In 2007, he launched FriendFeed, which was later acquired by Facebook. In 2011, Paul Buchheit was honored with the Economist Innovation Award. Also a noted philanthropist, Paul Buchheit has made donations to several health organizations.
Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian industrialist best known as the chairman of the Indian multinational conglomerate company, Aditya Birla Group. He also serves as the chairman of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Delhi. Over the course of his career, Birla has received several honors like the Business Leader of the Year award and Outstanding Business Man of the Year award.
Masayoshi Son is a Japanese technology entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor. He is credited with founding SoftBank, a popular Japanese holding company, for which he also serves as the chief executive officer. One of the richest men in Japan, Son has pledged to donate $120 million to support the victims affected by the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku.
Padma Bhushan-winning Indian billionaire businessman Shiv Nadar is known as the founder and chairman of the IT company HCL and the Shiv Nadar Foundation. While he transformed HCL from an IT hardware company into an IT enterprise, by 2021, he also turned himself into the third-richest Indian.
Chinese business magnate Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma, is best known as the founder, chairman, and CEO of the technology giant Tencent. His company owns the messaging app WeChat. One of CEOWORLD’s Most Powerful People in the World, he was a delegate of the 12th National People's Congress.
Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, software engineer, and investor. He is credited with co-founding the independent computer services company Netscape as well as the private venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Marc Andreessen is also credited with co-authoring one of the first web browsers, NCSA Mosaic. In 1994, he was inducted into the World Wide Web Hall of Fame.
Tech magnate Garrett Camp made headlines in 2020 when he quit his position of board director of Uber, a company co-founded by him, to focus on its product strategy. Camp has also formed companies such as StumbleUpon and the start-up incubator Expa Labs, and is part of The Giving Pledge.
David Baszucki is a Canadian-born American entrepreneur and inventor. He is credited with co-founding the Roblox Corporation, for which he also serves as the CEO. He is also credited with co-founding Knowledge Revolution, a company which was obtained by MSC Software in 1998. In 2017 and 2018, Baszucki was named one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs.
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is also the man behind the Indian biometric ID Aadhaar. Named to the Forbes list of India’s Richest in 2021, he also once teamed up with Ratan Tata to form Avanti Finance to help the poor get loans. He unsuccessfully contested as a Congress candidate, too.
Jerry Yang is a Taiwanese-American billionaire internet entrepreneur, computer programmer, and venture capitalist. Yang is credited with co-founding Yahoo! Inc. where he also served as the CEO from 2007 to 2009. Jerry Yang is also credited with founding a venture capital firm named AME Cloud Ventures.
Yusaku Maezawa is a Japanese art collector and entrepreneur. He is credited with founding Japan's largest online fashion store, Zozotown. He is also credited with founding Contemporary Art Foundation, which aims at supporting young artists. Yusaku Maezawa is one of the richest men in Japan.
Apoorva Mehta is a serial entrepreneur and a former Amazon.com employee. He founded the grocery delivery and pick-up service Instacart in 2012. An engineer by qualification, he tried to start at least 20 other services, including an ad network for social gaming companies, before launching Instacart. He was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2013.
