Sun Microsystems
Sun微系统
Founders: Vinod Khosla, Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Bill Joy
创始人：维诺德•科斯拉，斯科特•麦克尼利，安迪•贝托谢姆和比尔•乔伊
Named after the Stanford University Network, Sun Microsystems became the goliath of computer workstations in the 1990s, so much so it once used the slogan, "We're the dot in dot-com." But the end of the dotcom boom meant the shuttering of many businesses that relied on Sun's technologies; the company ultimately was acquired by Oracle for nearly $7.3 billion. Its co-founders, all household names in tech, have had rich second acts. Kholsa became a general partner at Kleiner Perkins before starting his own venture firm, Khosla Ventures. Joy and Bechtolsheim are investors (Bechtolsheim was one of the earliest backers of Google), and McNealy co-founded social-media polling company Wayin.
以斯坦福大学网络( Stanford University Network)命名的Sun微系统在20世纪90年代成为计算机工作站领域的巨无霸。这家公司如日中天之际曾经使用过这样的口号：“我们是互联网的连接者。”但随着互联网热潮的退却，许多依靠Sun微系统技术的企业纷纷关门大吉。这家公司最终被甲骨文(Oracle)以接近73亿美元的价格收购。作为高科技领域如雷贯耳的大人物，Sun微系统的几位联合创始人都绽放出精彩纷呈的第二春。科斯拉成为顶级风投公司凯鹏华盈(Kleiner Perkins)的普通合伙人，随后又创办了他自己的科斯拉风投公司(Khosla Ventures)。乔伊和贝托谢姆也成为知名投资者【贝托谢姆是谷歌公司(Google)最早的支持者之一】，麦克尼利则与他人合伙创办了社交媒体调查公司Wayin。
Netscape
网景
Founders: Marc Andreessen, James H. Clark
创始人：马克•安德森，詹姆斯•克拉克
Credit Andreessen and Clark for shaping the modern-day web surfing experience. In 1994, they released Mosaic Netscape, or Netscape Navigator, the first widely distributed Internet browser. Netscape was acquired by AOL in 1999 for $10 billion. Clark went on to start Healtheon, which later merged with WebMD (WBMD), and he was the star of Michael Lewis's The New New Thing, a book about Silicon Valley. Andreessen is co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of the Valley's most sought-after advisers.
我们如今享受的上网体验在很大程度上归功于安德森和克拉克。1994年，他们发布了史上第一款被广泛使用的互联网浏览器：马赛克导航者(Mosaic Netscape)或称网景导航者(Netscape Navigator)。1999年，网景被美国在线 (AOL)以100亿美元的价格收购。克拉克随后创办了永健公司(Healtheon)，但这家公司后来与网络医生(WebMD)合并。克拉克是迈克尔•刘易斯讲述硅谷故事的经典著作《将世界甩在后面》(The New New Thing)大书特书的大明星。安德森是顶级风投公司安德森霍洛维茨基金(Andreessen Horowitz)的联合创始人，也是硅谷最抢手的顾问之一。
General Motors
通用汽车公司
Founders: William Durant, Charles Stewart Mott
创始人：威廉•杜兰特，查尔斯•斯图尔特•莫特
One of the largest automakers in the world started little more than a century ago with just the Buick brand in its portfolio. Ironically, Durant, a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages then, was dubious of early automobiles and their safety but saw a potential market for improved models and invested aggressively. By 1910, General Motors (GM,Fortune 500) had either acquired or started Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Chevrolet and eventually became so successful it led global auto sales for 70 years until 2008.
这家全球最大的汽车制造商创办于大约一个世纪前，最初仅有别克(Buick)这一个品牌。颇具讽刺意味的是，当时身为马车制造业领导者的杜兰特对早期的汽车及其安全性半信半疑，但在发现改进车型拥有一个巨大的潜在市场之后，他骤然加大了投资力度。到1910年，通过开发或自创等方式，通用汽车已经拥有了奥兹莫比尔(Oldsmobile)、凯迪拉克(Cadillac)和雪佛兰(Chevrolet)等品牌，并最终大获成功——在2008年之前的70年里，通用汽车的全球销量一直领先群雄。
Microsoft
微软
Founders:Bill Gates, Paul Allen
创始人：比尔•盖茨，保罗•艾伦
Personal computing arguably wouldn't be the force it is today without Bill Gates and Paul Allen, childhood friends who founded Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) in 1975 after writing a programming language for the Altair 8800 microcomputer. Although Allen would depart eight years later, alleging Gates tried to dilute his equity, their work together has yielded important PC software like Windows, the dominant desktop operating system, even to this day. Allen keeps his hand in technology though his investing arm, Vulcan Capital. Gates, who established the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and works with Warren Buffett to encourage philanthropy, earlier this year said he would step up his role at Microsoft at the request of new CEO Satya Nadella.
可以说，如果没有比尔•盖茨和保罗•艾伦，也就不会有个人电脑的今天。1975年，这对儿时的好友为Altair 8800微机写了一组编程语言，随后携手创办了微软公司（Microsoft ）。尽管艾伦在8年后以盖茨试图稀释他的股权为由离开了微软，但他们一起创造了一些意义重大的个人电脑软件，比如直至今天依然占据主宰地位的桌面操作系统Windows。不过，艾伦依然在通过他的投资公司火神资本(Vulcan Capital)继续投身科技领域。盖茨建立了比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)，这些年来一直与沃伦•巴菲特一道倡导慈善事业。但他在今年早些时候表示，应新任CEO萨蒂亚•纳德拉的请求，他将加强他在微软扮演的角色。
PayPal
贝宝
Founders:Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Luke Nosek, and Ken Howery
创始人：埃伦•穆斯克，彼得•泰尔，马克斯•列夫琴，卢克•诺塞克和肯•霍威利
Musk, Thiel, Levchin, Nosek, and Howery launched the Internet-based payment service in 1998, which rapidly expanded after users made it their payment method of choice on eBay(EBAY, Fortune 500). No surprise then that eBay acquired the startup for $1.5 billion, which proved a wise move, as PayPal remains the fastest-growing business inside the company. Meanwhile, there's a reason early PayPal alum earned the name " ayPal mafia": Musk, for one, dreamed up and runs Tesla (TSLA), the disruptive electronic car company, while Thiel largely became a startup investor, channeling funds into businesses like Facebook.
1998年，穆斯克、泰尔、列夫琴、诺塞克和肯•霍威利等人联手创办了这家互联网支付服务商。在 eBay用户将其作为默认支付方式之后，贝宝（eBay）开始急剧扩张。意料之中的是，eBay随后斥资15亿美元收购了这家初创公司。这笔收购后来被证明是明智之举，因为贝宝现在仍然是eBay公司内部增长最快的业务。同时，贝宝的早期毕业生赢得“贝宝黑帮”这一绰号也是有原因的：穆斯克曾经梦想发明一种革命性的电动汽车，随后就真的创办了特斯拉汽车公司(Tesla)；泰尔基本上变为一位初创企业投资者，Facebook就是他的经典投资案例之一。
Ubisoft
育碧
Founders:Yves Guillemot, Claude Guillemot, Michel Guillemot, Gérard Guillemot, and Christian Guillemot
创始人：伊夫•吉尔莫特，克劳德•吉尔莫特，米歇尔•吉尔莫特，热拉尔•吉尔莫特和克里斯蒂安•吉尔莫特
In 1986, the Guillemot brothers established this videogame publisher from a small village in France. Inking deals with distributors like Electronic Arts (EA), Ubisoft soon expanded beyond its native country to the U.S. and U.K. Now Ubisoft has 29 development studios across 19 countries and ranks third behind Activision Blizzard and EA as the third-largest independent games publisher in the world, with popular franchises like Just Dance, Prince of Persia, and Assassin's Creed. All five brothers remain involved with Ubisoft on an everyday basis. For instance, Yves remains as CEO, and Claude serves as executive vice president of operations.
1986年，吉尔莫特兄弟在法国一个小村庄创办了这家视频游戏发行商。育碧公司（Ubisoft）与美国艺电( Electronic Arts)等分销商达成交易后，很快就冲出发源地，扩张至美国和英国。现在，育碧在19个国家拥有研发工作室，在《恰恰舞》(Just Dance)，《波斯王子》(Prince of Persia)和《刺客信条》(Assassin's Creed)等备受欢迎的视频游戏推动下，这家公司业已成为仅次于动视暴雪(Activision Blizzard）和美国艺电的全球第三大独立游戏发行商。吉尔莫特五兄弟现在依然参与育碧的日常运营工作。例如，伊夫仍然担任CEO，克劳德目前担任执行副总裁。
Facebook
脸谱网
Founders:Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes
创始人：马克•扎克伯格，达斯汀•莫斯科维茨，爱德华多•萨维林，安德鲁•麦科勒姆和克里斯•休斯
Over 1 billion global users have Zuckerberg and crew to thank for redefining friendship in the digital age. The product of a Harvard version of Hot or Not in 2004, "The Facebook," as it was then called, captured users keen on a new web solution for keeping tabs on and communicating with classmates, friends, and eventually, family. So much so that Facebook(FB, Fortune 500) is the second-most popular Internet site in the world. Friction among the founders became the basis of an Oscar-winning movie; in reality the founders have used their wealth to fund other projects. Hughes bought The New Republic magazine; Moskowitz founded Asana, a management software company; McCollom is an entrepreneur in residence; and Saverin, who renounced his U.S. citizenship, invests in startups.
超过10亿的全球用户要感谢扎克伯格和他的团队重新定义了友谊在数字时代的含义。作为一款创建于哈佛大学(Harvard)，类似于相片评级网站Hot or Not的产品，“The Facebook”（当时的名称）2004年上线后马上吸引了大批用户。这些用户热衷于通过一种全新的网络解决方案密切留意同学、朋友和家人的活动并与他们实时沟通。Facebook最终大获成功，现已成为全球第二大最受欢迎的网站。创始人纷争的故事还造就了一部奥斯卡获奖影片。在现实生活中，几位创始人动用自己的巨额财富为其他项目提供资金。休斯买下了《新共和》杂志(The New Republic)；莫斯科维茨创立了一家名为Asana的管理软件公司；麦科勒姆成为一位入驻创业家；放弃美国国籍的萨维林则投资了不少初创公司。
Twitter
推特
Founders:Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass
创始人：杰克•多尔西，埃文•威廉姆斯，比兹•斯通和诺亚•格拉斯
In Twitter's (TWTR) case, less is definitely more. But even Dorsey, Williams, Stone, and Glass were probably caught off-guard by the success of their startup, which popularized 140-character messages updated in real time and served as an important communication tool in moments of crisis, like the Egyptian protests in 2011. Dorsey, who also serves as CEO of Square, is chairman, and Williams, who has a new startup called Medium, is on the board of directors. Stone has a new book out, titled, charmingly, Things a Little Bird Taught Me.
Twitter向来信奉“少即是多”的道理。但可能连多尔西、威廉姆斯、斯通和格拉斯这几位创始人也被这家初创公司的巨大成功搞得措手不及。这项最多包含140个字符的信息实时更新服务一经推出就大受欢迎，而且在一些危机时刻（比如2011年的埃及抗议活动）充当了重要的交流工具。多尔西目前担任公司董事长，他现在还是 移动支付技术公司Square的CEO；威廉姆斯担任董事，他还创办了一家名为Medium的新公司。斯通刚刚写了一本名字很迷人的新书《那只小鸟教会我的事情》(Things a Little Bird Taught Me)。
TIME
时代公司
Founders:Henry Luce, Briton Hadden
创始人：亨利•卢斯，布里顿•哈登
Yale classmates Luce and Haden quit their jobs at the Baltimore News in 1922 to develop TIME magazine, the first publication in what eventually became a stable of nearly 130 magazines, spanning fashion and pop culture to sports. Luce remained editor-in-chief of all Time Inc.'s titles until his retirement in 1964. Hadden died at the age of 31. Luce once said of his partnership with Hadden: "Somehow, despite the greatest differences in temperaments and even in interests, we had to work together. We were an organization. At the center of our lives -- our job, our function -- at that point everything we had belonged to each other."
1922年，耶鲁大学(Yale)同学卢斯和海登同时辞去他们在《巴尔的摩新闻报》(Baltimore News)的工作，联手创办了《时代》杂志(TIME)。这份出版物最终衍生出了一家拥有近130种杂志、横跨时尚、流行文化和体育等领域的媒体集团。卢斯出任时代公司旗下所有刊物的总编辑，直至1964年光荣退休。哈登在31岁时英年早逝。卢斯曾经这样描述他与哈登的伙伴关系：“尽管我们的性格，甚至兴趣几乎有天壤之别，但我们必须共同努力。我们是一个组织。我们的工作，我们担负的职能，居于我们生活的中心位置。就这一点而言，我们拥有彼此的一切。”
Google
谷歌
Founders arry Page, Sergey Brin
创始人：拉里•佩奇，谢尔盖•布林
Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) remains the quintessential Silicon Valley tale. Founded by Ph.D. students Page and Brin in a Stanford dorm room, the tech giant employs over 30,000, developing disparate-seeming products from online advertising tools -- the lion's share of revenues -- to self-driving cars. To launch the company the pair handed the CEO reins to Eric Schmidt (now chairman), but Page, who had served as president of product, in 2011 became chief executive. Brin runs the company's futuristic research lab Google X.
时至今日，斯坦福大学( Stanford)博士生佩奇和布林当年在宿舍中创办的谷歌公司仍然是典型的硅谷故事。从在线广告工具（这也是这家公司最大的一块收入）到无人驾驶轿车，这家目前拥有逾3万名员工的高科技巨头正在开发一系列看似毫无关联的产品。为了推动公司迅速成长，这对创业搭档把最高权杖交给了埃里克•施密特（现任董事长）。但在2011年，此前担任产品事务总裁的佩奇开始出任CEO。布林目前运营颇具未来派风格的研究实验室Google X。
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