Top 10 people of the People (Influencers) of the Decade

This is a continuation of the "Top 10" lists of the decade. The earlier posts are:

• Top Technology Disruptions
• Top Business News
• Top US News
• Top World News
• Top Medicine / Healthcare News

Here are the top 10 People of the last decade. Note: If the personality is already included in another list, they are not repeated here. For example, Barack Obama, Narendra Modi or Pope Francis would not be on this list. While the list has a predominant focus on Technology and Silicon Valley, it is not influenced by my bias. I truly believe these people were the top influencers of the last decade.

1. Steve Jobs. He died in October 2011. He is the pioneer of the personal computer. He is considered a visionary and genius. He oversaw the launch of revolutionary products like the iPod and iPhone. He literally brought the company from the brink of extinction to its current position of among the Most valuable companies int the world.

2. Satya Nadella. He was appointed Microsoft CEO when the company was teetering and the technology was shifting towards purchasing "best of breed" and cloud services. Nadella masterfully maneuvered the Microsoft ship in the direction of cooperation with the intent of solving customer pain points. Today, Microsoft is among the Top 5 most valuable companies in the world.

3. Sundar Pichai. He became CEO of Google (one of the world's top 5 brands and among the most admired companies in the world) in 2015. He navigated the company through turbulent times: fines for anti-trust violations in the EU; congressional hearings; workers protesting over a US military project; developing a censored version of its search engine for China. In 2019, he was named the CEO of the parent company, Alphabet.

4. Jeff Bezos. Amazon was founded and was thriving before this decade. However, it was in this decade that it grew to be among the Top 5 most valuable companies in the world. Here is one of the quotes attributed to him, "I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. I suspected I would always be haunted to a decision not to try at all." 

5. Elon Musk. Any entrepreneur's dream is to have their startup become a "unicorn" (has a valuation of over a billion dollars). Elon Musk is a rare breed to have multiple unicorns: PayPal (which he sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002); SpaceX (with a valuation of $33b) and Tesla (with a valuation of $77b). He is constantly proposing big, bold dreams: ideas to change the world. These include Hyperloop (that could blast passenger-packed pods through long tubes at 760 mph, using energy derived from the Sun); colonizing Mars (that could, one day, support 80,000+ people); renewable energy.

6. Rose McGowan. Even though the #MeToo movement was mentioned in the Top US News of the decade post, it was Rose's public accusation of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault that spawned the "MeToo" movement. Her voice led to what is now a historic reckoning that is sweeping not just the film industry, but other industries too.

7. Jack Ma. As the Chairman of Alibaba Group, he has grown it to become Asia's most valuable listed company - employing over 100,000 people. The Jack Ma foundation is among the Top 10 philanthropic organizations in the world.

8. Malala Yousafzai. She is a Pakistani education advocate, who at the age of 17 (in 2014) became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban. Nine months after being shot by the Taliban, she gave a speech at the United Nations where she highlighted her focus on education and women's rights and urged the world leaders to change their policies.

9. Edward Snowden. A former National Security Agency subcontractor who leaked top-secret information about NSA surveillance activities. In the eyes of the US Government, he is a convicted felon. He makes this list because he sparked an overdue debate on national security and individual privacy; the "Snowden Effect" has had an impact on the technology industry and consumer products (improved security); he has emboldened more whistleblowers to come forward - including the one that resulted in Trump getting impeached by the Congress.

10. Travis Kalanick. I wrestled with this the most. He is said to have allowed a culture of bullying and harassment toward women to fester. Then there was the intellectual property lawsuit with Alphabet over self-driving cars. Nevertheless, he was responsible for spawning the sharing economy - where technology is used to share excess capacity to just about anyone, anytime, anywhere. 

A Sad Day ...

A hero, an entertainer, a visionary inventor, an inveterate entrepreneur, a champion, a mahatma of technology breathed his last today. Steve Jobs single handedly defined global digital culture. He had an impact not just how engineers consume technology, but how our grandmothers interact with technology. He achieved the Holy Grail of bridging the gap between entertainers and consumers - just when it seemed that the entertainment industry was preparing for war over Digital Rights Management.

Thank You, Steve Jobs for everything that you have done. I join the billions around the world saluting you.

One more thing .... we will sorely miss you ...

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs

The world heard your tirade against RIM and Android on Monday. I understand that you are nervous over the fact that Android Sales have overtaken iPhone. As any good sales person would, you injected some FUD to deflect the positive press that Android has been receiving.

But it is just that - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Usually, this is a sign of weakness - conceding to the enemy and "retaliating" with FUD. Fundamentally, your rant can be distilled to two issues:

1. Fragmentation of Android resulting in developers spending more time testing than adding features
2. Multiple Android Markets making it confusing for end users and developers

As a developer who has applications on both iOS and Android, I can tell you that I do not have the issue of having to "port" my Android code to multiple Android platforms. My code runs as-is across all Android devices.

Now, regarding the issue of multiple Android Markets, I think this is an advantage for Android. As a developer, this gives me multiple channels to have my app get downloaded. It is a matter of time before these markets provide an svn repository for my "bundle" (which includes screen shots, descriptions and the .apk file) that I simply upload to the various markets. The end-user can find the app within their context (either GetJar or Amazon or Google). Moreover, this keeps Google on its toes to constantly innovate. Competition always brings the best out in people.

You have always eschewed "open" and taken the I-know-what-is-best-for-you approach. The success of Linux for desktops/severs did not necessarily raise your antennae because the "fight" was for a much smaller percentage (Windows owns 90+% of the market. Linux/MacOS and others were competing for the scraps). However, the world of Smart Phones is a new era and an opportunity for "world dominance". Things were going well until Android started gaining momentum and started eclipsing the iPhone. Thus, the need for the rant.

I continue to be in awe of your genius. Your ability to provide clear thinking to a befuddled marketplace is phenomenal. Your legacy to our world of technology is unparalleled. So, you can understand my bewilderment with your scare tactics.

I believe there is room for two players in the market (three if RIM gets their act together quickly). Windows 7 is probably late to the party. However, if RIM does not watch out, the third player could well be Windows Phone 7. So, my request to you is to leave Android alone and focus on things that you have control over improving:

• Reduce (or even remove) the approval time for apps on iTunes
• Add recommendations to the iTunes store (similar to Amazon) including percentage of people who download the app, percentage of people who bought other apps, etc.

With Best Wishes,