Top 25 Innovators Entrepreneurs

Washington State is no stranger to innovation. Experts in state history can list local inventors, entrepreneurs and business people who have changed the way the world operates. Seattle Business has released their list of the top 25 entrepreneurs for 2010 in their November 2009 article.

The pick of the crop is Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com and listed as Entrepreneur of the Year. Bezos is the mastermind behind the world’s largest online retailer. Then created the Kindle, one of the industry’s top ebook readers. Now the company is working to change the way people use their computer software with a plan to implement “cloud computing.” When asked about Bezos’ innovation approach his reply was to start first with the customer’s needs and then focus on a delivery strategy.

The second name on the list is the Chairman, President & CEO of Acucela Inc. A respected ophthalmologist, Kubota has been working on a breakthrough treatment for eye conditions that cause blindness.

Tamsin Jolly of Decagon Devices is the CEO of a company that produces sensors to serve a variety of needs. There are soil moisture sensors, food quality sensors, environmental sensors, and even a sensor that has made a trip to Mars.

The CEO of Appito is a repeat entrepreneur starting Vigor Technology, iConclude, and now Appito. Sunny Gupta knows how to successfully start a valid venture. Gupta’s expertise is in software applications and he makes millions of dollars doing it.

Bart Nelson of Nelson Irrigation Crop is innovating the way argiculture is watered. However, the company’s products are versatile and can be used in other industries as well.

The energy field in Redmond, Washington has CEO of Prometheus Energy, Kirt Montague. His company takes landfill gas and converts it to natural gas.

Advertising in Seattle has Aaron Finn, CEO of AdReady. His company is working to make advertising for convenient and cost effective for consumers.

Co-founders of Signature Genomic Laboratories in Spokane have made advances in human genome bioscience where many others have come up short. Lisa Shaffer & Dr. Bassem A. Bejjani and their SignatureChip are working to test for genetic defects in children.

CEO of Swype Inc, Mike McSherry, is working on an ingenius way of changing the way we type. Instead of the hunt and peck approach, this new tech will have users gliding across a touch screen to do their typing.

Architects Chris Pardo and Dave Biddle of Pb Elemental are changing the view of housing in Seattle. Big Fish games is generating new computer games because of the leadership of businessmen Jeremy Lewis and Paul Thelen. Dr. Mitchell H. Gold of Dendreon Corp is working on a vaccine that will use the body’s immune system to kill cancer.

Inventor David Giuliani has over 12 patents and is now working at Pacific Bioscience Laboratories to promote their praised Clarisonic Skin Care System.

DenHaus Inc.’s CEO, Sarah Pierce, creates stylish dog crates that complement interior design. Award-winning Dr. Leroy Hood of Institute for Systems Biology leads a school for genetic science. Gist founder T.A. McCann is an ex-Mircosoft employee creating organizational software. Ben Straley and Pete Parsons of Meteor Solutions helps company’s track their advertising online. Scott Rosa of Skytap specializes in cloud testing software that will be used in the new Windows 7.

Revoluntary ideas such as storing energy inside batteries where the energy will later be restored to the power grid are championed by leaders like Dave Curry of Demand Energy Networks.

Sunil Garg, a student from UW, has generated a way for up to four users to share a computer in third world countries. Ben Slivka and Lou Gray have revamped the way young, elementary children learn with DreamBox Learning. Ben Huh creates fun websites that entertain with Pet Holdings Inc. Mixing digital gaming, Smith & Tinker’s Nanovor device is the project of CEO Jordan Weisman. Serial entrepreneur Jeremy Jaech is working to make more computer’s energy friendly.

Number 25 on the list, Edmund Schweitzer III is an innovator of smart-grid technology long before it had that name.