喬希?詹姆斯????

年齡：38歲

城市：美國猶他州鹽湖城

????“第二硅谷”正迅速成為鹽湖城的非正式昵稱，因為許多加利福尼亞州的高科技企業——包括Adobe公司、易趣網（Ebay）、甲骨文公司（Oracle）、Twitter和美國藝電公司（Electronic Arts）等——都在這里擴大了業務或設立了新的部門。

????而且，他們有充分的理由這么做。畢竟鹽湖城的稅率全美最低，并且猶他大學（University of Utah）是美國最著名的成功創業者搖籃。布魯金斯研究所（Brookings Institute）稱該地區工作人口的生產效率在美國居于首位。

????此外，該地區到處都是充滿雄心壯志的年輕創業者，夢想著有朝一日能成為下一個喬希?詹姆斯。

????二十世紀九十年代初，現年38歲的詹姆斯在就讀伯明翰楊大學（Brigham Young University）期間成立了Omniture軟件公司。該公司位于鹽湖城郊區，之后規模擴大到2,000多名員工，并與美國在線（AOL）、沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）、美國運通（American Express）和福特（Ford）等公司建立了合作關系。

????2009年， Adobe公司斥資18億美元收購該公司。但被稱為“技術宗師”的詹姆斯卻表示，他當時覺得出售Omniture并不是什么令人激動的事；不過，“投資者對Adobe公司給出的價格非常感興趣，而面對能在一夜之間為他們帶來100%收益的機會，作為公司經營者，很難提出反對意見。”

????目前，在Adobe短暫工作一段時間之后，詹姆斯決定從頭再來。最近，他收購了商業智能公司Corda，并計劃在7月13日為這家120人的公司更換字號。

????詹姆斯表示，他希望“改變商業智能發揮作用的方式”。他認為即便在日益數字化的時代，CEO們依然無法直接獲得實時信息。

????詹姆斯表示：“CEO必須依賴IT部門提供信息，但這些信息之前都經過他們的修改、篩選和編撰。好像所有人都接受了一個事實：CEO只能坐等IT部門為他們發送報告。但實際上并不是只有這一座獨木橋。”

????從頭再來對于詹姆斯個人來說也是一個挑戰。他曾公開表示自己喜歡創立公司，白手起家。

????詹姆斯表示：“我當初離開Omniture時，收到了400多封員工發來的電子郵件，他們都說，這是他們工作過的最優秀的公司。我希望能再造一家這樣的公司。”

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Josh James

Age: 38

City: Salt Lake City, Utah

????Salt Lake City's unofficial nickname is quickly becoming the "Silicon Slopes," as several California tech companies -- including Adobe, Ebay, Oracle, Twitter and Electronic Arts -- have expanded or opened facilities there.

????And why wouldn't they? The city's taxes are among the lowest in America and the University of Utah leads the nation's universities in creating successful start-ups. The Brookings Institute calls the area's workforce the most productive in America.

????The region is also slammed with young entrepreneurs who want to be the next Josh James.

????James, 38, founded Omniture, a software company, during his days at Brigham Young University in the early 1990s. The company -- based in the suburbs of Salt Lake City -- grew to more than 2,000 employees while working for AOL, Wal-Mart, American Express and Ford.

????The company was bought by Adobe in 2009 for $1.8 billion in cash. The tech guru said he wasn't excited to sell Omniture, but the offer was "something our investors were interested in, and it's difficult to make an argument that you shouldn't give them a 100% windfall in one day."

????Now, after a brief stint working for Adobe, he's starting anew. James recently bought Corda, a business intelligence company, and plans to unveil a new name for the 120-employee company on July 13.

????James says he wants to "change the way business intelligence works." He said CEOs often lack direct access to live information, even in an increasingly digital world.

????"You're beholden to IT people getting you the information that's been massaged and cleansed and spun," James said. "Everyone has kind of resigned themselves to the fact that you have to wait for IT to send you a report. But it doesn't have to be a one-way street."

????It's also a personal challenge for James, who admittedly loves building companies and starting from scratch.

????"When I left Omniture, I had over 400 emails from employees saying this was the best place I've ever worked," James said. "I want to do that again."

路易斯?穆尼奧斯

年齡：51歲

城市：哥倫比亞波哥大市

????哥倫比亞咖啡在全球的代言人是一位名叫Juan Valdez的咖啡種植園主——這是為推銷哥倫比亞最著名的出口產品而虛構的一個人物。而Juan Valdez咖啡的代言人則是51歲的CEO路易斯?穆尼奧斯。

????五年前，為提高哥倫比亞原產咖啡的收益和聲譽，哥倫比亞咖啡聯合會（Colombian Coffee Federation）創建了Juan Valdez公司。超過500,000家咖啡制造商都將Juan Valdez作為主打品牌，其中20,000家持有該品牌的少量股份。

????Juan Valdez公司位于哥倫比亞繁華的首都波哥大，2010年公司總收入達4,700萬美元。目前，該公司的業務遍及七個國家，并擁有164家獨立商店，公司產品在2,000多個零售市場中均有銷售。

????穆尼奧斯表示：“Juan Valdez最初只是作為哥倫比亞咖啡的象征，而現在它已經成為一個真正的品牌。”

????與此同時，由于波哥大擁有優秀的年輕勞動力，同時政府推行了利于商貿發展的政策，麥當勞（McDonald's）和花旗銀行（Citibank）等跨國公司也都在該市設立了辦事機構。

????要在全球推廣Juan Valdez品牌，尤其是在全球經濟衰退的背景下，面臨著諸多困難。穆尼奧斯表示，越來越多的人選擇批量購買咖啡，在家中沖泡，而放棄購買價格昂貴的軟飲料。他認為，這與哥倫比亞市場恰恰相反，哥倫比亞的咖啡愛好者仍然熱衷于嘗鮮。

????穆尼奧斯表示，正因為如此，Juan Valdez“改變了策略，轉而拓寬零售市場。”公司在美洲增加了機場零售點，服務于進進出出的乘客。他表示，公司也在研究亞洲市場，并與墨西哥和中美洲國家建立了合作伙伴關系。

????穆尼奧斯表示：“目前，我們的發展情況還不錯，而且增長穩定。我們還在思考，并正在為市場增加價值。”

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Luis Munoz

Age: 51

City: Bogota, Colombia

????The worldwide face of Colombian coffee is Juan Valdez -- a fictional coffee grower created to market the nation's most famous export. And the face of Juan Valdez is 51-year old CEO Luis Munoz.

????Juan Valdez is a five-year old company created by the Colombian Coffee Federation to boost revenue and prestige for Colombian grown coffee. More than 500,000 coffee producers -- with about 20,000 owning small shares of the company -- are represented by Juan Valdez Coffees.

????Based in Bogota, the country's booming capital city, Juan Valdez brought in $47 million during 2010. It now operates in seven countries, has 164 standalone stores, and is sold in more than 2,000 retail markets.

????"Juan Valdez went from just being a symbol of Colombian coffee to being a real brand," Munoz said.

????Meanwhile, multinationals such as McDonald's and Citibank are moving offices to Bogota for its young, talented workforce and business-friendly government policies.

????Taking the Juan Valdez brand worldwide -- especially in the midst of an economic recession -- has brought challenges. More people are buying coffee in bulk and brewing at home instead of purchasing pricey solo drinks, Munoz said. That contrasts with the Colombian market, where coffee drinkers are still mesmerized by novel drinks, Munoz said.

????So Juan Valdez has "changed strategy and become more present in retail points," Munoz said. The company has added airport locations in America for travelers on the go. Juan Valdez is also studying the Asian market and creating partnerships in Mexico and Central America, Munoz said.

????"So far we're doing well and growing steadily," Munoz said. "We're thinking, dreaming and adding value to the market."

賈揚?辛格

年齡：37歲

城市：印度古爾岡市

????印度的古爾岡曾經是首都新德里一個默默無聞的郊區，而最近幾年，這里已經成為一個商業中心，到處都是正在籌備的新店鋪，熱火朝天的房地產開發項目，以及新建的高檔餐廳。37歲的創業酒店顧問賈揚?辛格在這里如魚得水。他在古爾岡成立了服務業咨詢公司——國際飯店合伙公司（International Hospitality Partners）。

????辛格表示：“幾乎每10到15天，古爾岡的面貌就會發生新的變化。到處都是熱火朝天的建筑工地。所以，選擇在這里落腳完全符合我們的戰略需要。”

????目前，IHP正在充分利用家鄉經濟騰飛的良機，幫助酒店、飯館、企業餐廳和其他服務類公司招聘和培訓員工。公司甚至會幫助客戶設計必要的設施，甚至包括菜單的設計。辛格還與一位合作伙伴成立了一個葡萄酒中心，專門培訓侍酒師和葡萄酒專員。僅僅幾年前，印度人對葡萄酒專員這個職業還聞所未聞。

????辛格曾在泰姬酒店集團（Taj Hotel group）擔任過四年營銷總監。IHP可以完美結合他的專業知識和企業家的直覺。十年前，他曾嘗試涉足網絡領域，成立了一個名為Razorfinish.com的旅游折扣網站，不過最終未能取得成功。

????盡管IHP的業務已經足以讓辛格忙的團團轉了，不過目前他依然在與其他酒店進行談判，希望尋求機會利用技術來改進飯店業務。去年，他成立了一家求職網站，專門面向需要招聘廚師的飯店。他希望這個網站能在一年內實現盈利，招聘新員工的公司將是該網站的主要利潤來源。

????辛格認為：“你不能只看到目前的成功，而要主動尋找機會，并敢于承擔商業風險。我們的一切成功都有賴于冒險。”

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Jayant Singh

Age: 37

City: Gurgaon, India

????In recent years Gurgaon, India -- once a sleepy suburb of New Delhi -- has emerged as a business center in its own right, bustling with corporations setting up shop, ambitious real estate developments, and new upscale restaurants. The city is the perfect market for 37-year old Jayant Singh, an entrepreneurial hotel consultant who launched International Hospitality Partners, a service-industry consultancy in Gurgaon.

????"Every 10 or 15 days, the entire landscape of Gurgaon is changing. There's some kind of construction happening around at all times," Singh said. "So it makes perfect strategic sense for us to be there."

????Today, IHP is capitalizing on the business boom in its home city by helping hotels, restaurants, corporate cafeterias, and other service-sector companies hire and train employees. The company also will help its customers design their facilities, even help plan menus. Singh and a partner also opened a wine center to train sommeliers and wine stewards, a profession that was almost unheard of in India just a few years ago.

????For Singh, who worked as a marketing executive for the Taj Hotel group for four years, IHP is the perfect vehicle for combining his expertise and his entrepreneurial instincts. A decade ago, he tried his hand as a dot-com founder, launching a discount travel website called Razorfinish.com that ultimately failed.

????And while IHP has more than enough business to keep Singh hopping -- he's currently in negotiations to manage other hotels -- he's still pursuing opportunities to use technology to improve the hospitality business. Last year, he started a job search website for restaurateurs looking to hire chefs. He hopes the website will be profitable within a year, with revenues from firms looking for new employees.

????"You cannot think of short-term success," Singh said. "You have to see where the opportunities lie and take business risks. Everything we've done successfully came from taking a risk."

喬希?威廉姆斯

年齡：31歲

城市：德克薩斯奧斯汀市

????長期以來，奧斯汀市一直以其奇特的文化和濃厚的音樂氣息而聞名，而隨著諸多創業企業和高科技公司涌入這一座美國科技最發達的城市，這里也迅速成為新的商業中心。

????比如奧斯汀每年舉辦的“西南偏南”音樂節（South by Southwest festival）最開始是一項純粹的音樂活動，后來衍生出了一個小型多媒體峰會，去年僅其科技活動便吸引了20,000人參加。過去20年，奧斯汀的人口增長了一倍。德克薩斯大學（The University of Texas）培養出大量優秀的創新人才，在全世界都具有較高的競爭力。而且，該市不征收州所得稅。

????總而言之，對于喬希?威廉姆斯和他在2008年成立的社交媒體創業公司Gowalla來說，奧斯汀是最理想的地點。

????威廉姆斯表示：“不論是創業還是生活，奧斯汀都是美國最迷人的城市之一，唯一可以抱怨的或許就是華氏105度（40.56°C——譯注）的氣溫。”

????威廉姆斯是在太浩湖旅游時，產生了創建Gowalla的靈感。當時他用手機拍攝了一張低空云團的照片，希望與他的父親分享。當時的優美畫面啟發了威廉姆斯，他希望能創建一項社交媒體服務，允許用戶查看業務、收錄美好記憶，并與朋友保持聯系，這一想法在一年后趨于成熟。

????目前，Gowalla擁有超過100萬用戶和33名員工，但依然遠遠落后于同行Foursquare。Foursquare公司目前擁有超過1,000萬用戶和約70名員工。不過，威廉姆斯的目標是用戶數量“突破1,000萬”。

????但Gowalla公司正面臨艱巨的挑戰。這項服務在城市地區頗受時尚、年輕的專業人員歡迎，但在較小的城市和美國偏遠地區卻遭到冷遇。

????威廉姆斯表示：“早期用戶非常了解Gowalla或者Foursquare的服務。現在的問題是，我們如何走出舊金山、奧斯汀和紐約，并在世界其他地方得到更多主流消費者的認可？”

????譯者：劉進龍

Josh Williams

Age: 31

City: Austin, Texas

????Austin -- long known for its quirky culture and stellar music scene -- has surged in business circles, as startups and tech companies flock to one of America's most technologically advanced cities.

????Consider this: the annual South by Southwest festival, which started as a music event and later spawned a small multimedia summit, attracted some 20,000 attendees last year to its tech affair alone. Austin's population has doubled in the past 20 years. The University of Texas provides a talented crop of innovators that compete worldwide. There is no state income tax.

????In other words, it is the perfect place for a social media startup like Gowalla, founded in 2008 by Josh Williams.

????"It's one of the most fantastic cities in the United States, both from an entrepreneurial perspective and just as a wonderful city to live in," said Williams. "The only thing to complain about is the 105-degree weather."

????Williams' inspiration to create Gowalla came during a trip to Lake Tahoe, where he snapped a camera phone picture of a low-hanging cloud and wanted to share it with his dad. The picturesque scene inspired Williams to create a social media service that would allow users to review businesses, document memories, and keep in touch with friends, which came to fruition one year later.

????Gowalla now has more than 1 million users and 33 employees, though it lags behind Foursquare, which has more than 10 million users and about 70 employees. Williams' goal is "north of 10 million" users."

????But Gowalla faces a formidable challenge. The service is popular in urban areas with trendy, young professionals but struggles in smaller cities and rural America.

????"The early adopters certainly knew what Gowalla or Foursquare was," Williams said. "Now, it's how do we move beyond the San Francisco, Austin, and New Yorks of the world and develop a more mainstream understanding?"