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Tweeting to the Top: Evan Williams, Twitter

That Twitter thing just might start catching on.

Build it -- and they will come. If ever a company has cashed in on that popular slogan, it's Twitter. Ignoring early critics who didn't get why anyone should care about a service that limits messages to 140 characters or fewer, cofounders Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams kept refining the free microblogging service and saw its popularity skyrocket. Williams is CEO, but credit for Twitter's achievements really goes to its entire founding triumvirate.

The past 12 months have been a breakout year for Twitter not only in the United States but around the world.

Source: Reuters

When other communication links were cut or curtailed during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and in the aftermath of the Iranian elections, people turned to Twitter to get the word out and get reports from outside the conflicts.

Not that everyone has caught Twitter fever. Comedian Liz Feldman recently did a humorous bit on "The Jay Leno Show," trying to teach Twitter to a group of senior citizens. The seniors began hopelessly sandbagged, looking clueless in the face of techno-speak like "status updates," "SMS messages" and "social networking." But by the end, they seemed genuinely excited to have tweeted. That all this was fodder for Leno's show only underscores the service's popularity.

The past year also saw lots of media hand-wringing in stories (guilty!) wondering when Twitter will start to add advertising, charge for services or do anything to prove it's a viable business.

Twitter's response? Stick to its plan. The company said it's in no rush to introduce advertising: Look for it next year.

As for those still wondering whether Twitter is a viable business -- you betcha, judging from the pack of investors that lined up to add a second round of funding to the startup's coffers. The company called the round, rumored to total $100 million, "significant."

Twitter is also evolving. In addition to the many third-party applications now available thanks to its open API (define), the company is testing new management and geolocation features.

The addition of ads may also ensure that next year's Twitter is different than the one to which tweeters are flocking today. Will that stymie or stimulate growth? We won't know the answer for a while, but the company's vision of sticking to what it thinks users will find most useful is an encouraging foundation -- and so far, it's been nothing but successful.

Page 2: Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com

Page 3: Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat

Page 4: Evan Williams, Twitter

Page 5: Steve Jobs, Apple

Page 6: Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Page 7: Tim O'Reilly, O'Reilly Media

Page 8: Paul Otellini, Intel

Page 9: John Chambers, Cisco

Page 10: Paul Maritz, VMware

Page 11: Carol Bartz, Yahoo

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