Monica Selby
If you follow the NBA or watch ESPN at all (not me, my co-founder) then you know the airwaves and Twitterverse have been flooded with talk of the NBA’s “Mount Rushmore.” Lebron James started the debate when he proclaimed that he will be “on that Mountain” in his exclusive interview with NBA TV. Any list of the greatest will cause debate and ruffle some feathers, like James did with NBA legend Bill Russell.
Blah blah blah. Y’all know I only knew that stuff because of Nick, right? You learn a lot from your cofounders.
Anyway, it got us thinking. Who would be on tech’s Mt. Rushmore–Mt. Techmore, if you will. There will undoubtedly be some debate, but we like a little healthy arguing.
Here’s what we think:
On Mt. Techmore, Steve Jobs takes a prominent spot. Doesn’t he look like he was actually chiseled into that mountain?
Jobs is already the idol of tech. We all quote him like Scripture, and like a politician with Reagan, everyone wants to believe they’re aligned with the Jobs mentality. His company is also the largest tech company in the world, with a $489.76 billion market cap and $159.97 billion in top line revenue in 2013.
Bill Gates sits next to Jobs, and he’s another tech luminary you can hardly argue with. Say what you will about Microsoft (and poor Bill not being able to install Windows 8), but he is still the second richest man in the world.
That company he built, the one we all love to hate? Top line revenue of $73.75 billion in 2013 and a market cap of $302.32 billion. If only the rest of us were unsexy like that.
And, finally, the Google founders. Larry Page and Sergey Brin have arguably built the most influential company of our century. Google has changed the way we do the Internet, and the products they roll out, from Gmail to Android, are becoming a daily habit for most of us. The company had revenue of $49.96 billion in 2013 and the hockey stick growth chart we’re all chasing.
And Page and Brin themselves? Worth $23 billion and $22.8 billion respectively. Not bad for two guys whose motto was, “Don’t be evil.”
Every culture has their own idols and heroes, and tech is no different. Without the contributions of the men on Mt. Techmore, the world would be a different place. There are others, of course. For instance, a certain Harvard dropout whose name rhymes with “duckerberg.”
What do you think? Who would be on your Mt. Techmore?
All financial info sourced here.
