Reid Hoffman (Professional Networks / VC) at LinkedIn — Palo Alto, United States

Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn in 2002, creating the first major professional social network. LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016. As a partner at Greylock Partners, Hoffman has invested in Airbnb, Facebook, Zynga, and many other iconic companies. He coined the concept of "blitzscaling" — the counterintuitive strategy of prioritizing speed over efficiency to capture winner-take-all markets.