6 Super Stars of Web 2.0
I attended the Future of Web Applications (FOWA 08) conference in Miami and it provide d great insight into Web 2.0 and social media technology than. Most 
importantly is to see this trend through its leaders - the super stars of Web 2.0 represent a major shift in business values and culture. This list leaves out many more amazing folks than it includes; but it represent a new wave of values. Openness, passion, striving to make other peoples lives better, to add value. Web 2.0 makes that possible on many levels.
- The open source technology frameworks and APIs to build and share services and information.
- Infrastructure, cloud computing, scalability with open source platforms.
- Market reach through networks of people and influencers nearly free of brand marketing, word of mouth, viral social media.
- The common desire to see each other success and to mutually benefit from each other’s progress.
It comes down to making really great stuff that people can use, making it free, helping each other and if your ‘thing’ is really ‘all that’ you are going to be incredibly valuable. The whole movement seems to put significance behind something we used to reserve just for vacations and occasional weekends: Happiness.
1. Kevin Rose
Kevin Rose was the co-host of Tech TV and perhaps one of the most famous Web 2.0 Super Stars. He’s a very pleasant guy, always smiling and relaxed, 
Kevin represents a level of success many 20-something tech folks want to have - to be successful without selling out (wearing suits, haircuts, not drinking on camera).
He is the founder and chief architect of Digg. Kevin started Digg in September 2004 as a personal project. His initial idea was to conduct a social experiment in how masses of users could control and promote news and other content on the Web, without external editorial control. After a very short time, he realized the power of his idea, as Digg was becoming a resource for breaking news stories and developed a strong user following.
Kevin is also a co-founder of the Internet Television Network Revision3 where as a member of the board he provides strategic direction to the company.
2. Matt Mullenweg
Matt just turned 24 and his WordPress project has become an icon of Web 2.0. From my blog to Yahoo; global brands to soccer mom’s WordPress is everywhere and this project has 
become a role model of open source values. Matt says “everything that is good should be free”, and by making his projects free he has make an important contribution that has accelerated Web 2.0 growth.
The project began in 2002 when he wasn’t satisfied with b2/cafelog blogging software and decided to upgrade the codebase regarding typographic entities and cleaner permalinks. Soon after he announced his plan to revamp the software and was soon joined by Mike Little and Michel Valdrighi, the b2/cafelog creators, to start WordPress. Matt was recruited by CNN in 2004 to implement WordPress. He left in 2005 to form his company Automattic. Matt was named #16 of the 50 Most Important People on the Web by PC World, the youngest on the list. A rumor went around he turned down a $200 million offer to buy his company. Now that’s a Web 2.0 Super Hero, read his blog at PhotoMatt.net.
3. Emily Boyd
Emily Boyd, co-founder & interface designer for Remember The Milk - the coolest personal productivity tool of Web 2.0. I met Emily and her partners (Omar and Bob the monkey) at the FOWA conference in Miami. She is the esse
nse of what Web 2.0 is. There is nothing plastic, her kindness, modesty and transparency is compelling. This is the character that would have always been the unseen hero, the underdog. Web 2.0 allows honest brilliance and desire to add value and create something useful result in success. The social web allows goodness to prevail.
Aside from all the goody-toody stuff; enough said - RTM kicks but. To think two people (Bob doesn’t count, he’s a stuffed animal) built such a killer app; leveraging all the coolest trends in Web 2.0 and it has become namesake in Silicon Valley even though they are in Sydney Australia, is hard to fathom. The fact that this application ’spanks’ some highly funded projects I’ve done makes me a little embarrassed.
Emily is also the founder of MatMice, a website which has been used by more than one million children worldwide to create their own webpage’s. She has received a number of awards for her work, and is a former NSW Young Australian of the Year.
4. Blaine Cook
Blaine Cook is so cool its practically - not cool. Another FOWA speaker; his presentation was soft spoken, a hint of nervousness but was absorbing. Its cle
ar that he loves what he does, he loves code, he absolutely loves Ruby on Rails. His self-demeaning quips about problems with Twitter are disarming. He admits that his level of passion and dedication isn’t recommended for any sustained period; but it is what it is.
Blaine’s philosophy on web development is a key attribute of Web 2.0 success. Build quick and iterate, longer it takes the more feature creep, cache it, shard it (scale) etc. Most important: Simpler. Cut it. Yagtonic (or something) meaning “You aren’t going to need it”. Building a great site is all about execution.
5. Gary Vaynerchuk
Another speaker at the FOWA Miami conference and Gary Vaynerchuk is the star of Wine Library TV. I had seen the show before and its wasn’t clear why he was a speaking at a Web 2.0 technology event. Gary could have been satisfied with his success running the family wine business but he saw the huge potential of Web 2.0. He considered starting a sports related venture but he knew that wine is what he loves so he started his video blog showing that the wine experience can be exciting for everyone. His show has become and online phenomenon averaging 50,000 unique visitors a month.
Gary is like a smaller version of Tony Robbins; his energy and wit pull the audience in and his message isn’t so much about wine but he leverages his success story with WineLibrary.tv to illustrate the amazing opportunity that everyone has; how technology and Web 2.0 have provided equal access to the masses. Its all about personal brand, about giving it everything you’ve got, its all about people. Gary answers thousands of emails every week. He has been on Conan O’brian, the Ellen Degeneres Show, and Nightline to name a few (rumor has it he’s represented by the same agency as Brad Pitt!). You may not consider the ripe old age of 32 a vintage but Gary Vaynerchuk has carved a niche and built a powerful brand leveraging the essence of Web 2.0.
6. Cal Henderson
At 27 Cal Henderson is an energetic speaker and believes that robots will get really smart and kill us all. His insights on software development automation, dashboards and making stuff usable on the operations side are brilliant but ever keeping his fun style. He is clearly passionate about code and people and… robots. He runs over his time and can’t stop; the audience cheerfully supports him and somehow ties it all back into robots, we should use them (automation, dashboards, reports) while we can before they kill us.
He’s best known for being the chief software architect for Flickr (he was with Ludicorp that was acquired by Yahoo). Flickr currently hosts over 2 billion images and is the most popular photo sharing service on the Web. What most people don’t know is that Flickr emerged out of tools originally created for Ludicorp’s Game Neverending, a web-based massively multiplayer online game. Flickr proved a more feasible project and ultimately Game Neverending was shelved. He also wrote a fantastic book titled Building Scalable Websites - O’Reilly Media.
