Who are you following in Twitter? Once you
collect you favorite celebrities, pundits and comedians, it might be time to
focus on your business.
There is a lot to learn from Twitter even in 140
characters.
Here are the top 10 tech investors you should be following on
Twitter.
Ashton Kutcher @aplusk
He's not just a
TV star and master of the Punk'd prank, he's also a serious tech investor. As
an "Angel Investor" Ashton will pick and choose who he wants to sink
money into. He currently has over 14 million followers. It might be hard to get
his attention in that crowd but you can certainly keep track of what he's up
to.
Richard Branson @richardbranson
As founder of
Virgin Airlines, Richard has redefined first class air travel. Thanks to his
success he is open to new ventures through his Virgin Investments. He is the
very definition of a risk-taking entrepreneur.
Al Gore @algore
Got a new tech
idea that is "green?" You might be able to rope in former Vice
President Al Gore who has made a second career in promoting eco-friendly
industries. His firm is Generation Investment Management and if you have an
idea that is zero carbon footprint rated send him a tweet.
Mark Cuban @mcuban
Each week on
"Shark Tank", Mark Cuban shows what an angel investor is all about. Folks
with business ideas come to him, pitch their ideas and try to convince him to
invest in their companies. There have
been many success stories to come out of the "tank" but that's not
the only place he looks for possible investments.
Fred Wilson @fredwilson
His company,
Union Square Ventures, is described as a "early stage venture capital
firm." This means Fred likes to get in on the ground floor. IT is their
primary focus and in the pasts 17 years Union Square Ventures has helped over
40 companies get up and running.
Om Malik @om
Om is a general
partner at True Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that has
around $600 million in funds to play around with. According to Crunch Base, the firm "..maintains
a strong founder community and offers innovative educational opportunities to
its portfolio, helping entrepreneurs achieve higher levels of success and
impact."
Chris
Sacca @sacca
His company, Lowercase
Capital, not only offers funds for start-ups and late-stage companies but they
also pride themselves on their advisory role. Chris is not someone who is just
going to write a check and walk away.
Kevin
Rose @kevinrose
Google isn't just a search
engine. They've also got money to invest. Among the type of start-ups that
Google Ventures invests in are Internet (obviously), software, hardware,
clean-tech, bio-tech and health care. Their goal is to invest at least $100 million
a year. Not too shabby.
Evan
Williams @ev
The Obvious Corporation that
Evan is a part of was founded in 2006. Since then it has dedicated itself in
helping companies create new cutting edge technologies "which have the
power to affect individuals, organizations and society." Since Obvious was
behind the creation of Twitter, it stands to reason you should be following
Evan.
Guy
Kawasaki @GuyKawasaki
When you consider that Apple
was started in a garage, it makes sense for this venture capital firm to be so
named. Since setting up shop in 2005, Guy has lead his company through many
important vestments covering a wide range of tech start-ups.
