Here they are: GeekWire’s 15 Newsmakers for 2012

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It was another big year for news in the Pacific Northwest technology community, and for the past few weeks we’ve been recognizing our 2012 GeekWire Newsmakers of the Year. It’s an annual tradition honoring the people who made the biggest impact in a variety of areas of technology — from startups to big tech companies and,… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Luke Friang keeps Zulily on the fast track

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Perhaps no Seattle startup is moving quite as fast as Zulily, the daily deal site for moms which just scored $85 million in funding at a whopping $1 billion valuation. The company has hired hundreds of employees; opened warehouses in Ohio and Nevada; launched service in Europe; and topped more than 10 million subscribers —… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Surface GM Panos Panay represents Microsoft’s new era

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Microsoft’s decision to develop its own tablet computer was a historic moment for a company that built one of the biggest businesses in the tech industry by focusing almost exclusively on software. Just as surprising: The company was able to keep the project under wraps until the Surface unveiling earlier this year. We’ll recognize the… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Greg Gottesman, Matt McIlwain lead the charge at Madrona

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At a time when many are proclaiming the death of the traditional venture capital firm, Madrona Venture Group seems to be hitting its stride. The Seattle firm, originally founded 17 years ago as a loose network of prominent angel investors, raised a $300 million fund in June. That marked the largest in Madrona’s history, and… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: UW president Michael Young shines a light on startups

Michael Young at the Center for Commercialization. UW photo

Are startups in the DNA of the University of Washington? If not right now, they will be once President Michael Young finished his work. Young, who took the helm of the state’s largest research university in July 2011 after a successful run at the University of Utah, has pledged to double the number of startups… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: The Oatmeal stirs up a crowd

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Webcomic artist Matthew Inman is known for his wicked and funny takes on modern life as The Oatmeal. But the Seattle resident made another mark in the tech world this year, by tapping into the power of crowdfunding to make a big impact — not once but twice. Inman raised more than $1.5 million for… Read More…

Newsmakers: Adam Brotman gives Starbucks a digital jolt

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Typically, around these parts at least, technological innovation is associated with tech titans like Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing. But there’s a bit of a technological revolution brewing at one of Seattle’s other big brands: Starbucks. Make no mistake about it, Starbucks is still very much about the coffee experience. But the world’s best known coffee… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Seaton Gras catches wave at SURF incubator

Seaton Gras at the SURF incubator space in downtown Seattle

Seaton Gras had dreamed for years of a place where entrepreneurs could gather to commiserate (and share war stories). And this year Gras finally made that dream a reality, opening up a 15,400 square-foot incubator on the 8th floor of Seattle’s Exchange Building. SURF incubator is not just an office space with a few desks… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Rand Fishkin points the way at SEOmoz

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Rand Fishkin has put SEOmoz on a possible path to become one of the Seattle region’s next public companies. Succeed or fail, his other contribution to the community will be his brutal transparency as he shares his lessons learned. The $18 million raised by SEOmoz in May wasn’t the largest venture capital financing for a Seattle… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Game vet Jordan Weisman shows the power of crowdfunding

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2012 will be remembered as the year that crowdfunding came into its own — letting creators of all sorts tap the power of online communities to provide a new funding source to projects that otherwise wouldn’t see the light of day. In the Seattle region, there was no better example than the revival of the classic… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Steve Singh guides Concur to new heights

Concur CEO Steve Singh

Concur Technologies doesn’t get as much attention as its publicly-traded Seattle area counterparts. After all, filling out travel and entertainment expense reports typically ranks right behind going to the dentist. But Concur’s technology, which helps automate expenses at hundreds of companies throughout the world, is getting some serious traction as it enters its 20th year… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Modumetal CEO Christina Lomasney looks to reinvent the steel industry

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Christina Lomasney isn’t out to change the way we share photos with one another, nor does she want to create a new mobile app for finding the best restaurants in your neighborhood.  Nope, she’s frankly got bigger fish to fry. A University of Washington-trained physicist who previously worked at Boeing, Lomasney believes that Modumetal’s nanolaminated… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos redefines boundaries

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It was another big year for Amazon.com, with the expansion of the company’s Kindle and Kindle Fire lineup, the continued growth of Amazon Web Services, major sales tax truces across the country, Amazon’s rapid growth and expansion in Seattle, and moves by the company’s core e-commerce business into new areas such as fashion and wine…. Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Apptio’s Sunny Gupta swings for the fences

Sunny Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Apptio

The thing we’ve always liked about Sunny Gupta is that he’s not playing “small ball.” Nope, the entrepreneur is taking a big swing for the fences with Apptio, a Bellevue company that’s developing new ways for corporate IT departments to manage costs. And Gupta, who previously co-founded iConclude, took a big step up to the plate… Read More…

Newsmakers 2012: Asteroid miner Chris Lewicki points Planetary Resources to a new industry in space

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They plan to send robots into space to mine asteroids — opening up a new frontier for natural resources and creating a trillion-dollar industry in the process. Planetary Resources’ mission would sound crazy if it wasn’t for the people behind it — led by “chief asteroid miner” Chris Lewicki as president and chief engineer. A… Read More…