16. Chris Larsen, co-founder and CEO, OpenCoin Chris Larsen has been disrupting the financial services industry for so long it’s no surprise he’s into — what else? — virtual currency. The brains behind E-loan and Prosper now has launched an open platform for currency exchange. It handles every currency you can think of — dollars, yen, yuan, bitcoins — and a few you haven’t, such as ripples, the platform’s own currency. Larsen certainly shook up the loan business, and online lenders — some good, others not so good — are all over the web now. The same could be true for OpenCoin and ripples. 17. Sam Altman, executive vice president of mobile, Green Dot/GoBank Sam Altman arrived at Green Dot by way of acquisition: Loopt, a location-based mobile social networking platform was acquired by Green Dot in early 2012. Not bad for a company founded by Altman during his sophomore year at Stanford University. Green Dot wasted no time putting Altman to work on a mobile-first bank account, GoBank. Altman helicoptered in (only he will get that joke) and brought the simplicity, fun, and contextual aspects of Loopt into Green Dot’s platform, which is set to open its doors Independence [...]
↧