Esther brings a unique set of talents and experiences to her role as moderator of this series. With a BA in economics at Harvard and five years' experience on Wall Street, she is trained to recognize the power and the flaws in any business model.

With 23 years of experience writing the high-tech newsletter Release 1.0 and two years as chairman of ICANN, the agency that sets policy for the Internet's domain name system, she is completely at home with the new economy (and has investments in many start-ups including Google to prove it).

Finally, as moderator of the PC Forum conference for 23 years, she is comfortable engaging titans of industry with thought-provoking questions that generate new insights both for the audience and for the titans themselves.

Bill then took over BT's Institutional Finance Sales Sector and his customer base included all the major Finance Companies in the City of London. Bill moved to become CEO of BT's Irish subsidiary Esat.

In the last two years Bill took over as Managing Director of BT Business. His organisation serves the needs of small and medium-sized companies in the UK, providing everything from traditional telephony services and mobile technology to internet access and web-based services. BT Business has roughly 1.5 million customers representing a cross-section of business: from start-ups and 'micro-businesses' (1-10 employees) to established small businesses (10-250 employees) and medium sized businesses (250-500 employees).

Marc is now regarded as the leader of what he has termed "The End of Software," the growing belief that on-demand applications can democratize business technology by delivering immediate benefits to companies of all sizes at reduced risks and costs. Under Marc's direction, salesforce.com has grown from a ground-breaking idea into a publicly-traded company that is the market and technology leader in on-demand business services.

Marc, a 25-year veteran of the software industry, is internationally recognised as one of the pre-eminent thinkers in information technology. Most recently, Computer Business Review magazine named Marc number three on its "Top 10 Most Influential Movers & Shakers" list, reporting that "Marc Benioff (has) learned a thing or two about how to achieve market dominance... that is what he has achieved in the on-demand enterprise applications space, and there are no immediate threats to his empire..."

Throughout his career, Marc has been determined to use information technology to produce positive social change. In July 2000, Marc launched the Salesforce Foundation, a multimillion-dollar global philanthropic organisation aimed at bridging the digital divide.

Prior to founding salesforce.com, Marc spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, where he held a number of executive positions in sales, marketing, and product development. Before joining Oracle, Marc worked at Apple Computer and founded Liberty Software. Marc received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1986.

Wikia operates under the GFDL Free content license and is positioned to become the first sustainable business built around the vision of free content.

Prior to Wikia, Gil was an 8-year veteran of eBay. Gil worked in Europe, directing eBay's presence in Southern Europe, and oversaw the company's expansion efforts in Eastern Europe. Previously he was responsible for launching sites in Hong Kong and Singapore, and for the company's entry into India. He also played a role in eBay's entry into South Korea and China. Gil came to eBay in 1998, first working in business development and then running the mergers and acquisitions department. In 2001 he was named vice president of business development where he built business and marketing relationships for eBay with a number of the top brands in the USA including Microsoft, AOL, Disney and Yahoo.

Gil began his career at General Electric in 1991, first in manufacturing and later in marketing on GE's corporate staff. He has worked as a management consultant at Bain & Co and an Internet entrepreneur, creating a content, commerce and community vertical for business travellers. An active angel investor, he has investments or advisory roles with many internet start-ups including: Linkedin, Flock, Wink, Vamoose, Become, Feedster, Koders, Voicestar, Reify and Betzip.

A native of Amherst, Massachusetts, Gil holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business.

With a strong entrepreneurial background and track record of spearheading successful business ventures, Rich led the creation of this business within Yahoo! in 2002 and is responsible for the corporate strategy, financial performance, and day-to-day business operations.

Rich joined Yahoo! six years ago, when Yahoo! acquired Log-Me-On.com where he was the Managing Partner and Co-Founder. The Log-Me-On.com product is known today as the Yahoo! Toolbar. During his tenure, Rich has held a variety of roles including corporate and business development where he was instrumental in a number of the company's key acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Immediately prior to his current role, he was the vice president of business operations for Yahoo's communications business unit.

Prior to founding Log-Me-On.com, Rich worked as a venture capitalist at Whitney & Company and as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette in New York.

Rich graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management and serves on the Wharton Entrepreneurial Advisory Board.