Clara Shih's Hearsay Social

Since 2009, Clara Shih has published a bestseller, co-founded a fast-growing startup, and joined Starbucks’ board of directors. None of it would have happened if she’d followed some lame advice when she was writing her book, The Facebook Era, a how-to guide for using social media in business. “My editor wanted me to rename it The MySpace Era,” says Shih, 30. “I guarantee you I wouldn’t be sitting here if I called it that.”

In a short time, Shih has become one of the world’s top experts on how companies can navigate the new world of tweets, profiles, and pokes. She saw the opportunity while working at Salesforce.com in 2007. That year, Facebook started letting outside developers build apps for its site. Shih noticed that no one was making business apps. Using her spare time and programming chops—she graduated at the top of her class in computer science and economics at Stanford—Shih built Faceconnector. The app pulled personal details from Facebook profiles into Salesforce software, so sales reps could learn the favorite music and other interests of potential customers. Faceconnector helped inspire a dialogue about social media in the hallways of Salesforce, which went on to create the Chatter messaging service for businesses. And it transformed Shih into a social media expert, delivering keynotes at tech and marketing conferences and winning a book deal.