Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, Joe Gebbia

Possibly the only founding trio to remain in charge of a startup of this size nine years in, CEO Chesky, chief product officer Gebbia, and chief strategy officer Blecharczyk have steered Airbnb through its most eventful year yet. It launched a new platform for "experiences"; reached a detente with San Francisco; became profitable; launched a new brand in China; and saw its valuation climb to $31 billion.