Themes: One way or another you need to do the thinking

Rob Ryan earned national attention when he grew his 1989 start-up company, Ascend Communications, Inc., to more than $500 million in sales by 1995. Lucent Technologies acquired Ascend in 1999 for $23 billion, in what was termed at the time, the "largest technology merger ever."

Back surgery sidelined Ryan from Ascend in June of 1995, but soon after his recovery he reinvented himself as a "boot camp mentor" at his Montana ranch and began helping budding high-tech entrepreneurs formulate winning business plans and teaching them how to sell their ideas. Since Entrepreneur America began, Ryan has counseled dozens of aspiring entrepreneurs and as a result, 18 companies have been founded and mentored by his organization. Three of those companies rose to billion-dollar valuations.

Ryan received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University.