The Tech Entrepreneurs Who Will Bring You Tomorrow

global political stage--Putin, Wen, Clinton--or from the loftiest heights of the corporate world--Gates, Brin and Page, Dimon.

It will be some lesser-known figures, though, who plant the seeds that can grow into a new economic boom. These executives use two names (or even three, when a founder has to add a company name, too, to be identified). They didn't cause the current global slowdown, and they insist on viewing it as more opportunity than crisis.

As finance companies and manufacturers lay off tens of thousands of workers, these executives face personnel problems, too. Typically, they wrestle with questions like this: If I am adding 10 people to a 100-person roster, do I invest more in sales or engineering?

What does the economic crunch mean to Richard Muirhead of Tideway, a software company that helps information technology managers understand the inner workings of complicated server operations?

The financial sector was a first beachhead for the young, U.K.-based company. Now, Muirhead told Forbes between sessions at Davos, he's looking at other areas, including governments, and accelerating a move into the Middle East and other markets.

In his view, many participants at the Forum are at "the early stages of facing up to what has occurred--not at acceptance by any means." He, along with several other pioneering entrepreneurs here, also spoke forcefully about the need for, as he put it, "accountability for people who have produced toxic products." He means toxic financial products, of course, and it's clear that many executives navigating though a storm of bleak financial news would welcome jail terms for the guilty.

Most of these new companies are high-tech enterprises, serving other tech business (Tideway), addressing consumer health issues (23andMe, RainDance Technologies), green power (GridPoint), digital publishing (Brightcove, AdMob, Seesmic) or social media (LinkedIn).