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Silicon Valley is home to rockstars like Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
But over the last year, many new faces made a name for themselves in Silicon Valley.
Some of these unfamiliar faces are trying to tackle HIV, whereas others are tasked with leading major divisions at Apple.
Angela Ahrendts, Denise Young Smith
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Head of Retail; Head of Human Resources, Apple
In October 2013, Apple announced the hiring of former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts as the company's new head of retail.
Then, in February 2014, Apple appointed Denise Young Smith to lead its worldwide human resources division. The pair are in charge of the future of two of Apple's most important assets: its chain of stores and its talent.
(It's also great to see Apple shaking up its previously male-dominated top ranks.)
Mike Del Ponte
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Founder, Soma
Mike Del Ponte is the genius behind Soma, a sort of Warby Parker of water filters. In July 2013, it closed a $3.7 million round of seed funding led by Baseline Ventures and Forerunner Ventures.
Soma is targeting people who are tired of ugly Brita water filters and are passionate about sustainability. For every biodegradable water filter it sells, Soma donates money to charity.
Taro Fukuyama, Ilya Tokhner
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CEO; director of business development, AnyPerk
After being told he had the worst startup in his Y Combinator batch, Taro Fukuyama had to figure out how to turn the company around. Six pivots later, he landed on AnyPerk. AnyPerk helps put startups on par with Google and Facebook when it comes to perks, offering discounts on things like movie tickets, lift tickets, cell phone plans, Lyft car-sharing rides, and car rentals.
Today, AnyPerk has 28 employees. Last March, the startup raised a $1.4 million seed round from Digital Garage, Ben Lewis, Michael Liou, CyberAgent and Shogo Kawada.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
