Apple執行長承諾推出iWatch？在Overstock上買東西可以使用比特幣？Google收購21間公司，想玩什麼把戲？
After what some would call a "lost year for tech," which also saw once-great American retailers fall from grace, we're thinking of 2014 as a glass-half-full kind of year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised big reveals, which could include the launch of the iWatch. Google's Larry Page will likely continue to explore the "Internet of Things," scooping up start-ups along the way.
And there's really no telling what's up Elon Musk's sleeve.
Other companies will need saving, such as Eddie Lampert's Sears, which shuttered hundreds of stores and had net losses as high as $1.4 billion last year.
These 23 CEOs are leading companies on the brink of greatness, or extinction, and will be the ones to watch this year.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.
01 Mary Barra, General Motors
In December Barra was named Dan Akerson's replacement at the Detroit-based auto company. The 33-year veteran of GM will be the company's first female CEO, a huge leap forward in an industry historically dominated by men.
She already has major influence over the design, engineering, and quality of GM's vehicles, and has made noticeable improvements in both the internal structure of the company as well as its sales growth. With this kind of track record for success, she's likely to continue taking the company in the right direction.
02 Jeff Bezos, Amazon
There's a lot in store for Amazon this year: Not only is it planning to make deliveries on Sundays, it's also introducing a Netflix rival, Amazon Prime Instant Video, which will be cheaper than Netflix, comparable in terms of selection, and feature its own original programming.
Bezos is continually lauded for his "insane focus on the customer," a primary reason his company was the most highly regarded in 2013, according to the YouGov Brand Index. That, plus his ever-evolving visions for innovation, makes him a frontrunner for CEOs we can expect big things from.
03 Patrick Byrne, Overstock
Byrne made headlines over the summer by announcing that Overstock would start accepting the much buzzed-about digital currency Bitcoin as a form of payment in 2014, the first major online retailer to do so.
Byrne has already shown great follow-through on his plan to accept Bitcoin: he reached out to a Bitcoin payment processor immediately after the new year, and launched the new payment methods within a week, making good on his promise. More than 100 Bitcoin purchases, including some large ones, were made just two hours after the currency was accepted.
04 Pete Cashmore, Mashable
Nearly a decade after it was launched, Cashmore's digital news site decided it would take funding from outside investors for the first time. The company has already raised $13.3 million in an equity investment round led by Updata Partners -- money that will be used to explore new areas of coverage and open additional offices.
Despite talks of selling Mashable to CNN back in 2012, Cashmore, just 28, has deviated from the build-sell-repeat pattern of other tech and media entrepreneurs his age, demonstrating his commitment to grow and expand his company.
05 John Chen, BlackBerry
Chen is bringing BlackBerry back to its roots with new keyboard phones. Even though the company spearheaded the cell-phone-as-computer movement, it's lagged behind its touch-screen-based rivals in recent years.
But Chen, who took over the company in November, decided to put the focus back on the keyboard after a failed line of touch-screen phones. Chen's making a smart move in realizing that BlackBerry is neither iPhone nor Android, so it's better off improving what it's already good at rather than chasing the competition.
06 Tim Cook, Apple
Quartz predicted that 2014 will be Apple's "year of big reveals," including rumors of a larger, 12.9-inch iPad that could replace the smaller Air, and the infamous iWatch.
Cook himself promises that 2014 will be a big year for his iCompany. Since 2013 was merely a mediocre year for Apple, and Cook now has new important hires (Angela Ahrendts, Kevin Lynch) in place to help him with some "special projects" -; we'll be watching how the year unfolds.
07 Nancy Dubuc, A&E Networks
Since taking over the company in June, Dubuc leads one of the hottest TV networks in the country right now, given its hits "Pawn Stars," "Flip This House," and, of course, "Duck Dynasty."
Considering the recent controversy around anti-gay remarks made on "Duck Dynasty," Dubuc has taken a lot of heat for approving the show, which greatly contributes to the company's $3.5 billion revenue. But it's a catch-22 for the new CEO, who was also criticized for suspending one of the stars of the show in light of the scandal (and then reinstating him).
08 Steve Ells, Chipotle
Pizzeria Locale, a small, local Denver chain, just relaunched at the end of 2013 under a partnership with Chipotle. Ells, who has been helping the pizzeria redesign itself in Chipotle's made-to-order format, has been watching the success of the place and has plans to duplicate and expand.
It's a huge new move for the Tex-Mex chain owner, as "pizza is an emotional dish for many Americans," writes The Wall Street Journal's Sarah Nassauer, and a growing part of the American diet. Ells teaming up with Pizzeria Locale could be one of the best things he's done or, if America isn't ready for it, the worst.
09 Jason Goldberg, Fab
The once-booming design products flash sales site had a less-than-fab 2013, with plummeting traffic, a reduction in production overseas, and widespread layoffs; Fab's own co-founder Brad Shellhammer left the company in November.
Despite this "death spiral," Goldberg insists that the company is not in trouble, and that its key long-term metrics are "trending positively." With 2014 just beginning, and layoffs confirmed to continue through February 15, we plan to see what Goldberg means by that.
10 Kazuo Hirai, Sony
After powerful PlayStation 4 sales since the gaming system's launch last November, Hirai announced at CES this month an upcoming cloud-based game service anticipated for this summer.
The service, to be called PlayStation Now, will give players instant access to games from previous generations of PS consoles, and allow them to play PS games from other devices, including tablets -- a huge deal for gaming enthusiasts.
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