No. 39 Tim Draper, founder and managing director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Last year's position: Not placed

In a world where a venture capitalist is only as good as his last deal, Tim Draper stands out for his longevity and unconventional antics - such as singing at industry conferences - to promote the companies he invests in.

While many VCs are content to work behind the scenes, Draper is described by one Agenda Setters panellist as a "cheerleader" who is "out there shouting from any mountaintop" about how good his companies are.

Past successes include Hotmail, a free email service acquired by Microsoft, while current endeavours include white-hot voice over IP player Skype and the recently floated Chinese search engine Baidu.com.

Draper has proved unafraid to take risks in unusual locations for Silicon Valley VCs such as Estonia and the Ukraine. And the fact his firm is willing to back developing yet promising areas such as nanotechnology suggests he's got plenty of good deals to come.