Scott Sandell (New Enterprise Associates)

Former Microsoft product manager turned venture capitalist is popular among his entrepreneurs: "What you see is what you get. Integrity radiates in everything he does," says one. Sandell has been on a winning streak: He is the largest shareholder in Fusion-io, which just filed to go public, revealing NEA's 39% stake.

Sandell was an active lead investor in Playdom, which sold to Disney last summer for $563 million (plus a $200 million earn-out), and Data Domain, which went public before it was acquired by EMC for $2.4 billion in 2009 (NEA maintained a 14% stake). Sandell also led early-stage investments in fuel cell maker Bloom Energy and Workday, the software company cofounded by Greylock's Aneel Bhusri. Looks to Asia for promising companies; brought Chinese chipmaker Spreadtrum Communications to the Nasdaq in 2007 (market cap: $1.1 billion).