19 Essential Twitter Follows (Part II)

April 16, 2013

Here is part-two of my list of up-and-comers to be following on Twitter. Who did I miss? Let me know what you think! [Link to Part 1]
Matt Mazzeo (@mazzeo) is a really exciting one for me because he’s a VC at lowercase capital. Chris Sacca will get all the attention, but Matt Mazzeo is absolutely one of the forces behind the growth of this incredible company. I first met Maz’ when he was an agent at CAA, and I took a liking to him right away. He’s got drive, he’s got passion, he’s shockingly good-looking, and he’s definitely starting to get his credit. He was in a Fast Company article about the young Turks that are helping LA, and I completely agree with that. He’s making enormous noise right now in LA in the VC scene and the startup scene (the scenes I think are going to be the most exciting going forward). I have enormous confidence that Mazzeo will be tremendously successful in 10 or 15 years, and I think that for anybody who wants to get a good sense of the LA tech scene, this is a must follow.
Matt Van Horn (@mvanhorn) is somebody I’ve known for a long time since his days back at Digg. He’s making some real headway and having an enormous impact on one of my favorite investments, Path. Matt has always been one of “the guys behind the guys”, helping Kevin Rose at Digg and now helping Dave Morin through Path, he’s a tremendously bright young man. He’s extremely passionate about his Golden State Warriors. He’s the gentleman who turned me onto the opportunity at Karma (which was one of my favorite investments I’ve made in the last couple years), and more importantly, he’s the kind of guy that I think is more than willing to engage and help people on Twitter. He’s an absolutely tremendous follow, because I think he’ll give a lot more effort than maybe some of the other people on the list.
Chris Hutchins (@hutchins) is a young partner at Google Ventures. He’s an extremely bright young man. I have enormous respect for this kid. I’d like to see him work with me one day. I think that he’s a perfect person to follow to hear about what’s going on in the San Francisco startup culture, because he’s younger, he’s leaner, and he’s meaner, and he's in the trenches. I think a lot of you follow VC’s who’ve made it, but let’s be honest, they’re having $1000 dinners, and Hutch is having burgers at the corner joint with the next generation. I think that’s the kind of guy you need to follow.
Milana Rabkin (@Milanachka) is a force of nature on the digital scene. She’s an agent at UTA. What she is doing and how she’s going about doing it in the convergence of Hollywood and Silicon Valley is quite impressive. I’ve been fond of her work ethic and mindset from the moment I met her. I love the fact that she has Belarusian roots, and more importantly, I am completely convinced that she has a grand-slam in her career. I think she’s extremely worthwhile to follow, especially if you care about the cross section of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. She is pushing the envelope of what can be don with Celebrities and High value Content.
Trevor Owens (@to2) is a hustler through and through. I’ve interacted with Trevor a couple times through the last few years, and I like the way he hustles. He’s just got it, there’s something about him. I don’t know Trevor super well outside of our couple of meetings, but I follow him, and he’s one of those guys where I could conceivably lose touch with him for a couple of years but he pops up with a big win on the board. If I read an article in Tech Crunch about a $100MM exit and I look and see that Trevor’s involved, it probably wouldn’t surprise me. He’s got that pixie dust ( Something Special ). He reminds me of me in that way. Very social, and somebody that I think is worth paying attention to if you have passion about knowing about what’s going on in the up and coming New York tech scene( meaning companies you haven't heard about yet).
Mike Boyd (@HashtagMikeBoyd) This one’s my personal favorite. Mike Boyd’s working with me right now. He’s a personal friend of my brother’s from college. There’s nobody in the world who knows more about who the next hip-hop artists that are gonna pop are than Boyd. He told me about Future three years ago, Kendrick Lamar three years ago; he’s telling me about Rome Fortune now (completely convinced that he’s gonna pop). Mike Boyd has predicted Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa and on and on and on. If you care about hip-hop music at all and you wanna be cool around your friends, Mike Boyd has replaced The Source’s Unsigned Hype for me from back in the day.
Greg Shove (@GregShove) is the founder and CEO of SocialChorus, a really interesting advocate platform. I met Greg on a flight from SFO to JFK, and we spent 5 straight hours talking even though we didn’t know each other prior to sitting down. He’s one of those guys that’s not full of crap, and he’ll call you on your crap, and I respect that. He’s hustling, he’s executing, he’s got a very interesting platform, and I think that he’s got a couple more gray hairs than the rest of this list, which makes him extremely worthwhile to listen to. There’s some real knowledge in those gray hairs, and I think any young entrepreneur (or old entrepreneur) would get an enormous amount of value out of Greg. He’s had an incredible career, and is completely worth following.
Michael Schneider (@msfd) is the CEO of Mobile Rodie, a startup that I passed on investing in (but I wish I hadn’t) years ago because of two reasons: 1. I just wasn’t liquid enough, and 2. I ultimately knew that Michael would will that company to victory. I’ve been following Michael for a long time, not only on Twitter, but on Path. I’m genuinely excited for his growth and what he does over the next 4-5 decades. This is an extremely worthwhile entrepreneur, and one that travels quite a bit, so if you’re into knowing what’s going on in Japan or South America from a young entrepreneur’s point of view, I think he can help. He’s also often retweeting and posting about emerging tech. Just a couple days ago he talked about Songza, a music startup that I like. He’s the kind of guy that if you follow, he’ll keep you in the loop of what’s going on in the tech world.
Aaron Dignan (@aarondignan) is the CEO of Undercurrent, one of the few agencies that I respect tremendously. He’s an extremely bright guy; extremely focused. I think he’s extremely valuable to follow on twitter because he doesn’t tweet often, but when he does it’s relevant. He’s probably one of the least frequent updaters on this list, but he’s someone that I respect tremendously, and someone I think people should pay attention to.

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Flag and Hide Bybreen S. Business Optimizer For Non Profits & Enterprising Individuals Thanks for sharing these fresh and new voices and why they inspire you. 2d
Flag and Hide Bob F. Application Architect at Aetna, Inc Thanks for the list. I bet these guys appreciate the props as well. People like Aaron Dignan are great to follow since they won't flood my twitter feed. Now if there was an easier way to filter the less relevant info out without unfollowing.. 2d
Flag and Hide Bennett A. Comedian/Writer/Presenter/Identity Theft Speaker I've checked it 3 times now and still can't find my name... 3d
Flag and Hide David R. Retirement Actuary, Dad, Friend Suzy Sammons. John Maxwell 3d
Flag and Hide Darren H. Executive Director at Pragmatic Thinking Really appreciate you taking the time to put this list together mate. Even though we're on the other side of the planet (Aussie) knowing what is leading your thinking is the next best thing. Go the Eels (Rugby League) - remember I have made you an honorary member - whether you like it or not! (...and your beloved Jets of course) 3d
Flag and Hide Anthony M. Associate at TechStars | Entrepreneur | Investment Expert | Global Traveler | Rider of Bicycles | @AnthonyMarnell Agreed about @to2, hustle 3d
Flag and Hide Stephenie R. Digital/Social Architect, Brand Innovator, Marketing Executive And -- good on your for investing in women led businesses. 3d
Flag and Hide Stephenie R. Digital/Social Architect, Brand Innovator, Marketing Executive Hi Gary - I gotta agree with the ladies...clearly there must be a few more chicks worthy of the list. 3d
Flag and Hide Gary Vaynerchuk 2^nd CEO Co-Founder of Vayner Media Camea there are 2 women BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY I am not going to force what I feel, just like I havent forced the fact that the last 5 investments I have made were in Companies founded by Women, I hate when people assume they know me or my POV on an issue based on 1 piece of context...too bad! 3d
Flag and Hide Teresa K. Engagement-driven CEO & Jubilant Entrepreneur I'd love to see more women on the list! 3d
Flag and Hide Seth David 2^nd I bring my QuickBooks and other productivity software e-teaching super powers to the table. Let's Eat! Done! I created a list and a paper.li based on the list: https://twitter.com/nerdenterprises/gary-s-list http://paper.li/nerdenterprises/1366135732 3d
Flag and Hide Seth David 2^nd I bring my QuickBooks and other productivity software e-teaching super powers to the table. Let's Eat! Awesome! I will make a list called "Gary's List"! 4d
Flag and Hide Ilia M. Looking for the next big challenge I love the list, Gary, but why not make a Twitter list for easier sharing and following? Here's one I made with your suggestions: https://twitter.com/gospodin_i/garyvs19 It goes to the top of my columns on TweetDeck! 4d
Flag and Hide Natascha Otero-Santiago 2^nd Public Relations & Social Media Consultant / Hispanic Engagement / Co-Director of LATISM SoFla Thanks Gary! As always great suggestions! ;) 4d
Flag and Hide Mitchell S. Social Communications Manager at Better Place Fantastic list! I want to hear more from Michael Schneider. 4d
Flag and Hide Nicole L. Retail Minded Founder / Editor / Speaker / Writer / Consultant @RetailMinded is a great one for indie businesses 4d
Flag and Hide Justin M. Code Shark, Entrepreneur, Car Enthusiast, Beer Lover, Ping Ponger, I make miracles happen Chris is the only familier one on the list from Milk. Cheers for throwing this together G. 4d
Flag and Hide Andy K. Head of Digital Marketing at RedStar Creative :( I feel upset to have been left out Gary ... ! Otherwise this is a great list. 4d