Tributes for tech entrepreneur who was first victim of 9/11

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Remembering Danny Lewin

"Looking for an inspiring role model to help you strike it rich on the Internet?" That's the question Marco Greenberg poses in his article on Wednesday for PandoDaily.

But he's not about to rehash the tales of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos. On this September 11th, twelve years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he asks us to consider his friend Danny Lewin.

Danny was a mathematical genius who, along with his MIT professor, came up with innovative algorithms for optimizing Internet traffic. But despite his success, and the fact that he became a billionaire at the age of 29, his name probably doesn't ring a bell.

Before his rise to to the top, Danny spent years struggling to make ends meet: He served in the military, got married at 21 years old, worked several jobs while attending college – all while raising two children. He was an exceptional talent. Tragically, he was killed on September 11 and is considered first victim of the attacks.

The 31-year-old was stabbed to death while trying to overpower the terrorists on Flight 11. The FBI reportedly told Danny's parents that he was killed while trying to block the terrorists from getting into the cockpit after they had stabbed a flight attendant.

"Danny yielded greatness that has withstood the test of time," writes Mr. Greenberg. "Together with his MIT Professor, Tom Leighton, a fellow Akamai cofounder (now CEO of this S&P 500 company) they laid the foundation of a network that today delivers up to one-third of all Internet traffic, enabling us to enjoy rich content online."

The tech entrepreneur's legacy is memorialized in a new book by Molly Knight Raskin entitled No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet.

Visa setbacks in the U.S. could good news for Canada

Last month, the first-ever public tasting of lab-grown cultured beef was held in London. The burger was made from in-vitro meat and had a final price tag of $300,000. Meanwhile, in a NASA lab in California, a startup called Lifestock was working on a similar product, but their aim is to find a way to make it commercially-viable.

Problem is, non-American members of the startup aren't able to secure Visas, according to Joseph Adinolfi of Entrepreneur.com, which means they may need to start looking for a new place to set up shop. The team is reportedly eyeing Canada and Chile, two countries with programs designed to draw talented entrepreneurs from around the world.

Efforts in the U.S. to create a startup Visa have been blocked for the past three years by opponents in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Mr. Adinolfi points out. Canada, on the other hand, recently launched its new Startup Visa program and was labelled the best place in the G7 nations to start a business by The World Bank.

If innovative startups continue to run into Visa issues in the U.S., Canada stands much to gain in the coming years.

Canadian startup shows off new app

Mcrowdsourcing Inc. is one of five companies invited worldwide to demonstrate its app on the first day of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China.

Giovanna Mingarelli, co-founder and CEO of the Ottawa-based startup, will showcase the crowdsourced, social gamification app that rewards people with points and prizes for doing things they like or care about.

"The app has been created to digitally harness real-life actions of people around the world to help tackle issues they care about in fields such as politics, the environment and health and fitness," said Ms. Mingarelli.

MC2 will start piloting its new White Label app in Canada, the U.S. and China, but you can sign up for the beta version on their website here.

EVENTS AND KEY DATES

Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show

From Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, Canada's largest manufacturing event will host 600 suppliers and 10,000 professionals at the International Centre in Mississauga. CMTS will also present a full-size replica of the Avro Arrow RL-203, a piece of Canadian aviation history.

EDITOR'S PICKS FROM REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS

Niagara vineyard in deep organic doo-doo

Southbrook, a certified biodynamic wine maker in Ontario, can't find enough organic manure to continue its expansion. What's a steadfastly green entrepreneur to do? Read more about this week's Challenge.

FROM THE ROSB ARCHIVES

Consultant's toy soldier collection is serious business

Daniel Tiffin is the principal at Global Demographics Consulting Group, a private research and forecasting company that predicts economic trends. Clients who visit his workspace come for investing advice, but many stay for the view: Along with his toy soldier infantry, Mr. Tiffin keeps weapons, authentic regimental uniforms and a collection of other military miscellany that he says some would peg to be worth as much as $1.5-million.

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