If Silicon Valley is known for anything, it's breakneck innovation, consequences often be damned. Startups debut promising ideas -- or execute an already existing idea better. Today's scrappy poster child becomes tomorrow's old establishment. And one product launch is enough to ignite a new software or hardware category.

The last 12 months have proven chock-full of important tech moments, whether it was news of Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer's intention to step down or Twitter's (TWTR) successful IPO. For a different perspective on 2013 in tech, Fortune sought out nine startup CEOs to weigh in, in their own words.

要说硅谷最出名的特点莫过于它大胆的极速创新。初创公司在这里推出有前途的创意，或以更好的方式执行已经存在的创意。今天还是斗志昂扬的模范人物，明天可能就成了守旧派。而一款产品的发布可能就会促成一个新软件或硬件分类的诞生。

过去十二个月的科技行业有许多重要时刻，比如微软（Microsoft）CEO史蒂夫•鲍尔默计划辞职，再比如Twitter公司成功上市。《财富》杂志今年另辟蹊径，邀请九位初创公司CEO用自己的话来回顾2013年的科技行业。

Aaron Levie

CEO, Box

The company's 411: Online file storage for the enterprise.

Best: This is the first year really where the conversation around technology turned from being about bits and bytes to aspirational, "change-the-world" topics. With drone delivery, Amazon (AMZN) announced more of a conversation than a product. You have also Elon Musk's Hyperloop and Google's (GOOG) Calico. This is a very interesting set of announcements, launches, and initiatives that I think all represent a very exciting vision for the future: Technology isn't just going to help us communicate and become more social. It's actually going to change how we live, how we work, and where we travel to. This is the first year there was enough from different companies to show where this ecosystem is going. It's incredibly inspirational, and it's the reason we got into this industry in the first place.

Worst: When I tried Google Glass, it burst one of my bubbles. That product still needs a little bit of work.

亚伦•列维

CEO，Box公司

公司业务(非官方信息)：企业在线文件存储

最佳：今年，围绕科技的讨论，第一次从比特和字节变成雄心勃勃的“改变世界”的话题。亚马逊（Amazon）的无人机送货计划虽然没有推出实质性的产品，但却引起了激烈讨论。此外，还有埃隆•穆斯克的Hyperloop超级高铁和谷歌（Google）的健康科技公司Calico。这些公告、产品发布和计划都非常有趣，我认为它们代表了一个令人兴奋的未来愿景：科技不仅仅是在帮助我们进行沟通，也不只是让我们变得更为社交化。实际上，科技将改变我们的生活方式、工作方式和出行方式。今年，很多不同的公司都在向我们描绘这样一种生态系统，这还是首次出现这样的现象。它非常具有启发性，也是我们最初决定进入这个行业的原因之一。

最差：我尝试过谷歌眼镜，它让我有些失望。这款产品还有许多地方需要完善。

John Hering

CEO, Lookout

The company's 411: Freemium mobile security

Best: Enterprise is actually cool now. [Laughs.] The types of things that are making it cool -- great design, great user experience from a product perspective -- you're starting to see that same attention to detail in the development of next-generation enterprise software products as you are with consumer software to some extent.

Worst: I love competition in the marketplace. The end user ultimately wins when there's more of it. So I was hopeful that there would be a truly relevant third mobile operating system (OS) player by this point -- Android, unsurprisingly, is dominating, and iOS is, of course, very strong -- but there aren't yet any material signs that there will be a player with 20 or 30% market share any time soon. That's pretty disappointing.

约翰•海林

CEO，移动安全服务Lookout

公司业务：免费增值移动安全

最佳：目前，做企业是件很酷的事情。（大笑。）而让其变酷的原因，从产品的角度来看，主要是出色的设计和令人满意的客户体验——你会注意到，下一代企业软件产品的开发过程中对细节的关注在某种程度上并不亚于消费级软件的开发。

最差：我喜欢市场竞争。竞争越来越激烈，最终受益的是终端用户。所以，我一直希望今年能出现真正有意义的第三家手机操作系统公司——安卓（Android）依然占据主导地位，这毫不意外，iOS也确实非常强大，但现在没有任何迹象表明，短时间内会有其他公司能够占据20%或30%的市场份额。这一点令人非常失望。

Matt MacInnis

CEO, Inkling

The company's 411: Interactive digital textbooks for the iPad, iPhone, and web.

Best: I feel like the last year has seen the birth of the "boring" company ... Despite the fact we're in a bubble, people are actually biting off really meaningful, boring problems. We've gone away from this consumer-y zeitgeist bullshit. Snapchat is fine. Consumer businesses can be built, including ones that aren't worth anything but are billions of dollars in valuation. But I look at companies like Zenefits* that are trying to improve the benefits of how companies administer health benefits, and I look at companies like Clever* that are solving this really boring problem in K-12 schools. They're in 15,000 U.S. schools, where they've actually got students now capable of returning data back to a teacher. These are not "sexy" problems, but they're so important.

Worst: We have seen the culture war, particularly in San Francisco, shift into high gear where it's an "us vs. them" mentality. It's totally unfair, drawing attention to the wrong issues and not helping solve the real ones. It's class warfare and frankly, disappointing. I think both sides are culpable. But people who are throwing rocks at Google buses and that sort of thing are enflaming the situation. I have long lamented the disconnect between young tech yuppies in San Francisco and the rest of the community. I talk about it at work. I talk to my team about it. I encourage people to vote in local elections.

*MacInnis is an investor.

马特•麦金尼斯

CEO，电子教科书服务公司Inkling

公司业务：针对iPad、iPhone和网络的互动数字教科书。

最佳：我想说，过去一年是见证“无聊”公司诞生的一年。虽然我们身处泡沫之中，这是事实，但许多人正在解决一些虽然无聊、但却非常有意义的问题。我们已经远离了所谓的以消费者为特征的时代精神。图片分享应用Snapchat很出色。消费者业务是可以建立的，包括那些虽然没有太多价值，但估值却高达数十亿美元的东西。但我更关注Zenefits*公司，它致力于完善公司对健康福利的管理；我还关注在线教育公司Clever*，它致力于中小学教育中的一些无聊问题。他们现在与15,000家美国学校合作，这些学校的学生通过该公司的服务可以向老师反馈数据。这些虽然不是什么“令人振奋”的问题，但却非常重要。

最差：我们看到了文化上的冲突，尤其是在旧金山。它造成了一种“我们与他们对立”的心态。这绝对是不公平的，它让人们把注意力放到了错的问题上，却没有帮助解决真正的问题。它演变成了阶级斗争，说实话，非常令人失望。我认为冲突的双方都应该受到谴责。而人们向谷歌员工大巴投掷石块和进行围堵，无疑是火上浇油。对于旧金山年轻的科技雅皮士们和整个社区的隔离状态，我一直感到非常遗憾。我在工作中会与团队谈论这个问题。我鼓励人们参加当地选举投票。

*麦金尼斯同时也是一位投资者。

Trip Adler

CEO, Scribd

The company's 411: A digital documents library and books subscription service.

Best: The whole trend of everyone starting their own company is cooling off a little bit, which has been nice. People are getting more long-term focused. They're more focused on business models and building long-term businesses and less so hype. It's been a pretty frothy year in terms of Silicon Valley booming. You can just feel in San Francisco how crazy it is.

Worst: Maybe the same as my high point? [Chuckles.] It was a little bit ridiculous how easy it was to get angel funding. So there were just so many companies. One thing I've really noticed in the last year or so is the crowdedness of the area. The traffic has picked up a lot. It almost feels like 1999 in that sense, but at the same time, there are a lot of good businesses being built.

特里普•阿德勒

CEO，在线文档分享平台Scribd

公司业务：数字文档库和图书订阅服务

最佳：人人参与创业的总体趋势有所降温，这是好事。人们开始关注更长期的目标。人们更专注于商业模式，关注打造长期业务，天花乱坠的宣传变少了。 从硅谷的繁荣一面可以看出，今年是泡沫年。你在旧金山就能感觉到硅谷有多么疯狂。

最差：或许与前面的最佳一样？（[轻笑。）人们很容易就能得到天使投资，这非常荒谬。这也是现在为什么会有那么多公司出现。去年我注意到，这个区域正变得日益拥挤。交通量日益增加。感觉像是1999年。不过与此同时，也有许多优秀的公司在这里诞生。

Apoorva Mehta

CEO, Instacart

The company's 411: Online grocery orders and same-day delivery.

Best: We're in a very highly regulated market, if you can imagine. We're focusing on crowdsourcing, which if you follow Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, they've had so much trouble working against the regulations to find a niche for their products. Seeing them succeed time after time, city after city was very promising. There's definitely more hope for this industry.

Worst: Conversely, there were also cities where some of those companies were not very successful. There were some lawsuits they had to face and several cease and desists as well. At this point in time, a lot of the companies that are started, a lot of the innovation that's done, has to go against the conventional regulations out there.

阿普瓦•麦赫塔

CEO，当日派送服务Instacart

公司业务：在线食品杂货订购和当日派送

最佳：我们所在的市场受到高度监管。我们的核心业务是众包，如果你关注房屋租赁网站Airbnb、打车软件Uber、共享乘租服务Lyft和拼车服务商Sidecar等，你会发现他们面临着很多监管难题，很难为产品找到市场空间。而他们一次次成功打入一座座城市，这让我们看到了希望。这个行业肯定会有更好的前景。

最差：相反，这些公司也在许多城市遭遇了失败。他们还要面临许多法律诉讼和各地的禁令。在目前状况下，许多初创公司，还有他们所进行的大量创新，都不得不去挑战传统规则。

Jonathan Yaffe

CEO, AnyRoad

The company's 411: Online hub where tour guides and tourists can connect.

Best: Companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Pinterest are doing really good, sustainable international expansion. They're expanding in a really intelligent way all over the world and actually localizing, rather than just throwing their product out there and expecting it to fly.

Worst: The subsequent coverage, attention, energy, and money flowing into things like Snapchat and Bitcoin that are way more hype than substance.

乔纳森•亚夫

CEO，导游网站AnyRoad

公司业务：在线连接导游与游客。

最佳：Uber、Airbnb和Pinterest等公司进行了非常有效的、可持续的国际扩张。他们在全球的扩张方式非常高明，也非常注重本地化，而不是简单地把产品推向国外，幻想着产品自然而然就会畅销。

最差：人们对于Snapchat和比特币等事件的后续报道，所投入的关注、精力和资金。这些东西更多是一种炒作，并没有实质意义。

Joshua Reeves

CEO, ZenPayroll

The company's 411: An online payroll service for small businesses.

Best: B2B software for small businesses is finally becoming easier to use. Small businesses in general have been a hard market -- a lot of companies have avoided them. But there's now this incredible swell of innovation from companies like Square, Expensify, BambooHR, and TSheets, which is a nice, cool company out of Idaho building time-tracking software.

Worst: The connection between San Francisco tech and the local community. I think tech and all of us in the community have a responsibility to be good stewards or ambassadors. We're here to serve our customer. ZenPayroll's customer and community are very connected. We moved the company to San Francisco specifically so we can be around our customers more easily and be in an area where you have so many small business owners. I think that's something the tech sector will be more focused on moving forward: applying that mindset of how we approach customers to every stakeholder.

乔舒亚•里夫斯

CEO，薪酬管理服务商ZenPayroll

公司业务：针对小公司的在线薪酬服务

最佳：针对小公司的B2B软件终于变得更易于使用。小公司市场是一块非常艰难的市场——许多公司都在尽量避开他们。但现在，移动支付服务公司Square、支出报告服务提供商Expensify、人力资源服务公司BambooHR和时间跟踪软件提供商TSheets等公司都推出了越来越多令人难以置信的创新。TSheets是一家来自爱达荷的公司，主要从事时间跟踪软件开发。

最差：旧金山科技公司与当地社区之间的关系。我认为，不论是科技公司，还是社区的其他人，都有责任做好社区的管理者或大使。我们要为客户服务。ZenPayroll的客户和社区关系非常密切。我们特地将公司搬到旧金山，目的是可以更近距离地为客户服务，而且这里有大批小企业主。我认为科技行业应该重视的一点是：把对待客户的心态用来对待所有利益相关者。

David Rusenko

CEO, Weebly

The company's 411: Website and blog builder with drag-and-drop simplicity.

Best: The emerging trend of the Personal Economy, as coined by Mike Moritz of Sequoia this year. People are becoming more entrepreneurial and empowered by technology: drivers starting to drive an Uber car and building their own fleet within a couple years, entrepreneurs starting a business on Weebly and quitting their job to pursue their passion full-time, people renting out a spare bedroom on Airbnb instead of staying in a hotel. That's very exciting to me.

Worst: Growing insensitivity in the tech community (which is fairly well covered in Valleywag). Most people mean well, but the community needs to better understand how some actions are perceived and get better at listening to contrasting opinions.

大卫•拉森科

CEO，免费网站托管服务Weebly

公司业务：网站与博客建设，支持拖拽功能。

最佳：红杉资本（Sequoia）的麦克•莫里茨所谓的“个人经济”在今年日益兴起。科技让人们越来越有创业精神，也赋予了人们更多能力：司机开始驾驶Uber汽车，在一两年内建立自己的车队；创业者在Weebly上创办一家公司，全身心追求自己的梦想；人们在Airbnb上租住多余的卧室，而不是选择住在酒店。这些都让我感到非常兴奋。

最差：科技界日益严重的不敏感性（博客Valleywag对此有详细报道）。大多数人的出发点是好的，但整个科技界应该更好地了解人们对某些措施的理解，同时应该更擅长听取相反的意见。

Paul Davison

CEO, Highlight

The company's 411: An app that displays other nearby users.

Best: 2013 was a big year for the location space. Thanks to continued technical advances, things like fitness trackers, Apple's iBeacon, and wearable devices have finally become possible. This allowed us to improve Highlight dramatically in 2013, and it's only going to get better in 2014 and beyond.

Worst: The death of Aaron Swartz back in January was a definite low point among my friends. It is a real loss to see someone so young and talented come to such a tragic end.

保罗•戴维森

CEO，地理位置应用Highlight

公司业务：显示附近其他用户的应用。

最佳：2013年是对定位应用很重要的一年。得益于科技的不断进步，健身跟踪器、苹果的iBeacon和可穿戴设备等终于变成了现实。这让我们在2013年对Hightlight进行了大幅改进，未来它将变得更好。

最差：1月份，亚伦•斯沃茨的去世对于我和我的许多朋友们来说绝对是最糟糕的事。一位如此有才华的年轻人却落得如此悲惨的结局，我们都深感惋惜。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓