CO-FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN , ALTEREX
WHY: Former CEO of Irvine data analytics company that’s now the most valuable publicly traded software firm based in Orange County.
NOTABLE: Last year, Stocker published “Masterpiece: The Emotional Journey to Create Anything Great… Anything.” The book describes many of the challenges he faced as a budding entrepreneur, and the lessons he learned along the way. Excerpts from the book were featured in an OC Leaderboard this year.
QUOTABLE: “What seemed to be my most humiliating moment contained the seeds of eventual success. It was a kick in the butt from somebody above: ‘Dean don’t you finally get it? You can’t buy into someone else’s journey. You have to build your own. It clicked for me. Build it yourself.”
