Alex Thompson

President and CEO, Mixed Signals Technologies, Culver City, Calif.

JOB: Running Mixed Signals, which she founded in 1997 to develop data-insertion products. Company counts Sony Pictures and Liberty Digital among backers.

CAREER: Previously founded ALEX FX, a post-production company, and worked as a hardware engineer at Power Computing.

EDUCATION: B.S., electrical engineering, University of Maryland

FAMILY: Single

WOULD RATHER BE: Watching the stars using high-end thermal imaging equipment and a telescope

BEST LESSON: "If you believe that you're making the right decision, it's probably the right decision."