Each October, we're presented with the biggest quandary of the year: Narrowing down the Bay Area's abundance of stellar luminaries to an exclusive selection of trailblazers for our annual Hot 20 list. After weeks of review and all-out debate among our editors, this year's round-up comprises the most energizing influencers of our time. You'll meet a pioneer of electric cars, a branding prophet, a major league all-star, and a Stanford dropout-turned-biotech virtuoso. Best of all, there's more awesomeness where these came from. See them all below.

Elon Musk, the Visionary		Angela Ahrendts, the Retail Genius
Matt Semmelhack + Mark Liberman, the Place Makers		Cheryl Haines, the Art Scout
Chaz Bundick, the Music Man		Debbie Sterling, the Barbie Challenger

Divya Nag, the Prodigy		Elizabeth Holmes, the Expediter
Sophia Amoruso, the Girl Boss		Tony Fadell, the Gadgeteer
Hunter Pence, the Power Hitter		Gary Friedman, the Dreamer

Kevin Sessums, the Scribe		Josh Tetrick, the Food Scientist
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, the Philanthropist 2.0		Leila Janah, the Equalizer
Carlos Watson, the Broadcaster		Thao Nguyen, the Voice
Open Gov Founders, the Reformers		Erich Pearson, the Modern Farmer