When I next apply for a job, I'm putting down Eric Schmidt as a reference. The Google chief executive further pumped up the market value of Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal's tech reviewer, by defining him in a recent magazine profile as a "brand", not merely a journalist. And Schmidt pens a glowing testimonial for Mike Moritz, the unclubbable Sequoia partner, for Time's list of the world's 100 most influential figures: "Many people see Mike as a loner. I think it's because he's ahead of everyone else." [Picture: a windswept Mike Moritz, looking very far ahead of everyone else, photographed by Bart Nagel.]

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