Henry Schuck

The Chinese general Sun Tzu advised aspiring warriors, “Know your enemy.” In sales, another dictum holds true: “Know your buyer.” Henry Schuck, ZoomInfo’s CEO and cofounder, has mastered the study. His business sells subscriptions to a database chock full of sales and marketing intelligence—everything from corporate contact information, to organizational structure, to “technographics,” meaning a profile of all the technologies different companies use. More than 16,000 customers pay to access ZoomInfo’s tools, an invaluable set for anyone looking to land their next deal. Schuck got the idea for the company after working as a marketing analyst in college nearly two decades ago, a job he took to help pay his undergraduate college tuition bills. While later studying to become a lawyer, he founded DiscoverOrg in 2007. After acquiring rival ZoomInfo last year, he took on the former competitor’s name. Soon after taking the company public, shares in ZoomInfo zoomed from an opening price of $21 to more than $50, making Schuck a billionaire at least temporarily.