Forgotten founders: 10 startup founders history often forgets

Chris DeWolfe, Myspace

Chris DeWolfe is the former co-founder and CEO of Myspace. He is often overlooked since every user of the site was automatically connected with Tom Anderson, the company's other co-founder.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Anthony Evergreen

Larry Sanger, Wikipedia

Larry Sanger co-founded Wikipedia with Jimmy Wales in 2001. He left the company in 2002 and has since been critical of Wikipedia.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Larry Sanger

David Filo, Yahoo

David Filo worked on Yahoo with Jerry Yang. In the early days, Yahoo ran his Filo Server Program to serve websites.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Mitchell Aidelbaum

Ronald Wayne, Apple

Ron Wayne is known as the third co-founder of Apple Inc, founding the company on April 1, 1976 with Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. He left the company very early on, selling his shares of stock for $800.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/ Nightscream

Dustin Moskovitz, Facebook

Dustin Moskovitz was one of the five founders of the social media giant Facebook. He was the company's first CTO and oversaw many of the technical operations of the site.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Dustin Moskovitz

Dylan Smith, Box

Dylan Smith (left) co-founded Box with Aaron Levie (right) and is the current CFO of the company. While Smith played a key role in the success of the company, he hasn't received nearly as much the spotlight as much as Levie.

SEE: How Aaron Levie and his childhood friends built Box into a $2 billion business, without stabbing each other in the back

Image: Josh Miller/CNET

Shawn Fanning, Napster

Shawn Fanning helped develop the P2P file sharing service, Napster. During Napster's heyday Fanning made it on the cover of Time Magazine, but after the success of the movie The Social Network, Sean Parker became associated with Napster.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Joi Ito

Jim McKelvey, Square

Jim McKelvey co-founded Square with Jack Dorsey after he discovered a need for a mobile payment service when trying to sell a piece of glass art he had created. McKelvey designed the actual Square reader and he currently sits on the board of Square.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Jessica Kopitske

BONUS: John Jay, United States of America

In keeping with the US Independence Day theme we mentioned at the beginning of this piece, John Jay is one of the overshadowed "Founding Fathers" of the United States of America. Jay authored some of the Federalist papers and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1783, ending the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Federalist Party and initially tried to abolish slavery in New York in 1777.

Image: Gilbert Stuart/The National Gallery of Art