Most Americans probably couldn't say what McIlhenny Co. makes, but it's a good bet they'd recognize the company's tiny glass bottle filled with fiery Tabasco sauce. Started in the 1860s, the hot sauce maker is still a family-run firm, still based in New Orleans, still using the same techniques at the same location as the one started by founder Edmund McIlhenny. While the company boasts that its sauce is sold in over 160 countries, with labels in some two dozen languages and dialects, its brand strength and customer loyalty might be McIlhenny's greatest assets. That's why Ben Holmes at Morningnotes.com loves the idea of the company going public. "People that eat Tabasco have been doing so for generations," says Holmes.
We asked 50 of the brightest minds in business how they do what they do - and how you can cash in on their advice in the year ahead. (more) 
