(FORTUNE Small Business) – A few years back, in our annual "Big Ideas" issue, we ran a story that featured entrepreneurs like Wendy's late founder, Frank Thomas, talking about how they got started in the businesses that made them famous. It was extremely popular, and we've been looking for ways to repeat the exercise ever since. The issue you hold in your hands now is the sequel to that feature. But this time there are a few changes to the original concept. First off, we focused on entrepreneurs who were trailblazers--folks whose ideas actually revolutionized, or made a big impact on, their industries. There is, for example, Fred Smith of Federal Express (page 28), who changed the way that mail and merchandise are shipped throughout the country and the world. We even added the likes of Gannett's Al Neuharth (page 106), who had a revolutionary brainstorm--USA Today. Now, he wasn't the company's founder--he was only the chief executive. But the idea and the risk- taking aspect of the task make a great entrepreneurial tale. We then asked all of our subjects to tell our writers how they came up with the idea, how they executed it, and the obstacles they had to overcome along the way.

How did we choose them? We primarily looked at entrepreneurs whose stories were relatively fresh. (Thus the omission of people such as Bill Gates.) At the least, we wanted to make sure that all the first-person accounts had nuggets of information, as in the case of Michael Dell's story (page 78), that we hadn't seen elsewhere.

Once again, there are people on the staff who deserve a special tip of the hat. This project certainly couldn't have come off without editorial director Brian Dumaine, who, along with executive editor Joshua Hyatt, conducted a slew of interviews. There's also Jeff Garigliano, the editor of much of the magazine, and writer Julie Sloane, who did just about everything. Editor Jason Tanz and writer Jennifer Keeney also did a terrific job on our Innovators Hall of Fame (page 112). And the team of art director Scott Davis and Jay Tarrant, our director of photography, continues to put together one of the best-looking business magazines on the planet. Let us know how you like this special issue by e-mailing me (hank_gilman@timeinc.com) or by dropping a line the old way: FSB, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020. And, as always, thanks for reading.

HANK GILMAN Managing Editor