A Spreadsheet for Cupcakes

Who says spreadsheets are just for number crunching? Former Yahoo CEO Merissa Mayer makes spreadsheets for both ingredients and frosting to perfect her own baking creations. The Co-founder of tech incubator Lumi Labs buys cookbooks to test the recipes for cupcakes, lists the ingredients on a spreadsheet and eventually works out her own version of cupcakes from the results.

"I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that's how you grow? I think it's very comforting for people to put me in a box. Oh, she's a fluffy girlie girl who likes clothes and cupcakes. Oh, but wait, she is spending her weekends doing hardware electronics," Mayer once said in an interview. She doesn't like to call herself a cupcake fanatic though. It has been more like a "business observation" to her.

In May, Lumi Labs raised $20 million in venture capital funding. The company works in the areas of artificial intelligence and consumer media.