You know those Popchips? They're one of country's most promising companies

>>> with us now, editor of " forbes " magazine, randall lane. the new issue features a special report on america's most promising companies. and i have a tweet from moira forbes saying i need to make sure i grill you.

>> thanks, moira. appreciate that.

>> you are on the firing line this morning. good to have you on the show.

>> let's start. jeffrey sachs and i, forget the list, we went straight to this billionaire bistro. talk about this shot. it's fascinating.

>> the four seasons actually let us in and showed us their appointment book. it's really an amazing place. this is the commissary of wealth and power. you cannot go there on any given day and not bump into either a billionaire or a cabinet secretary at every single table. and it's amazing actually to go there and just watch the interaction. and when people, you know, i mean, conspiracy theorists would have a field day here. it's mostly people going for a good lunch.

>> they're all there -- yeah. hanging out with other billionaires. five years from now, some people, maybe the list you guys are putting out, the most promising companies may be sitting around the four seasons over there. let's talk about, these are the companies you say the next googles.

>> yeah.

>> let's start with number one. 3cinteractive.

>> basically when you get things on your cell phone like offering you a coupon or your phone tells you you're over your minutes, this is the software that communicates with your phone. and it's, again, simple things that you take for granted that you get kind of sms messages to your phone. they do it. they have john scully as their chairman. best known, of course, for firing steve jobs , but i think he's making amends here.

>> making a comeback.

>> i don't know. would you really want to hire the guy guy who fired steve jobs ?

>> he put money in, so i think they were happy to have him. growing at 60% a year, so i think he has a comeback opportunity here based on the information and research we did.

>> he's got a lot of work to do to come back.

>> want to go to number four because it's connected with number one. again, we're taking about microtargeting, whether it's on cell phones or with rocket fuel .

>> yeah.

>> this is a group that uses data and machine lighting to place online ads in the most relevant demographics.

>> the companies that do the things that are we all are kind of noticing but don't know how it happens. when you log on to a website and there's a banner ad that talks about a left-handed scuba divers and you're left-handed and you like scuba diving , how do they do that? this is the company that figures out. they watch how you surf. they then package that information to marketers, and they are able to target advertising. they did $100 million in revenue last year, so this is big business .

>> okay.

>> this is not a niche.

>> virtual instruments, number three.

>> this is one of the -- the cloud is big, and this is one of those companies that will help big companies figure out how to manage the cloud, and we're seeing a lot of cloud-based companies popping all over the list.

>> number four, rocket fuel .

>> just talked about that.

>> number five, pop chips.

>> what are pop chips in.

>> who has had a pop chip.

>> i've had a pop chip.

>> love or like?

>> i don't like them at all. rice cakes meets potato chips but whether i like it or not doesn't seem to matter because they are doing 80% growth.

>> 94 million for popchips.

>> rice cake chips.

>> we need to talk about this.

>> kind of a replacement, lower fat replacement for potato chips .

>> right.

>> do you like them in.

>> in terms of trying to reproduce the taste of a chip.

>> a little cardboardy.

>> they have done the best job at it. the question is do you need any of that, you know?

>> so they have big shot -- they have famous investors which kind of helps with the buzz. when you're selling kind of snacks, it helps to make it look cool so they have ashton kutcher and didi and got a sweetheart deal to put their name against it, but there's a cool factor. again, if you're selling basically kind of cardboard rice cake potato things.

>> right.

>> that helps.

>> kind of amazing. they are number five on the list.

>> missed number two though, think finance.

>> think finance is an unbelievable company. this company did about $500 million of revenues last year. they are basically a, i don't know any other way to put it, a digital loan shark , if your paycheck is coming in two days and you need a loan that you can get a loan online immediately and the annual interest rate , some of these loans are 1,000% apr. you know, if you need 100 bucks, two days later you have to pay back 125, if you do the math, the interest rates are unbelievable, and so the profits are unbelievable. there's a market. taking what you used to have to go to the street corner and worry about getting knee-capped for and make it somewhat legit. $500 million last year.

>> my god.

>> all right.

>> unbelievable.

>> this is a good issue.

>> it is. you talk about really quickly nba valuations, the richest players in the nba. talk about that list.

>> we, have i mean, you know, the team that's most ascendant here in new york, the new york knicks. they are winning after years and years of kind of being laughing stocks. i mean, acwinner translates to full seats, luxury boxes and that's where the money is. you share the national tv pie. to really pop you've got to do to locally.

>> coffee bryant making $60 million, lebron 67 million, derrick rose 32 million a year, dwyane wade makes 30 million a year, kevin durant 30 million a year. carmelo anthony 28 million a year.

>> but the real way to make the money, look at where the money is. it's off the court. the guys at the top have the crazy sneaker deals. salary cap sport, you make it as an entrepreneur to real make the big bucks .

>> the new issue of " forbes " is out right now. randall lane, thanks so much.

>> thanks.

>> coming up next, the white house makes the legal case for drone strikes on americans. but does it pass the constitution test? we'll find out