He Turns Ideas into Companies - at Net Speed

Finally, Gross argues, that the way to create wealth quickly on the Internet is to spread it around. On that principle, Idealab does not take a controlling interest in its companies. In return for startup capital and shared corporate resources, Idealab receives a 49% equity stake. The rest is reserved for later-round investors and the executive team.

"The way to get speed is to create shared knowledge about this medium as quickly as possible," Gross says. "Your competitors won't share what they know, so you have to find allies. I am trying to create a family of companies that are allied with one another in a commitment to increase the speed at which we do business."