Internet Capital Group has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in companies that are looking to make their mark in e-commerce. John Hamm evaluates and advises the entrepreneurs who run those companies. Here are the character traits that he looks for. Cheryl Dahle
It's exciting to rewrite the rules of business and build high-performance companies in record time. But when do you start to calculate the human toll associated with the pursuit of your personal success? George Anders
Thanks to the punishing demands of the new economy, marriage has become more complex, more stressful, and more difficult. These couples have designed marriages that work. Keith H. Hammonds
The Mitchell Gold Co. is bringing overdue change to an out-of-touch industry: home furniture. But unlike so many other mavericks, its primary competitive weapon isn't the Internet. Instead, the company is deploying a smart sense of design. Ron Lieber
Technology and entertainment can mix -- if you combine the right strategy with the right kind of organization. That's the lesson behind the rise of Sega GameWorks. Although the company is based in Hollywood, the model is pure Silicon Valley. Chandler Burr
There has never been a better time for one person, with brains and commitment, to have a huge impact on a company, on an industry -- even on the world. Cheryl Dahle
Rayona Sharpnack is a teacher and a mentor to some of the most powerful women in some of the most important companies around. Her message: Don't worry so much about what you need to know. Instead, figure out who you need to be. Cheryl Dahle
Jerry Sternin's job was to help save starving children in Vietnam. Faced with an impossible time frame, he adopted a radical approach to making change. His idea: Real change begins from the inside. David Dorsey
Rolf Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra, really cares about chairs. His company is a celebration of what to some is the most mundane object in the office -- but to him is a source of passion. Jill Rosenfeld
Weather.com is one of the Web's most unlikely success stories. It has parlayed its loyal following and its philosophical take on the weather into a site that is on course to attract 3 billion page views this year. Chuck Salter
Brad Hill is teaching rank-and-file workers in tough jobs how to devise incentive plans. In the process, they're being rewarded with things that money can't buy -- more dignity and a greater sense of purpose. Rekha Balu
"Change takes guts. It takes imagination. It takes commitment," declares John Taylor of General Motors's APEx team. APEx is designing radically new concept cars -- and changing the concept of change inside GM. Anna Muoio
Looking for IT talent? An obscure part? The bigger the Web gets, the harder it is to find what you're looking for. The solution: a human search engine powered by bounty hunters. Chuck Salter
What the new economy needs now is a good chat, says Oxford University professor Theodore Zeldin, who wants us to have conversations about the emotional, intellectual, and cultural dimensions of work. Ian Wylie
Your stock price is down 80%. All of a sudden, that ".com" at the end of your company's name feels like a four-letter word. Life in the Internet economy can't get much worse, can it? Be afraid. Be very afraid. William C. Taylor
SEI Investments became a financial-services juggernaut by helping banks and mutual-fund companies rethink and automate their operations. Now it is up to Judith Tschirgi to rethink SEI's success -- and to migrate the company to the Web. Cathy Olofson
These days, most Internet startups are hoarding their cash and downsizing their dreams. Not Cogent Communications. The company is on a 12,000-mile dash to build a new network for high-speed Internet access. George Anders
The CEO of iMotors.com wants to use the Web to sell his customers exactly the used car they want at a no-haggle price. But first, in a brutally harsh climate for dotcom retailers, he has to sell his strategy. Do you buy his model? Constance Loizos
The startup revolution is as much about the democratization of capital as it is about the creation of new technologies. So why do women-led companies still receive only 4.6% of all venture funding? Katharine Mieszkowski
The wireless Web is going to be huge, right? But how much of its promise will actually materialize? Are we in the early stages of the next Internet fad? Here's how the most serious players around separate sense from nonsense. George Anders
