As we enter a new millennium, we find ourselves in the Age of the Startup. Everywhere, it seems, people have a new idea that they want to turn into a business, a new business model that they want to turn into a company -- or an old company that needs a new idea. If you're not incubating a startup, you're starting an incubator.

Which prompts us to ask a question: How do you navigate your way through this new era of startups? Whether you're launching your own "dotcom" or starting the restaurant that you've always dreamed of opening, how do you make the right decisions? Should you hold on or let go? Find the right partner or go it alone? Stay small or learn how to grow?

Here are tools, tips, and time-tested tactics from 17 advisers, founders, and professional managers, all of whom have made startups work. Each has soared -- and each has hit some bumps along the way.

Hey, you wanna start something?

www.edventure.com [1]) publishes "Release 1.0," a monthly newsletter that tracks developments in information technology. It also sponsors PC Forum and EDventure's High-Tech Forum, and manages EDventure Ventures, a fund that invests in technology startups in Central and Eastern Europe. Esther Dyson (edyson@edventure.com [2]) also sits on the board of the advertising giant WPP Group and is the interim chairman for the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers.

www.mckenna-group.com [3]) is a business-strategy firm. Regis McKenna helped launch and market some of today's key technologies, such as the personal computer. He worked with several current brand-name companies -- including America Online, Apple Computer, Silicon Graphics, and Microsoft -- back when they were startups. He is a partner with the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

www.covad.com [4]) was launched in 1996 and went public in January 1999. It is building a digital network that will deliver data, voice, and video information, as well as high-speed Internet access, to homes and businesses. Robert E. Knowling Jr. joined Covad in July 1997. Previously, he was executive vice president of operations and technologies at US West, where he oversaw services for 25 million customers in 14 states.

Bradleyml@yahoo.com [5]) also teaches a marketing course at City College, New York. Previously, she founded the Entrepreneurial Development Institute, a nonprofit in Washington, DC that trained young people to develop small businesses. She also served as a financial regulatory-affairs fellow with the U.S. Department of Treasury and as a marketing specialist at the Student Loan Marketing Association.

www.sbk.com [6]), which focuses on serving underinvested communities, was one of the first community-development banks in the United States. It was started in 1973 (as the Illinois Neighborhood Development Corp.) with $800,000 in capital and a $2.4 million loan. It now offers real-estate development, debt financing, and other business services in five metropolitan areas.

www.tellme.com [7]) was launched in February 1999 by a group of employees from Netscape and Microsoft. Former Netscape managers Angus Davis and Mike McCue head up the company, and former Netscape CEO James Barksdale and former Microsoft executive Brad Silverberg are key funders. The service aims to use the telephone to provide much of the information that people now seek from the Internet.

www.space.com [8]) is a Web site featuring space-related information. it launched in July 1999 -- the 30th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's moon walk. Lou Dobbs helped launch several ventures while he was at Cable News Network -- including CNNfn, CNN's financial channel, and CNNfn.com. He was also anchor of CNN's daily financial news program, Moneyline News Hour with Lou Dobbs, until his departure last June.

www.eoffering.com [9]) is the investment bank of E*Trade. Andrea Williams has been valuing e-companies since the emergence of commercial Web sites. While serving as managing director at Volpe Brown Whelan, she became one of Wall Street's first Internet analysts. She was also a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. She frequently appears on CNN and CNBC to discuss e-commerce and the Internet, and she writes a column for CNet. Williams joined E*Offering in June 1999.

www.starmedia.com [10]),which went public in May 1999, is a leading global online network for Spanish and Portuguese speakers. It offers a portal, Internet connections, and wireless service. It was one of the first new-media companies to tackle Latin America's media monopolies, and it now has about 160 advertisers and sponsors. Fernando Espuelas, a native of Uruguay, cofounded StarMedia in 1996, along with his best friend from grade school, Jack C. Chen. Previously, Espuelas was AT&T's managing director of marketing communications for Latin America.

www.pets.com [11]) was launched in November 1998. Julie Wainwright joined the company in March 1999, expanding the site to feature more pet experts and to include more reference materials and health information. She also helped to secure funding from Amazon.com and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Previously, she served as CEO of Reel.com, a leading Internet video store, until its sale to Hollywood Entertainment Corp. in 1998. She started her career at the Clorox Co.

www.tatteredcover.com [12]), which opened in 1971, is one of the nation's largest independent bookstores. Joyce Meskis bought the store in 1974, after closing her own bookstore. Under her management, the Tattered Cover has expanded to include a second location. Today, both stores carry 150,000 titles, and the original store also houses a restaurant.

www.kanglee.com [13]) was founded in 1985 under the name AMKO advertising. It was one of the first Asian-American ad agencies, and today it is the largest buyer of Asian-American media for national advertisers. Its clients include AT&T's consumer and business units; Oxford Healthcare; Sears, Roebuck; and McDonald's. In 1998, the firm joined the Young & Rubicam family of agencies. Eliot Kang is a native of Korea.

www.rhino.com [14]), which offers more than 2,500 reissues of rare recordings, was acquired by Warner Music Group in 1998. Richard Foos and his partner, Harold Bronson, started the label in 1978. At first, Rhino issued novelty recordings, but over time it began licensing and remastering recordings from other labels. Foos got his start by selling used records from the trunk of his car.

www.jambajuice.com [15]) has 270 stores nationwide and brings in about $150 million in annual sales. Kirk Perron previously worked at Safeway and Vons grocery stores.

www.imediation.com [16]), founded in March 1998, is a global provider of e-commerce solutions to manage cross-selling, comarketing, and distribution. Before joining iMediation in the fall of 1998, Didier Benchimol spent four years serving as vice president and general manager of Netscape Communications Europe. Previously, he ran Vulcan Ventures for Paul Allen's multimedia companies in Europe.

www.fubu.com [17]) sells its clothing through more than 500 stores, including Macy's, Foot Locker, and Nordstrom. Recently, FUBU expanded its line to include swimwear, eyewear, and timepieces. Daymond John started FUBU in 1992, creating tie-top hats embroidered with the "FUBU" logo and selling them from his home. Later, he added baseball caps, T-shirts, hockey jerseys, and other items to his collection.