CNN averaged 62 million views a month, including 29 million video views.

Six other businesses that were acquired for millions before they ever made much, if any, money.

Last April Fools' Day, publishers from Time Inc. to the Washington Post Company sent fast-growing startup Zite an aggressive cease-and-desist letter. The publishers weren't joking, accusing Zite's app, a personalized news reader for the iPad and iPhone, of copyright infringement and calling it "plainly unlawful."

The New York-based startup demolishes conventional wisdom about the best ways to draw in readers--and snaps up $64 million in financing.