Inside Dot Coms

Tales of the Electronic Goldrush

Internet startups are seen as a source of easy millions or a way to lose your shirt. This series cuts through the hype to examine the running of real dot com companies - both the very small and the very big. Stories to inspire and stories to warn.

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We need money

How three internet ideas succeeded or failed to get off the ground. A laddish website sells toys for boys from a shared house. A businessman gives up his job to set up a dot com on the dining-room table while his wife and children get on with their lives. And a young woman borrows money from friends and family to start a site for language schools.

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Making it big

Three internet businesses which have to keep growing to survive. A new British pets business finds a successful American dot com as a partner. An international travel site run by a 20-something cashes in on the trend for mobile internet access. And a Yorkshire farmer's wife selling bras tries to profit without borrowing millions. Different businesses, all exposed to the same highs and lows of dot com life.

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USA.com

Three tales of how Britons succeed or fail at the epicentre of the dot com revolution reveal differences between the British and American ways of doing business. A London couple pitches an idea to a hundred potential investors. A British company finds an expat to set up its outpost in Silicon Valley. And a Brit who arrives with a rucksack now deals in hundreds of millions of dot coms

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Send us your stuff

Three companies put their users to work in attracting new customers to their sites. Family trees are a growth area for the internet, as family historians share their information online. Email groups increase and multiply naturally, to the profit of the company that hosts them. And a new British music site gathers music of new bands to attract customers. Results propel the business towards the holy grail of the internet - stock market flotation.