Paul, I think you are wrong with that one. Who would lend NOW a bunch of (IT) guys money for a startup. A bank ?!?! No! Rather the mob. The reason why Viaweb/MS/Apple were succesfull is that they invented / did stuff that didn't existed at that point. You /They created a market where there was none. Back in these days there was a small amount of technology and a small group of people who understood it. Nowadays it's much tougher with competition from anywhere and anyone has access to loads of information and technology. Regards, Anes