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To: Bill Harmond who wrote (45337)	3/11/1999 7:53:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

I dion't know how they make money. I was thinking they get a piece of the inbound telco fee, but I don't know how that would work. Maybe it's an intro offer. I vote for the intro offer. I can't picture a telco giving them part of their fee. It sure is an interesting concept. I am waiting on my number so I may try it. Glenn

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (45337)	3/12/1999 8:27:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

I hate the word "keiretsu." It's so frequently applied to VC strategies that it's lost its meaning. Rather, I think of the Internet's venture funds as Internet studios that follow the original Hollywood model, in which a few moguls fund and bring together the components needed to run portions of the industry -- in return for major equity positions. Like the studios, the funds have philosophies that are reflected in their investments. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, despite protestations to the contrary, has a strong alternate-platform (anti-Microsoft) bent: Look at its investments in Lotus, Sun, Netscape, and its Java Fund. IdeaLab appears to be running physics experiments on the new frictionless economy (Free-PC, GoTo.com, NetZero, eWallet). CMGI, lately, seems to be all about building communities and profiting from the ways the Net changes marketing (Lycos, Geocities, Zinezone, KOZ.com, AdSmart, Engage Technologies). The VCs hedge their bets -- as do the companies they invest in. And everyone will take credit for a hit. But over time, like Hollywood of yore, you'll see these Internet studios find a formula that works. -Rafe Needleman, Editor