Anthony Pantuso and Thomas Naughton left to join NeoCarta Ventures, a new firm that then won backing from a former client: Bert Ellis of IXL Enterprises.

FORBES: GE's brain drain

New firms specialising in technology and e-commerce, such as Razorfish, MarchFIRST, Scient and iXL (the latter two have since merged) commanded the spotlight only to crash with the dotcom market.

ECONOMIST: The end of self-pity

This included the school sanctioned, IXL program.

FORBES: First There Was Apple's MapGate, Now Welcome ParentGate