Pssst! I've got this great idea for a dot.com and all I need is a few million to get it up and running. I don't have any of the details worked out yet, but I do have a cool name for the site! A few years ago, this might have passed for a reasonably well-done business plan. However, today the realization of riches beyond your wildest imagination takes significantly more work. In fact, even though money continues to flow into web start-ups at a phenomenal rate, new forms of cottage industries are beginning to appear that specialize in taking Internet-mogul hopefuls from the idea stage to the mystical IPO. Net start-up incubators and hatcheries, venture capitalist firms, and Internet consultants abound. Unfortunately, the writing is already on the wall for many of the new Internet companies. Some well known, well-financed dot.coms have folded, significant consolidation among the major verticals and horizontals (i.e., functionals) is not far off, and believe it or not, it sounds like the honeymoon between Amazon.com and Wall Street is coming to an end. Adding to the mounting failure rate miseries, is the widespread lack of qualified personnel (both technical and business analyst). The readings associated with this topic module are meant to provide an introduction to many of the issues related to web start-up. We will explore some of the realities of web start-up and discuss some of the more innovative approaches used by some gutsy entrepreneurs. We will also examine some web start-up financial strategies and observe how the cyberspace funding game is changing.