Squabbling among the Rich and Famous

San Francisco's 12 Entrepreneuring Inc. may go down as the last of the Internet highfliers. When the incubator was founded in February, 2000, it was packed with a who's who of tech. The co-founders and co-CEOs, Eric Greenberg and Halsey Minor, were super-successful Web entrepreneurs. And 12's board of directors was just as star-studded, with the likes of Gateway Inc. (GTW ) founder Theodore W. Waitt and Netscape Communications Inc. (AOL ) co-founder Marc Andreessen.

What's more, despite 12's being little more than an idea, investors--including Goldman Sachs (GS ), Benchmark Capital, and former Vice-Presidential candidate Jack Kemp--couldn't shovel money in fast enough. The company, which was launched with about $30 million, was able to raise an additional $100 million from investors by June--even as the appetite for anything Internet had already waned. 12's value then: $700 million. "This was the dream team," says Ronald C. Conway, a well-known angel investor who put $1.5 million into 12 at the June valuation. "Everyone was saying you couldn't get a sweeter deal."