Fool’s gold

Brothers David and Tom Gardner made a splash by handing out investment advice while wearing bells on their heads.

But the dot-com downturn is no joke. In January the Gardners’ online financial information service, Motley Fool, raised $30 million from AOL Time Warner Ventures, Softbank Finance Group, Maveron and Mayfield Fund - no small feat, as many Internet businesses have been left for dead by their onetime backers. But not everyone will be around to enjoy the windfall. Ten days after closing on the new money, the closely held Alexandria, Virginia-based company laid off 115 people, a third of its staff. “It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do,” says co-COO Erik Rydholm, who helped found the company. “But you owe it to your investors to perform.”

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