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fight, and that trait exposed the conflict dance at a small investment company that Hummer Winblad had funded with $4 million, Zero Gravity Internet Group. Zero Gravity, whose smaller shareholders included Marc Andreessen, ON24 CEO Sharat Sharan, and MP3.com's Michael Robertson, came to life in November 1999 at the hands of one Steve Harmon, an Internet stock-picker and the author of a popular book on raising venture rounds, Zero Gravity. Harmon had garnered profiles in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, and a large following of day traders watched his weekly stints on CNBC. When he started his new firm, he sought investments by a number of CEOs whose stocks he was publicly touting, and at least two of them invested in Zero Gravity. Then Harmon put a Hummer Winblad-backed firm, Net Perceptions Inc., on his list of top picks, helping send the stock up 100 percent in ten days. By the summer of 2000, CNBC became concerned enough about Harmon's multiple hats that it canceled his contract. And Zero Gravity's board suspended Harmon for poor management, then fired him for falsely telling the SEC he had a college diploma. An embarrassing situation, to be sure. But instead of backing Zero Gravity's board and trying to put the pieces together, John Hummer sided with the loyal Harmon. As lawsuits flew, Hummer converted his firm's stake into voting shares, took control of Zero Gravity, announced he would bring Harmon back, and installed Hummer Winblad associate Alicia Morga as a special executive running the firm. All of Zero Gravity's other employees quit.

Even some Hummer Winblad allies began having problems with the firm's strategy. Seattle venture capitalist David Johnston was one. He introduced Ann Winblad to a firm he had helped found and was investing in, a sports site called Rival Networks Inc. Hummer Winblad promptly invested as well, and Ann Winblad joined the board. "Their reach is unbelievable. And it's sticky," she said at the time. But Johnston grew alarmed at lavish executive spending that brought monthly individual credit-card bills of more than $100,000. When he complained to the board, he was invited to leave the meeting. "Their whole mantra was 'Don't worry, we're going public,'" said Johnston, who had to sue for access to corporate records. Instead, Rival Networks' formidable burn rate forced it out of business. Well before then, Johnston decided he'd never invest alongside Hummer Winblad again. "In the bubble, everyone made

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