Both Hoberman and Lane Fox have vigorously denied suggestions they will "take the money and run" post floatation.

BBC: Martha my very dear

But funding a business in this fashion is not ideal, as you're not receiving the capital up front, Ms. Hoberman says.

WSJ: Colleen DeBaise answers an entrepreneur's question about dividing up an LLC

"You don't want to give someone the advantage of an ownership interest when they haven't put in the money, " Ms. Hoberman says.

WSJ: Colleen DeBaise answers an entrepreneur's question about dividing up an LLC

And the boom crossed the Atlantic, with UK travel company Lastminute.com, lead by Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox, floating on the London stock market.

BBC: Internet cafe in Beijing

Others include Lukasz Gadowski, founder of Spreadshirt, a shopping site, and Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com, a travel site, who is a partner in PROfounders, an early-stage investment firm.

ECONOMIST: Europe's tech entrepreneurs

Among the luminaries who waltzed on stage for conversation were artificial intelligence godfather Marvin Minsky, Boston Scientific founder and billionaire John Abele, Oxbridgian longevity messiah Aubrey De Grey (who's got 536 friends on Facebook), Tesla Motors founder Martin Eberhard, sculptor Chuck Hoberman, Sims creator Will Wright, genomics pundit Juan Enriquez and computer scientist Sandy Pentland from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Among the luminaries who waltzed on stage for conversation were artificial intelligence godfather Marvin Minsky, Boston Scientific (nyse: BSX - news - people ) founder and billionaire John Abele, Oxbridgian longevity messiah Aubrey De Grey (who's got 536 friends on Facebook), Tesla Motors founder Martin Eberhard, sculptor Chuck Hoberman, Sims creator Will Wright, genomics pundit Juan Enriquez and computer scientist Sandy Pentland from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

FORBES: Radical Ideas