21.   Company officials declined to discuss details of the latest investment round, including how much of an ownership stake the venture firms now had in Raviant.

22.   Despite that, many venture firms have wisely chosen to diversify their holdings.

23.   David Wetherell, head of Andover, Mass. Internet venture captial firm CMGI Inc., said his company is still trying to arrange a rival bid for Lycos.

24.   Duncan McCallum, general partner with OneLiberty in Cambridge, Mass., said the venture firm made five times its investment on the deal.

25.   Dubbed the Investor Connection Program, Microsoft has already recruited a handful of early-stage venture firms for the project.

26.   Executives at other venture firms and the small companies that seek investment capital say Fidelity can offer a few unique advantages.

27.   Experienced venture firms are being much more selective about the companies they back these days, Hooper said.

28.   Financiers from Sequoia Capital and Menlo Ventures, two other venture firms, are school trustees.

29.   Foundation chief executive Tod Loofbourrow said his company selected Fidelity from a field of nearly two dozen interested venture firms.

30.   In addition to meeting Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and other executives, Alston called on Vinod Khosla of the Kleiner Perkins venture firm.