Chasing dot-com dream in China - Chicago Tribune

[Rubber Duck]

Spent cups of instant noodles lay in the trash can. Cubicles were empty for the night. Among the last to leave the office of Internet start-up HiU were Jacques Ding and Susan Su, the two entrepreneurs who had everything on the line.

After more than 18 months in business, they had pitched their idea to top venture capitalists but were still hunting for the backing they needed; they had attracted advertisers and more than 1.5 million members but needed many more; and they had poured years of savings into the business without knowing if it would survive.

To follow the ups and downs of a single Chinese start-up -- one among thousands today -- is to glimpse how entrepreneurs are battling for an edge in the world's hottest Internet boom. The changes sweeping China in the early 21st Century not only are ushering millions of people into the middle class, but also are spurring many others to reach for a life beyond it.

American venture capitalists are scouring China for the dot-coms they calculate could be the nation's next big hits, the next Google or YouTube. Ding and Su were betting that HiU could be one of them......

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...i-business-hed