The death of a Silicon founder and rising internet stars

He leaves behind his second wife, five children from his first marriage, five stepchildren and almost 90,000 employees of the company he nurtured from its inception in 1939 to its current valuation of almost $50bn.

In what the Financial Times calls the 'garage to riches' tale, Hewlett, together with David Packard, who died in 1996, rented a small garage from which to build their business and grew it into one of the world's leading companies. HP's management philosophy was one of innovation, inspiration and sound investment, running on a pay-as-you-go basis to avoid debts, and sharing profits with employees as incentives.

Hewlett gave Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, his first job. He received a warm tribute from Gates at the weekend. He will be missed by many at Silicon Valley and we can be sure his name - or a shortened version of it - will live on for many a long time...

Funding is a hot topic of the day. London-based corporate ISP Idesk has confirmed £10m in second-round funding, bringing its total since a year ago to £27m. The firm can now expand overseas and develop new products, says the FT. Idesk has a turnover of £10m and hopes to hit profitability by the end of 2001. The cash injection comes from Jupiter Asset Management, Knorr Capital Partner and Groupe LCF Rothschild.

The Times tells of nascent property exchange Immoeuro, set to defy dot-doom trends today with confirmation of £6.5m third round funding for its pan-European expansion programme. The Amsterdam-based company has secured the money from its earlier Silicon Valley backers, Trident Capital, VantagePoint Venture Partners and WaldenVC. The firm will now hope to establish itself in all leading European centres and investigate related areas of business in the significant property sector...

Meanwhile, according to the FT, Worldpop, a media company founded by ex-Radio One disk jockey Peter Powell, has attracted £5m of second round funding. Already a backer of tours by such pop-tastic powers as the Spice Girls, Mel C and Steps, the company provides pop music related news and information via the internet and mobile devices. Worldpop will now seek to expand its fanbase in the lucrative teenage entertainment market. There must, after all, be some shining stars in this time of net one-hit wonders...