The emergence of modern venture capital dates to the post-WWII era, and, despite Silicon Valley's dominance in the field today, it was born on the East Coast. BusinessWeek editor Spencer Ante offers a history of corporate investment structures. The notion of investing in a business with money obtained beyond one's personal family - the very crux of this high-stakes business segment today - was a demoncratization of the business world hitherto unseen.

How did Silicon Valley come to own the tech industry? BusinessWeek's Spencer Ante offers a historical perspective on the Valley's success positioning and usurping of the East Coast's market dominance. Ante credits a number of factors for the shift westward, including Frederick Terman, a greater acceptance of ethnic diversity, and abundant higher education. Venture firms that arose in the 1960's and 1970's, including Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital, are still among the nation's most successful today.

From a $70,000 investment, the Digital Equipment Corporation evolved into a multi-million dollar entity, entitling its investors to the fruits of a 70,000 percent ROI. This, says author and BusinessWeek editor Spencer Ante, was the first home run in the field of venture capital, and the first inkling that this sector could earn its own secure financial standing.