Then think of it stuck in fast forward.

The evolution of commerce has been time compressed. Markets emerge, gray, and then disappear. A company springs up, takes an industry by storm, and through diversification and foresight, it thrives.Yet other companies that have virtually invented their industries, fail to keep current through arrogance or lack of vision, and wind up footnotes of history even while the industry they helped to found continues to grow.

Technology hurtles us forward at warp speed. For modern companies, especially those in the emerging technologies, survival means walking a tightrope virtually every quarter.

This tightrope spans a deep and dizzying chasm, where one serious misstep may well be your last. But to those with the skill and balance to stay the course across this Valley of Change, undreamed of opportunities await.

Because never before have there been so many markets standing open and receptive to so many great ideas. But to companies on this tightrope of modern business, the distractions are many, and pressures constantly threaten to upset the complex equilibrium for success. Invention and information are reaching critical mass.

An entrepreneurial renaissance is in full flower, an unpredictable alchemy of science, marketing, and imagination. The best and brightest of our time are comets that light up the skies of this new millennium.

Born of invention, sustained by collaboration, hurtling towards unfathomable change and unimaginable prosperity. Their pull is powerful, magnetic, and often destructive for those who cannot keep pace. To some on the tightrope, the close of their fiscal year is awaited with all the expectation of Doomsday. To others, one door closes; another opens revealing a bright and shining future. On the tightrope, it is impossible to keep your balance and make any progress while looking backwards. On the tightrope, instinct and ingenuity are the only resources available. And they are the only ones necessary to keep focused on the distant peaks of opportunity and achievement.