Paul Graham's near-death experience

We suspect Paul Graham will not be very popular in Sunnyvale today. The entrepreneur sold his e-commerce venture, Viaweb, to Yahoo for nearly $50 million in 1998 — a rich sum for the time. He's gone on to success coaching and funding other startups through his Y Combinator incubator. In a speech he gave to his latest hatchlings called "How Not to Die," on the mortal perils faced by startups, Graham makes a striking revelation. Even as he was negotiating the sale to Yahoo, Viaweb was on the verge of running out of money. Was Viaweb really worth $50 million? Or nothing? Then as now, in the Valley, there's a fine line between worthless and wealthy.