Bill Gross got his entrepreneurial start as a teenager in the early 1970s when he founded a company that sold solar-energy products. After making a successful venture into Lotus software in the 1980s, the California native struck gold in Silicon Valley. The Internet boom was taking off with fierce momentum, and Gross capitalized by launching successful Web firms like CitySearch, eToys, and GoTo.com--the company that pioneered paid-search advertising for the Internet.

At the peak of the dot-com boom, Gross was juggling 50 Internet startups at once in hopes of cashing in on the Web's mad-money bubble. But when the tech bubble burst in 2001, so did Gross' startup incubator firm, Idealab. The embattled leader lost his good reputation--and nearly his company.

But today, Gross has a new lease on life. The 47-year-old exhibits a business savvy and maturity of mind that could have developed only in the school of hard knocks. After years of thorough introspection--and numerous debt restructurings--Gross and Idealab are back in working order. The startup incubator's portfolio is diversified and includes computer- and web-based businesses within the energy, communications, and transportation sectors. And this time around, Gross' startups have sound financials and a slower, more stable growth rate.

For an entrepreneur that has been creating new businesses since his high school days, Bill Gross shows no signs of letting up. The pioneer responsible for some of the Internet's best companies has demonstrated that he has both the leadership gravitas and business acumen to make Idealab a successful business incubator once again.