Fatbrain.com went public under a different name: Computer Literacy. In Silicon Valley that name already meant something. Computer Literacy Bookshops ran four stores stocked with programming books and technical manuals for the engineers who built the valley's chips and software. In 1997 a young online store bought those shops for $5.1 million. When it listed in November 1998, it was betting that technical professionals would buy their books online, through their employers and on their own.

Buying the Valley's Bookshop

Chris MacAskill, a geophysicist turned entrepreneur, and Kim Orumchian founded the company in June 1995. They sold technical books online and in May 1997 bought Computer Literacy Bookshops, with its four physical stores, for $5.1 million. The company sold books, training materials, manuals and research reports through its website and through co-branded stores for corporate customers. It later renamed itself Fatbrain.com.

Into Barnes & Noble

Computer Literacy sold 3 million shares at $10 each in November 1998, raising $30 million, and listed on Nasdaq as CMPL. Amazon and barnesandnoble.com competed hard on price, and Fatbrain lost money as it grew. In September 2000 barnesandnoble.com agreed to buy Fatbrain for $4.25 a share in cash and stock. The deal closed that November, and Fatbrain's store was folded into Barnes & Noble's site.

Cover: Bookseller and Author, Thomas Rowlandson. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a bookseller and an author (a bookstore).