In 1999 every large company wanted its own e-business, and most had no idea how to build one. Their data sat in old databases. Their programmers knew client/server tools, not the web. SilverStream sold the plumbing in between: an application server and tools for building web apps that took orders, handled supply chains and let employees serve themselves. The Massachusetts company went public that August, at the peak of the rush.

One Platform for E-Business

David Skok founded SilverStream in 1996 and served as its chairman from the start. The company bet that businesses would move their core software onto the web, and would want one platform to build, deploy and manage those apps. Its rivals included BEA, IBM and a crowd of startups, all racing to own the application server, a new category. SilverStream pitched speed: developers could build working web applications fast without stitching together tools from many vendors.

Sixteen Dollars, Then Novell

SilverStream priced its offering at $16 a share in August 1999 and listed on Nasdaq as SSSW. The stock soared with the internet boom, then fell hard when it ended. Application servers became a standard feature, and BEA and IBM took most of the market. In 2002 Novell bought SilverStream for about $212 million, using its technology in Novell's web services products.

Cover: A Silver Morning, George Inness. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a silvery morning by the water (SilverStream).