With more than $3 billion under management, General Atlantic Partners takes the prize as the largest venture capital firm devoted exclusively to software and "related information technologies." Since 1980, the firm has made 60 investments in IT companies, including headline grabbers such as Priceline.com, E*Trade, and Baan Software.

Investment strategy: very strict

Consistent with its large size, General Atlantic Partners tends to invest heavily in companies, with average investments ranging from $20 million to $100 million. The firm professes a commitment to "creating long-term value," meaning an investment horizon of five to ten years. In February 1999, the firm dumped 48 percent of its holding in E*Trade, an investee since 1995. In comments to The New York Times, a spokesperson for E*Trade nevertheless praised the firm's "very strict investment policy discipline."

Portfolio: Think global

General Atlantic Partners' current portfolio counts about 40 companies in the information technology sector. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the firm's portfolio is the fact that one quarter of all investees are non-U.S. companies. In 1997, the firm sponsored a Red Herring conference on venture investing in Europe; and most of its non-U.S. portfolio companies hail from European countries, particularly Germany, The Netherlands, and the U.K. One particularly successful investment has been Holland's Baan Company, a leading producer of client/server ERP software. By 1993, Baan had established itself in Europe, but had yet to crack the American market. To do so, Jan and Paul Baan sold one-third of their company to General Atlantic Partners for $18 million. Evidently, the move paid off for all participants. As of August 1998, Baan Company had a market cap of $8.7 billion.

In June 2000, the company announced a partenership with Goldman Sachs and Boston Consulting Group to create a joint venture to acquire and build online businesses for traditional companies. The new venture, to be called iFormation Group, will aim to help companies develop online strategies and help create start-ups to collaborate with large companies on e-commerce initiatives. Besides financing, iFormation Group will provide strategy, business development, financial and operational services. The companies are investing an initial $300 million in the venture, which will be based in New York. IFormation will also have offices in London and Hong Kong. Additional offices in Europe, Asia and North America will follow.

Team: breadth