founders and investors. The company had burned through approximately $60 million in venture capital during its three years of existence. Just a few months after the founding of govWorks.com, interest in the company was strong and govWorks.com employee count grew to 30 employees as of August 1998 and by October 1998, the company had 70 employees. The Startup.com movie showcased a business culture with energy and excitement; people were interested in joining the company with the hope of getting in at the beginning stages of another dot-com success story. As additional capital investment came into the company and as the company neared its full scale rollout in 2000, the company expanded further with headcount from 120 employees in January 2000 to over 250 employees in April 2000. However, as depicted in the movie, govWorks.com suffered from a number of organizational power struggles and governance issues that would eventually lead to the company's demise. Towards the end of 2000, when it was clear that the company was hemorrhaging money and not able to fully execute its planned services, the company dramatically reduced its headcount to 60 employees in November 2000 in an attempt to stem the $1 million per month in overhead expenditures. The company was sold to First Data Corporation in January 2001. The documentary film, Startup.com which was released by Artisan in May 2001, won the Grand Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and accumulated $765,000 in initial box office receipts. Affiliated companies Collectively, corporate governance of govworks.com was associated with thirty one (31) for-profit and not-for-profit companies and institutions from a variety of market sectors, including: Chase Manhattan, Hyatt Legal Services, Stanford University, Jackson Securities, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, New York City Investment Fund, Mayfield Fund, Corradini & Company, The Duberstein Group, Barnes & Thornburg, Sapient Corporation, Vestar Capital Partners, Urban Health Initiative, Harvard University, JumpStart, The ASHOKA Foundation, Public Allies, Kirshenbaum Bond Partners, MassHysteria.com, Chrysler Corporation, Into Networks, Endeavor Fund, Sportsline.com, Vignette, Premier Asset Management, Star Media Networks, Patagon.com, COTESA, S.A. de C.V., Chrysalis Capital, First International Resources Inc., ISI Emerging Markets. Competitors One of govWorks's main competitors was Atlanta-based EzGov.com, which offered software to local governments and municipalities to allow citizens to pay parking tickets, taxes and obtain other city services on-line 24 hours a day. EzGov co-founder Bryan Mundy was invited by Tuzman to tour govWorks; offices prior to either company releasing their software; this