| Welcome to The Wall Street Journal's email series on some of the biggest startup failures in Silicon Valley history. You'll receive one email a week detailing the promising rise and dramatic fall of each company, with highlights from the Journal's coverage. While these startups run the gamut of concepts and business plans—from dot-com darlings to notorious blood-testing company Theranos—they have a few things in common. They raised an unusual amount of money for their industry, size, lifespan or era. In many cases, the companies experienced a quick rise followed by a spectacular flameout. Some never managed to put out the product they had promised. The founders were among Silicon Valley's brightest, and several of their ideas were ahead of their time. The list is arranged chronologically in the order in which the startups failed. First up: a 1980s computing dud founded by a Valley legend. —Liz Webber P.S. Stick around for a special bonus email with startups that nearly failed but somehow managed to rise from the ashes. | 
