China's Internet scene is big business. It is also the place where a lot of effort and a lot of venture capital disappear into oblivion...

The Chicago Tribune recently ran a story that chronicled the development of a dot com start up in China. A married couple take their life savings and build a social networking web site (something like a Chinese version of Facebook). You get a sense of the time involved, the sacrifice private entrepreneurs make, and what chance they have for success.

In this story the couple and their business partner eventually get a shot of venture capital. The story looks at the odds a company faces and the role that firms like Zero2IPO play in whether dot coms make it or not.

You can read the story in full:

• Part I: Chasing dot-com dream in China
• Part II: No rest for China's tech entrepreneurs