The original idea for an "idea lab" was only supposed to last one year. "I wasn't thinking long term. I didn't think I'd be doing this 17 years later," said Bill Gross, founder of Idealab, Los Angeles' first startup incubator, which was formed in 1996. "It was much more personal then. I had come up with ideas all my life and learned that the more focused a company can be, the more successful it can be."