Many of these otherwise pragmatic Hong Kong residents have either taken the dotcom plunge by quitting their relatively secure jobs and starting up their own companies or are seriously considering such a move.

For proof, look no further than the latest group of Internet and technology companies to crop up at small offices in buildings such as Number One Lan Kwai Fong and 43 Lyndhurst Terrace.

The latter is otherwise known as The Workstation and was purpose-built for small tech companies.

For some, like Milton Kiang of Legalstudio.com, the process can take several months, from the decision to set up a company to the day they hand in formal resignations at their present job.

Mr Kiang, formerly in-house counsel for chipmaker Intel, describes many sleepless nights spent doubting whether the new venture would work.

The other factor, Mr Kiang said, was finding business partners and staff who were committed to his idea of a Web site that would, among other things, broker advice between law firms and their clients.

He took a 15 to 20 per cent cut in salary and compensation, including bonuses and stock options, to make the leap.

"I expected it to be even worse," he said. "You have some people who have taken 50 per cent cuts." Mr Kiang holds just under a third of the equity in the new company, and expects that to be diluted as new funding comes in.

Staying within Intel to run such a services-focused company was not an option because the chipmaker was so focused on its hardware business, despite having invested in other areas, he said.

The prevailing theme among those who have left jobs at companies such as Intel, Goldman Sachs and Cable & Wireless HKT is that they could not enjoy the same risks and rewards without striking out on their own.

Jae Sang, who worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs for six years and who had put in five years at other banks, left in February to start mConverge. It builds wireless interfaces for clients such as financial information site Typhoon 8.

Mr Sang said there was shock and disappointment at his former employer, partly because he managed the firm's trading and sales systems in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore, and partly because as a campus recruiter at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the past five years, Mr Sang also helped the company bring in even more engineering talent.

"At the same time many of the senior management understood why I was doing it," he said. He would even have stayed on and taken a pay cut if the company had been willing to take a similar risk. He and the firm could have shared the wealth if the venture succeeded.

Leaving secure stations at established companies is not without its downside, though. Mr Sang found he had suddenly lost the clout of a known brand name and had to build his own credibility.

Riyaz Moorani, who was Cable & Wireless HKT's group manager for Internet and intranet applications until two months ago, notices the absence of human resources, property management and other support departments.

However, Mr Moorani and other said large companies could not adapt to changing market conditions as quickly as their new, smaller companies.

"If you don't like the HR policy, you change it," said Mr Moorani, who is co-founder and chief technology officer of asia-hotels.com, one of a handful of sites that is hoping to profit as travellers turn to the Internet for information and bookings.

By the time Mr Moorani's contract came up earlier this year, Asia-hotels, founded a year ago with a former colleague from HKT, had grown to about 25 employees and he felt it was time to leave the corporate world behind.

Of course, time will tell whether their businesses are viable, but for now, none seem to have any regrets.

After seeing the Internet boom in places like New York, where he worked before Hong Kong, and after considering getting into the Internet business for the past five years, Mr Sang said: "I came to the conclusion that I was over-analysing everything, and thinking about it in the evenings and weekends just does not do it justice.

"When you go full-time and everything's on the line, that's when things start happening because there is real risk at the time."

Mr Sang and other s who made their moves before the technology share markets hit major snags in April may not find many others following in their foot-steps. Investors are a bit more cautious and will not give start-up funding to just any idea.

That suits Mr Sang just fine: "I know that this shakeout and subsequent shakeouts that would undoubtedly happen over the next several years will always be good for the market place in general, to shake out those that do not have a business model and those that do not have any material products. I think it's a very good thing for the market place and for us."

Anh-Thu Phan