When a massive star reaches the end of its life, it collapses and then explodes. For a brief period it can outshine an entire galaxy. Astronomers call this a supernova. It is one of the most violent events in the universe and also one of the most beautiful, and the material it scatters becomes the raw matter for new stars.

Silicon Valley produces its own supernovas. These are companies that rose with extraordinary speed, drawing billions of dollars, millions of users, and the attention of the entire world, and then collapsed almost as quickly. The objects in this room are what remain of them.

This exhibit does not ask you to judge them. Some of these founders were pioneers who arrived too early. Some believed in the future so completely that they promised it before it was ready. A few went too far and paid for it. In many cases, the difference between these stories is smaller than it looks from the outside.

Every company begins by describing a future that does not exist yet. The ones that survive long enough to build it are remembered as visionaries. The ones that run out of time are remembered as something else. More than one founder in this room was a few good months away from being called a genius.

The line between genius and mania is thin, and from up close it is almost impossible to see. Every founder in this room stood on it. Some stepped one way and some stepped the other, and most never knew which side they were on until the light went out.

What remains is scattered across the industry now, in the people they trained, the ideas they proved too early, and the companies that rose from their debris.

This exhibit honors the ambition that burned them up, and the light it left behind.