Other Gates Enter the Business on the Internet

On the top floor of a building near Union Square, there is a small office with white walls full of exhausted 20-year-olds who eat Cinnamon Crunch and jelly beans. A white board with a countdown calendar is crossed out in red. On a nearby shelf, a Roman bust has a pink balloon stuck in his mouth, like a bubble of gum about to burst. Outside the door you read a little poster that says “Philia”, the name of a new electronic commerce tool devised by…