Richard Sabot was an economist, scholar, farmer, and Internet pioneer who was co-founder of Tripod.com, one of the first and most successful dot-coms, in 1992. He was also a co-founder of Eziba, an Internet venture which sold handcrafted goods from artisans around the world. He was a professor emeritus of economics at Williams College, and previously taught at Yale University, Oxford University, and Columbia University. He was a leading figure in building the Internet economy of Williamstown, Massachusetts, where the Green River ran past enough digital businesses in the dot-com era to earn the nickname "Silicon River"