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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.26

                                [HOOVER'S LOGO]


                                 July 22, 2002


                                                                    CONFIDENTIAL

Re:  Severance Agreement

Dear       :

    The following letter (the "Severance Agreement") sets forth certain benefits
and obligations relating to your employment with Hoover's, Inc. (the "Company"),
including severance benefits to which you would be entitled under certain
circumstances in the event of the termination of your employment as       of the
Company.

1.  SEVERANCE PAYMENTS. In the event of a Termination Upon Change of Control (as
    defined below), you will receive a total payment equal to twelve
    (12) months' salary at your then current rate, payable over twelve
    (12) months in accordance with the Company's regular payroll schedule. The
    applicable period of time of severance payments set forth in this Section 1
    shall be referred to herein as the "Severance Payment Period." This
    Section 1 contains the only set of circumstances upon which you would be
    entitled to severance payments upon your termination of employment,
    regardless of reason.

2.  TAX PAYMENTS. In the event that any payment or distribution by the Company
    to or for the benefit of you as a result of a Termination Upon Change of
    Control (whether paid or payable or distributed or distributable pursuant to
    the terms of this Severance Agreement or otherwise) (a "Payment") is
    determined by the Company or its designated auditors or accountants to be
    subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue
    Code, or any interest or penalties are incurred by you with respect to such
    excise tax (such excise tax, together with any such interest and penalties,
    are hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Excise Tax"), then the
    Company shall pay to you an additional payment (a "Gross-Up Payment") in an
    amount such that after payment by you of all taxes (including any interest
    or penalties imposed with respect thereto) and Excise Tax imposed upon the
    Gross-Up Payment, you retain an amount of the Gross-Up Payment equal to the
    Excise Tax imposed upon such Payments.

3.  ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEE BENEFITS. In addition to the severance payments
    described in Section 1 above, upon a Termination Upon Change of Control, you
    will be eligible for the following:

    a. If after termination you elect COBRA continuation coverage for health
       insurance, the Company will pay the difference in premiums between what
       you paid while employed at the Company and the actual cost of the COBRA

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       premiums, until the earlier of the date you are no longer eligible for
       COBRA or the conclusion of the Severance Payment Period.

    b. Bonus Payment: You will also be entitled to receive the pro rata portion
       of your bonus for the then-current fiscal year, calculated by determining
       the maximum bonus for which you would be eligible for such full fiscal
       year and multiplying such amount by the number of days in such fiscal
       year through the date of termination divided by 365. For purposes of
       determining the maximum bonus for which you would be eligible, such
       maximum bonus is currently set at fifty percent (50%) of your base salary
       for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003; in the event that at any point
       in a subsequent fiscal year, the Company has not yet specified a bonus
       plan for you, then the maximum bonus to which you were entitled in the
       previous fiscal year will apply for the purposes of this Section.

4.  EMPLOYEE RESTRICTIONS. We each recognize that due to the nature of your
    employment, and your relationship with the Company, you have and will
    continue to have access to, will continue to acquire, and will continue to
    assist in developing, Proprietary Information (as defined below) and
    additional confidential information with respect to its present and
    prospective services, technologies, systems, clients, customers, agents, and
    sales and marketing methods. You acknowledge that such information is of
    central importance to the Company's business and that disclosure of it to or
    its use by others could cause substantial loss to the Company. We each also
    recognize that an important part of your duties will be to develop good will
    for the Company through your personal contact with the Company's clients,
    and that there is a danger that this good will, a proprietary asset of the
    Company, may follow if and when your relationship with the Company is
    terminated.

    a. NONDISCLOSURE.

       i.   You agree that throughout your employment with the Company, the
            Company has provided you with Proprietary Information, and that
            during the term of your employment with the Company and at any time
            thereafter, you will not disclose any Proprietary Information of the
            Company without the prior written consent of the President or Board
            of Directors of the Company, which may be withheld in their sole and
            absolute discretion, except in connection with your duties to the
            Company.

      ii.   You also acknowledge that during the course of your continued
            employment with the Company, the Company will provide you with
            additional Proprietary Information. When and if the Company
            discloses additional Proprietary Information to you during your
            employment, you agree that an enforceable nondisclosure agreement,
            in addition to the nondisclosure agreement in Section (i) above,
            will be created at the time the Proprietary Information is actually
            provided to you ("Nondisclosure Agreement"). You agree that during
            your employment and thereafter, pursuant to such Nondisclosure
            Agreement, you will not disclose any Proprietary Information of the
            Company without the prior written consent of the President or Board
            of Directors of the Company, which may be withheld in their sole
            and absolute discretion, except in connection with your duties to
            the Company. You also agree that as of the time the Nondisclosure
            Agreement is formed, you will also be bound by the provisions of
            Sections 4(c)(i)-4(c)(ii) below.

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            You acknowledge that the Nondisclosure Agreement and the agreements
            not to compete contained in Sections 4(c)(i)-4(c)(ii) below will be
            made and entered into when the Company provides you with additional
            Proprietary Information. You further acknowledge and agree that the
            Company's conduct in providing you with Proprietary Information in
            exchange for your Nondisclosure Agreement gives rise to the
            Company's interest in restraining you from competing against the
            Company as set forth in Section 4(c)(i)-4(c)(ii) below (the
            "Non-Compete Agreement"), and that your agreement to the
            Non-Compete Agreement is designed to enforce your Nondisclosure
            Agreement.

     iii.   You further acknowledge that all Records (as defined below) are and
            shall remain the exclusive property of the Company, and agree that
            upon termination of your employment with the Company you shall
            return all Records in your possession.

    b. During your employment with the Company, you will not, directly or
       indirectly, participate in the ownership, management, operation,
       financing or control of, or be employed by or consult for or otherwise
       render services to, any person, corporation, firm, or other entity that
       competes with the Company in the state of Texas, or in any other state in
       the United States, or in any country in the world, in the conduct of the
       business of the Company as conducted or as proposed to be conducted, nor
       shall you engage in any other activities that conflict with my
       obligations to the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you are
       permitted to own up to 1% of any class of securities of any corporation
       in competition with the Company that is traded on a national securities
       exchange or through Nasdaq.

    c. You agree that for 12 months following the termination of your
       employment for any reason:

       i.   You will not directly or indirectly, in any jurisdiction where the
            Company is operating as of the date of your termination, whether as
            a partner, proprietor, employee, consultant, agent or otherwise,
            participate or engage in any business with any of the following
            companies without the prior written consent of the Company:

            a.  OneSource
            b.  Factiva
            c.  Multex/MarketGuide

      ii.   You will be restricted from employment with the units of Bloomberg,
            Dun & Bradstreet, Reuters, Reed-Elsevier, Thomson, InfoUSA, Dow
            Jones or Yahoo, as well as any new entities, that are actively
            engaged in the provision of business information to users on a
            paid, subscription basis; provided that in order to enforce this
            non-competition restriction as against any additional entity other
            than those set forth in Sections (c)(i) above or this paragraph (an
            "Additional Entity"), the Company shall have given notice to you of
            the inclusion of such Additional Entity to the restricted employer
            list at least thirty (30) days prior to the date on which you were
            terminated; provided that if the existence of such new company does
            not become generally known within the business community until
            within 30 days of the date of your

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            termination, the Company shall have thirty (30) days from the
            earlier of the date on which it became aware of the existence of
            such entity, or the date on which it should reasonably have become
            aware of the existence of such entity based on publicly available
            information, to inform you of the application of this provision to
            such entity.

    d. You agree that for 12 months following the termination of your
       employment for any reason, you shall not, directly or indirectly:

       i.   For your own account, or for the account of others, interfere with,
            solicit, or accept for yourself, or for the benefit of anyone other
            than the Company, as measured at the time of your termination, any
            of the clients or customers of the Company, or perform any services
            of any competitive nature in connection with said clients or
            customers for anyone other than the Company. The restrictions will
            not prohibit you from soliciting clients or customers of the Company
            with respect to the provision of products or services that are in no
            way competitive with any products and/or services offered by the
            Company at such time.

      ii.   Urge any client or customer of the Company to discontinue business,
            in whole or in part, or not do business, with the Company.

     iii.   Solicit, hire or arrange to hire any person who at the time of such
            hire or within three (3) months prior to the time of such hire was
            an employee of the Company, for yourself or for any business entity
            with which you may be, or may be planning to be, affiliated or
            associated with, or otherwise interfere with the retention of
            employees that the Company desires to retain as such.

    e. You expressly acknowledge and agree (i) that the restrictions set forth
       in this entire Section 4 are reasonable, in terms of scope, duration,
       geographic area, and otherwise, (ii) that the protections afforded to the
       Company hereunder are necessary to protect its legitimate business
       interests, and (iii) that the agreement to observe such restrictions
       form a material part of the consideration for this Severance Agreement.

5.  DEFINITIONS.

    a. "Cause" is defined as any of the following, if they occur during the
       period of your employment with the Company:

       i.   You have been or are guilty of (i) a criminal offense involving
            moral turpitude, (ii) criminal or dishonest conduct pertaining to
            the business or affairs of the Company (including, without
            limitation, fraud and misappropriation), (iii) any act or omission
            the intended or likely consequence of which is material injury to
            the Company's business, property or reputation, and (iv) gross
            negligence or willful misconduct which continues uncured for a
            period of ten (10) days after you have received written notice
            from the Company;

      ii.   You persist, for a period of ten (10) days after written notice
            from the Company, in a course of conduct reasonably determined by
            the Company to

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            be in material violation of your duties to the Company, including
            without limitation duties of care, loyalty and/or fiduciary duties;

     iii.   Your death; or

      iv.   The continuous and uninterrupted inability to perform your duties
            on behalf of the Company, by reason of accident, illness, or
            disease, for a period of sixty (60) days from the first day of such
            inability to perform his duties.

    b. "Change of Control" is defined as follows:

       i.   The acquisition by any individual, entity or group (within the
            meaning of Section 13(d)(3) or 14(d)(2) of the Securities Exchange
            Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act")) (a "Person") of
            beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 promulgated
            under the Exchange Act) of 50% or more of either (A) the
            then-outstanding shares of common stock of the Company (the
            "Outstanding Company Common Stock") or (B) the combined voting power
            of the then-outstanding voting securities of the Company entitled to
            vote generally in the election of directors (the "Outstanding
            Company Voting Securities"); provided, however, that, for purposes
            of this Section, the following acquisitions shall not constitute a
            Change of Control: (i) any acquisition directly from the Company,
            (ii) any acquisition by the Company, or (iii) any acquisition by any
            employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by
            the Company or any affiliated company.

      ii.   Individuals who, as of the date hereof, constitute the Board (the
            Incumbent Board") cease for any reason to constitute at least a
            majority of the Board; provided, however, that any individual
            becoming a director subsequent to the date hereof whose election,
            or nomination for election by the Company's shareholders, was
            approved by a vote of at least a majority of the directors then
            comprising the Incumbent Board shall be considered as though such
            individual were a member of the Incumbent Board, but excluding, for
            this purpose, any such individual whose initial assumption of
            office occurs as a result of an actual or threatened election
            contest with respect to the election or removal of directors or
            other actual or threatened solicitation of proxies or consents by
            or on behalf of a person other than the Board.

     iii.   Consummation of (x) a reorganization, merger or consolidation of
            the Company with or into another corporation, or (y) or the sale or
            other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the
            Company to another corporation (any event in (x) or (y) being a
            "Business Combination"), in each case, unless, immediately
            following such Business Combination, (A) all or substantially all
            of the individuals and entities that were the beneficial owners of
            the Outstanding Company Common Stock and the Outstanding Company
            Voting Securities immediately prior to such Business Combination
            beneficially own directly or indirectly, more than 60% of the
            then-outstanding shares of common stock and the combined voting
            power of the then-outstanding voting securities entitled to vote
            generally in the election of directors, as the case may be, of the
            corporation resulting from such

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            Business Combination (including, without limitation, a corporation
            that, as a result of such transaction, owns the Company or all or
            substantially all of the Company's assets either directly or
            through one or more subsidiaries) in substantially the same
            proportions as their ownership immediately prior to such Business
            Combination of the Outstanding Company Common Stock and the
            Outstanding Company Voting Securities, as the case may be, (B) no
            person (excluding any corporation resulting from such Business
            Combination or any employee benefit plan (or related trust) of the
            Company or such corporation resulting from such Business
            Combination) beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 20% or more
            of, respectively, the then-outstanding shares of common stock of
            the corporation resulting from such Business Combination or the
            combined voting power of the then-outstanding voting securities of
            such corporation, except to the extent that such ownership existed
            prior to the Business Combination, and (C) at least a majority of
            the members of the board of directors of the corporation resulting
            from such Business Combination were members of the Incumbent Board
            at the time of the execution of the initial agreement or of the
            action of the Board providing for such Business Combination; or

      iv.   Approval by the shareholders of the Company of a complete
            liquidation or dissolution of the Company.

    c. "Termination Upon Change of Control" is defined as any of the following,
       if they occur within eighteen (18) months following a Change of Control:

       i.   The Company terminates your employment without Cause;

      ii.   The Company reduces your base salary from its current level and you
            resign within 30 days of such action; or

     iii.   The Company relocates your office more than fifty (50) miles from
            your current office and you resign within 30 days of such action.

    d. "Record" is defined as the Company's assets, including its:

       i.   files, accounts, records, customer lists, logbook, documents,
            drawings, models, plans, specifications, manuals, books, forms,
            notes, reports, memoranda, studies, surveys, software, flow charts,
            data, computer programs, listing of source code, calculations,
            recordings, catalogues, compilations of information, correspondence,
            confidential data of customers and all copies, abstracts or
            summaries of the foregoing in any storage medium, as well as
            computers, computer equipment, laptops, instruments, tools, storage
            devices, disks, equipment and all other physical items related to
            the business of the Company (other than merely personal items of a
            general professional nature), whether of a public nature or not, and
            whether prepared by the employee or not.

    e. "Proprietary Information" is defined as follows: any confidential
       business or technical information or trade secrets of the Company which
       an employee acquires while employed by the Company, whether or not
       conceived of, developed or prepared by the employee or at his direction
       and includes:

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       i.   Any information or compilation of information concerning the
            Company's financial position, financing, purchasing, accounting,
            marketing, merchandising, sales, salaries, pricing, investments,
            costs, profits, plans for future development, employees, prospective
            employees, research, development, formulae, patterns, strategy,
            inventions, plans, specifications, devices, products, procedures,
            processes, operations, techniques, software, computer programs or
            data;

      ii.   Any information or compilation of information concerning the
            identity, plans, requirements, preferences, practices and methods
            of doing business on specific customers, suppliers, prospective
            customers and prospective suppliers of the Company;

     iii.   Any other information or "know how" which is related to any
            product, process, service, business or research of the Company; and

      iv.   Any information which the Company acquires from another party and
            treats as its proprietary information or designates as
            "Confidential," whether or not owned or developed by the Company.

      v.    The identity, skills and compensation of employees, contractors, and
            consultants.

      vi.   Information related to inventions owned by the Company or licensed
            from third parties.

            Notwithstanding the foregoing, "Proprietary Information" does not
            include any of the following:

            1.  Information which is publicly known or which is generally
                employed by the trade, whether on or after the date that an
                employee first acquires the information;

            2.  General information or knowledge which an employee would have
                learned in the course of similar work elsewhere in the trade; or

            3.  Information which an employee can prove was known by the
                employee before the commencement of the employee's engagement by
                the Company.

6.  CHOICE OF LAW; ARBITRATION--This Severance Agreement shall be governed by
    the laws of the State of Texas. Any disputes arising hereunder or otherwise
    related to your employment shall be resolved via arbitration pursuant to the
    rules of the American Arbitration Association to be held in Austin, Texas.

7.  SEVERABILITY.

    a. Both parties acknowledge and agree that each agreement and covenant set
       forth herein constitutes a separate agreement independently supported by
       good and adequate consideration and that each such agreement shall be
       severable from the other provisions of this Agreement and shall survive
       this Agreement.

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    b. You specifically agree that the Non-Compete Agreement is to be enforced
       to the fullest extent permitted by law. Accordingly, if a court of
       competent jurisdiction determines that the scope and/or operation of any
       provision of the Non-Compete Agreement is too broad to be enforced as
       written, the Company and you intend that the court should reform such
       provision to such narrower scope and/or operation as it determines to be
       enforceable, provided, however, that such reformation applies only with
       respect to the operation of such provision in the particular jurisdiction
       with respect to which such determination was made. If, however, any
       provision of the Non-Compete Agreement is held to be illegal, invalid, or
       unenforceable under present or future law, and not subject to
       reformation, then (i) such provision shall be fully severable, (ii) this
       Agreement shall be construed and enforced as if such provision was never
       a part of this Agreement, and (iii) the remaining provisions of this
       Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and shall not be affected
       by the illegal, invalid, or unenforceable provision or by its severance.

8.  GENERAL. This Severance Agreement is entered into in consideration of your
    continued employment with the Company, the Company's current and continued
    disclosure to you of Proprietary Information, the specialized training that
    you are receiving as a result of your employment with the Company, and the
    restrictions described in Section 4. The severance arrangements described
    herein are the sole benefits to which you may be entitled to in the event of
    the termination of your employment, and this Severance Agreement supersedes
    any prior oral or written communications with respect thereto. Each of the
    Company's obligations to provide payments and benefits upon severance
    described herein are conditioned upon your execution and return of a release
    of any and all claims that you may have against the Company arising out of
    your employment. This Severance Agreement does not create any right to
    continuing employment with the Company, and your employment relationship
    shall continue to be on an at-will basis.

                    , the Board of Directors and I appreciate you service to
Hoover's and look forward to your continuing contribution to our success. Please
sign where indicated below to indicate your agreement to the terms of this
Severance Agreement.

                                          Very truly yours,



                                          Jeffrey R. Tarr
                                          Chairman and CEO


ACCEPTED AND AGREED


_____________________________