re: Leading Lights Startups Gain GroundThis is a pretty sad statement on the state of startups and investment in our industry. An SFP vendor with integrated G.709 as a leading light...wow! The rest of the field appears equally uncompelling.
Unfortunately, there is very little VC money going into our space. The VCs have been focussing on Biotech, Medical and Clean/Green. Go in with a Telcom proposal and the door is all you will see. There is currently no market for reasonable exits. Only one or two IPOs of merit and the acquisition market is pure fire sale. Before this mess is over more than one of the big companies will fall.
re: Leading Lights Startups Gain GroundAgreed, good post. But don't forget it's not just the current state of the market that keeps them from looking at telco. It's how much they lost over the last ten years.
SO... really these start-ups up for an LL do deserve some credit. The bar for getting funded is certainly a heck of a lot higher for them.
re: Leading Lights Startups Gain GroundWhat cowboys? You don't expect a telecom bail out? I'm pretty sure my presonal 401k+Mtg. bailut package is coming in the mail in the fomr of a check signed by 'W'.
Oh that's right, we got a bail-on. I saw it coming in NJ in the late 90's-through early 2000's as a handful of execs (some non-techies I never heard of before) started getting handsomely rewarded. Later I learned we were exporting all the hardware and physics/Bell-Labs know-how overseas at the same time of post-regulatory age of innocence. A world order bigger and more important than me or anything I could imagine was at work here according to my wize boss.
re: Leading Lights Startups Gain Groundcandle -- You could view this list as four companies that made finalist status, and one that we included just to keep Nan Chen's nomination streak alive.
re: Leading Lights Startups Gain GroundThis choice should not be close. Rumor out there that FastSoft has two deals to announce. 1 is said, to be Marque. We will see.
Unfortunately, there is very little VC money going into our space. The VCs have been focussing on Biotech, Medical and Clean/Green. Go in with a Telcom proposal and the door is all you will see. There is currently no market for reasonable exits. Only one or two IPOs of merit and the acquisition market is pure fire sale. Before this mess is over more than one of the big companies will fall.
Can you spell "ugly"?