Wireless LAN management software company Sputnik Inc. is hoping for a modest market lift-off on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) next year.

The OTCBB [ed. note: surely you’ve heard of it?] is a regulated electronic service offered by the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD) that shows real-time information for over-the-counter (OTC) equity securities, typically "microcap" stocks. Which, in plain English, means its small beer compared to the Nasdaq, as Sputnik CEO David LaDuke freely admits.

“I think of it as the farm league for the Nasdaq,” he tells Unstrung. “It’s a great market for us to get started on.”

LaDuke is also hoping that going with OTCBB will expose Sputnik to a wide range of investors while allowing the firm’s principals to remain “in the driving seat.” There is, however, a bunch of tedious paperwork that needs to be done before the company talks about valuations and -- gasp -- can actually go and IPO.

“Seven to 13 months is what I’ve been told,” says LaDuke. “But it could be more than a year.”

Okey doke.

Sputnik, you may remember, started in 2002 as a company pushing “soft” access points (APs) for home and business use (see Sputnik to Put WLAN Networking Into Orbit?) . But the firm soon morphed, and now uses some of the same open-source components in its wireless LAN management software and “smart” AP product line (see Sputnik Teams With Gemtek).— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung