Suddenly, things were different. It seemed like everyone ran to the sidelines. Instead, Grant eventually found himself selling to Lee Hecht Harrison of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., a larger company with deeper pockets and enough money to keep his idea alive and invest in his company's growth. He is now executive vice president of ExecuPlanet, the entity borne of the purchase. Selling the shop is becoming a viable alternative to shutting down for entrepreneurs who find that the venture capital taps are drying up.
Anecdotal evidence suggests the beginning of a buying trend locally.
Cash-rich Terra Lycos Inc. of Waltham snapped up the web site Raging Bull of Andover last month. EMC Corp. of Hopkinton bought five software companies last year, and chief executive officer Joseph Tucci estimates the company's software market will grow 50 percent in 2001. He predicted the EMC acquisition trend will continue. The Xcert deal was part of that. While the AOL Time Warner Inc. deal inflated the average deal price for January 2000, it also highlighted the financial strength and higher valuations of Internet and technology companies at the time.