Now, the Nasdaq Composite Index has tumbled 59 percent from its March 2000 record, and companies are announcing job cuts instead of IPOs. Start-ups like InfraSearch are battling to bring their products to market. Most are struggling just to get venture funding, which precedes an IPO by months or years. U.S. venture spending is on track to fall by half this year, according to VentureWire Group, a unit of researcher and publisher Technologic Partners. The hard part is knowing how much to pay.
Entrepreneurs say their companies are undervalued.
Buyers counter that their own shares used for purchases are cheap, too. President Ed Zander said the decline in corporate computer spending was the most severe he'd seen in his 28-year career. His team has been busy already. Lighthouse's 35 employees stayed in San Mateo, north of Sun's headquarters in Palo Alto, and Schwartz reported to Sun's then chief technology officer Eric Schmidt. Sales teams from Lighthouse and Sun had little contact.