24 hour rule --- revoked

[update] In multiple conversations/emails today, I learned that this was indeed true. The link to InsideHPC story is here. Vipin and I were rooting for them, as the technology was interesting, the approach different, and the value apparent. This was before we talked to them about possibly working together. This company did have good technology, did have great people. Now a VC/financial group has assets they have to sell. Maybe someone can explain to me how that is more valuable than a viable functioning growing going concern, generating revenue, closing in on break even. In this market.

Maybe I shouldn’t say it like this, but I guess they were too small to save, as compared to being too big to fail. In the comments at InsideHPC, they are taking potshots at one of the program managers. The prevailing view is to look at the companies health. That would be wrong. This company was, by all measures, healthy. As we mutual NDA’ed, I can’t say everything I know. But I can say that this was a company we wanted to partner with. This was not a dying company. Anyone indicating otherwise doesn’t quite grasp what happened, and certainly doesn’t understand the nuances of startups. I can say that what I heard is par for the course for a VC backed company. It sucks. The key growing a company is finding revenue, and being able to sell at a profit, on a more or less continuous basis. Lots of people don’t grasp exactly how hard this is. A long while ago, I posited that if you keep driving innovators out of the market with ridiculous T&C;, inane payment conditions, and so forth, you are going to have a very uniform, very bland, and very incapable small group of vendors, whom are largely disinterested in your problems. Given how critical HPC is, for our defense, for our industrial base, for our R&D;, and our engineering workforce, one might think that we do a better job nurturing quality HPC companies … companies with real value to offer. Sigh.

Saw a rumor on InsideHPC that was disconcerting. So I am going to self-impose a 24 hour rule on this to see if more information emerges. I don’t necessarily believe the rumor. John West does a good job of digging up information, so lets hope he can get more, and we can get clarification. And yes, if you happen to be a person at the company, and can (hopefully) help quash the rumor, by all means, please, do so. OTOH … you can let me know privately if there is nothing to quash. joe at scalability dot org .