Oracle, Sun Micro and Me

Pardon me for sounding a bit like an old-timer but today's news about Oracle acquiring Sun Microsystems has me reminiscing a bit about 1983. That was the year that I was co-founder and Exec VP of a start-up networked-workstation company called Syte Information Technology. Our main competitor, Sun Micro, was only a year old and potentially could be overtaken by our high performance single-board design that was designed to run multiple operating systems. At the same time, we were negotiating software relationships with a number of innovative young companies, including Larry Ellison at Oracle.

Unfortunately, by the time that we had finished the prototype stage and were moving into production ramp-up, the venture capital environment had moved from very hot to icy cold - maybe not quite as bad at today's environment, but you get the picture. After two years and $9 million of VC funding, our ultimate exit strategy turned out to be laying off all 120 people (most of whom I had personally recruited) and selling off the assets and technology. It was a painful time but looking back was probably one of the best learning experiences that I've been through in my career. There is nothing like living on the front lines for developing your skills in the art of matching technologies and markets.

Today's news was kind of like seeing a notice that your old rival and girlfriend from your high school days have just gotten engaged, 25 years after you all hung out together. I certainly wish them well and look forward to seeing how their marriage works out. I'll be rooting for them.