By selling the company to Berg, who runs a number of companies, including West Coast Venture Capital LLC, SAN Valley not only saved itself from extinction but also put the company's original management back in charge. Robert Coackley, who had taken over as president and CEO just after September 11, 2001, handed the company back to Helton after the sale. "Some of the management was not retained," Helton says. "The original founders of the company are back in charge."
Coackley, meanwhile, has not been hanging out watching daytime TV since then: He dove straight into a brand-new software venture, Saleen Systems Inc., aimed at Linux-based clustered computing (see Will Saleen Sing?).
Berg, we should mention, is the same fellow who bought up the leftover inventory of Gadzoox Networks, the Fibre Channel switch company that filed for bankruptcy in August 2002. Chipmaker Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) ended up buying Gadzoox's intellectual property (see Broadcom Bids for Gadzoox). Perhaps he's putting together a mini-SAN empire? Berg, who also owns commercial real estate company Mission West Properties Inc., didn't return phone calls by press time.
Since the sale, Helton insists that SAN Valley has not only held onto its customers and partnerships but that its business has actually picked up. He says the startup, which still has 15 employees, is doing so well, in fact, that it shouldnt have to go out looking for any more money. We have a substantial financial commitment already, he says. Its enough to take us to profitability.
If nothing else, SAN Valley stands to get a fabulous deal on the lease for its next offices.
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