Monday Morning Boulder Business Update

Boulder Business Update

By Mark Phillips, 8-14-06

Westminster resident Paul Wasicka walked out of Vegas' World Series of Poker final $6.1M richer. He thanked God and his sponsors and attributed his success to 2 1/2 years of playing 3000-7000 hands per day.
Another big Colorado player, Mercury Interactive, walked away from the table with a $4.5B pot after calling HP's play for Mercury's testing and system management products, the latter of which includes former Boulder company Freshwater Software and their Sitescope product line. Industry opinion about the deal has generally been positive, though some expressed concern that some issues tied to Mercury’s option backdating scheme could still surface. Boulder VC and New West angel, Brad Feld, wrote about another local acquisition this week, McData by Brocade, and discussed the historical effects of such mergers. According to Feld, mergers, and the inevitable layoffs that follow them, are a vital component in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Next Week: The best and brightest of Boulder's business and Not-for-Profit communities will be on display August 17th at 7th annual Boulder County Business Report's IQ awards. Details here.

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