Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 11:02 a.m.

Insiders say there was $9m cash left from the last round. A couple of potential acquisition deals fell through in technical due diligence.

There was no lack of customers or sales pipeline at Lockdown but the product was so broken they kept losing deals to competitors and customers were ticked off. Add to that a weak management team and a volatile CEO, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 11:34 a.m.

I think you mean "suspected"...

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 12:17 p.m.

There was some cash left over, but not nearly $9m...

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 1:25 p.m.

They had a management merry-go-round from the beginning, and that alone was a big red flag. Helsel is a good engineer, but he is no CEO. Isilon is no picnic, either.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 1:30 p.m.

No picnic? Isilon is a cash-bleeding disaster.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 2:49 p.m.

How many people impacted? 60+

Is the capital gone from the last venture round? clearly!

Will any money be returned? what money?

Why didn't Helsel stay through the wind-down? excellent question we'd all like to know...

Was there a chance to sell the company? nobody wanted it, even in a fire-sale, it cost too much to maintain. The IP is up for sale -- interested parties should contact Lockdown Networks, ...and learn Ruby.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 2:49 p.m.

Lovely, a terrible reporter who knows nothing about local companies except how to start bad rumors. Great journalism!

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 3:21 p.m.

John made a right approach: start with rumor and people will bring the rest of information. Anyone who capable filter some of the crap that people post in comments will be able to find the missing information: (see #109671)

Executives of failed companies never will tell the truth. Because nothing to take credit for. It is also hard for them to blame anyone else besides the "poor economy" or "global climate change" and whatever else you can tell to short-memory public. Never mine, we will see those decision makers (or money wasters) in other companies to leak wounds. With no doubt, they will join a new startup soon, easily raise another round and never will write in resume about the period they failed beside the fact how much money were able to raise from VC in the past. This is a job they chosen to do in their life on someone else expense

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 3:39 p.m.

Brett's a great guy, but a complete nut job and should have never been CEO. Cam at Ignition kept pushing Brett to stay on board and continue the ride (slide), but Brett opted out. Basically the company was selling vaporware. Signed deals, but product never worked or lived up to the hype. Horrible job recruiting the right folks for that stage company.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 3:51 p.m.

I guess there wont be any updates in the blog.
http://nactalk.lockdownnetworks.com/ the guy writing it was one of the problems over there.

The competitors have already made offers to their customer's http://www.stillsecureafteralltheseyears.com/

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 5:03 p.m.

When did Jeff Hussey flea the board? I bet he saw the writing on the wall early.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 7:05 p.m.

Re: #109693

"Vaporware" is extremely misleading and I take some offense to that.

I assure you, we developers didn't just sit around reading techblogs and surfing Digg all this time spending VC money frivolously. The team did the best we could with what we had to work with. If you can do better, by all means, step up to the plate and show us your chops. You try making hundreds of combinations of switches, with different version OSs, and various levels of SNMP support (and in many cases) completely whacky network topographies all work in an enterprise setting. If it were easy, then everyone would be doing it. Nobody has gotten it right.

The product was extremely powerful and complex. Every customer wanted something different and management tried their best to appease them all. Features took precedence over stability, despite the pleas of the developers. If anything it suffered from too many features built on an unstable base. Granted, it was ambitious, and perhaps even a bit over-sold -- not because we were trying to be misleading, but because that's what we were striving for with all pure intentions. With a new VP of engineering -- who actually was a developer and knew the trouble spots, the future was looking very optimistic.

Ironically it did finally start to show the polish and stability we had always hoped it would in the last version (sadly released less than a month ago). Too little too late I guess.

...but I assure you, "vaporware" it was not.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 7:56 p.m.

If none wanted to buy your company at this stage means the product was weak. Sorry to disappoint you but this is a fact. I am pretty sure that failure is not developer's fault, but strict bad execution of entire management team.
Especially those rats who left tanked ship first

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 9:23 p.m.

Just look at the executives they have hired.....recirculated from every other start up in Seattl

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 9:54 p.m.

Wow, Where did all these experts come from. Sounds like they all were working there. Which cubes did you occupy.? Did you have an extension? Huh, I just don't remember you, I am sorry. I know I am bad at names but, not remembering so many people I must be getting old. But, I am sorry if you do not remember it as well as I did. Yea me that is out of a job and put years of his life into this amazing product that 45 people in the company saw as a great accomplishment.

It actually worked and every customer I talked to thought it rocked. They liked our Gui (thanks gui guys) They were amazed at the way we manipulated vlans and did l2 bridging. (BTW all you that were there that I don't remember I will tell you it is really hard and we did it). They loved how we worked with so many different switches which almost no one else can do. Our interface was amazing compared to others (bradford sucks and most people hate it). In the last year the product came so far and was stable and really worked. The last release was a giant step and the release they were working on was going to put the nail in our competition.

I just wish the investors had given us 6 more months. There was so many deals in the pipeline and we did not have enough time in the day to talk to all the potential customers.

Now if your complaints are with management I blame the board for not seeing the issues earlier and fixing them before the 3rd round.

All the guys below management I will speak for were cost conscious and did not spend money frivolously. We used hotwire and I ate McDonald's when I traveled instead of a nice dinner. No one that I knew threw money away and we all worked hard to save. I paid my own cell phone for the last year, I used my own laptop so they would not have to buy me one. I personally brought and bought switches instead of making the company.

So again I don't know what cubes you were all in that gives you the right to generalize for the people that put there heart and soul into the product.

When we were given the word it was hearts hitting the floor because we cared. I know that everyone in that room would have worked an extra month for free if it would have saved the company.

The employees really cared about the product. We were a startup and we all knew it. Unfortunately the board pulled the plug to soon. They lost more then we did and maybe they did not have all the details but, they made a big mistake they pulled the plug to soon.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 10:08 p.m.

one more thing. All you I don't remember please refrain from coming to the reunion party. These folks are now my extended family and I would do most anything for them.

But, I wont miss having to pay for parking. I hate that on a public street you have to pay to park. The public owns the land so we should not have to pay to use it. I will miss my favorite Tai place.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 11:34 p.m.

I also wish to concur that inspite of the situation, it is commendable that the B.O.D. (and Cam specifically from what we were told) had the employee's best interests at heart. They could have chosen to run another month, pretending things were rosey, till we were at $0. Instead they opted to give us each a bit of a soft exit. We did get a month's pay, our PTO and three months health care. While not a lot, it is a lot better than being dropped on the street with nothing. They even had some jobs printed out from other Ignition companies, and Isilon started scouping up many of the developers before 2pm.

We were given ample time to clear out our desks, say our goodbyes, exchange contact info, have one on one exit interviews, and the whole ordeal was very calm and civilized. Some folks were making jokes about "hey, you know that bug you asked me to fix, yeah, I have some time now -- I'll get right on it... ;-) ". One co-worker displayed a little South Park "spoof" that he had pinned to his cubical wall which said:

Step 1: NAC
Step 2:
Step 3: Profit

And let me just also say that Todd Terbeek was very forthcoming about everything in the meeting and tried to answer questions to us as openly and honestly as he could. I don't think anyone envied him, that was not easy -- for any of us. Plus he still had the decency and respect to notify customers directly and personally.

I'm not sure this particular travesty could have been handled any better or gone any less painfully all things considered.

Shit happens. We all take the risk when we join a startup. It was a great run, we took a gamble and unfortunately we lost. While mistakes were made, hind-sight is always 20/20. I personally wouldn't trade the experience or the amazing group of people I met and especially the skills I've learned for anything.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 2:46 a.m.

All these nice. But companies are judged by result. And result does not look good for your company.
Lets put emotions aside.

They treat you well because otherwise none will work for them in the next place. Believe or not, sentiments are the last things the VCs have in their mind. If they could save the buck on your account it would be done with no doubt.

Here the reality:

As was told above in this thread, the management did not execute and company failed. Tried to save on change with McDonald's meals in order to please CAM but all money were spent? Where it go? You could do better than that with such a funding.
Nobody cared to buy your company because the product wasn't good enough for them in terms of value.

Sorry dude, hope next time you will have a better luck.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 8:04 a.m.

I have been reading this thread and it is passionate to say the least. I think that all said the company was run in the ground and a great product was punished because of bad "what ever".

The last release of code was really great and a few customers saw it and will now be throwing it away. The Devs, sales employees will find other jobs the people that screwed up the company will or have found other jobs. The thing that will suffer is: the world missed out on a great project and product called "The Enforcer". But, they also will survive and the election will take center stage and forget all about a great thing that died an early death.

But, I am sure someone will buy the technology and make some money off of this. So C'est la vie.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 10:40 a.m.

"best interests at heart". Ha ha.
They probably got employees signed on release paper in order not to be sued just in case. The board (read VCs) took care of them self first of all. VCs on board have a liability for the company interests. Probably shutting company down was best for the limited partners and not the company. I would be not surprised if CEO left without signing the papers (no claims and future demands) and may leave himself the option to sue the board for screwing the company. John you may want to dig more into this.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 1:14 p.m.

Those who conclude that because no one bought the company the product was bad, they are dolts. A company is purchased for its entire value-- the product, the people, the customer list, the IP and the distribution channel. A company can have fine IP and an excellent product but without the rest, there could be no takers.

That may or may not have been the case at Lockdown. I do not know, so I won't draw a conclusion.

If there product was as good as some here claim, then one could expect the IP to be purchased at the right price.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 2:19 p.m.

I'm glad to see some other ex-employees step up and respond to the idiot naysayers out there. It's a time of intense pain for us ex-Lockies, so it's interesting to see how some of the little twerps out there love to jump on the opportunity to kick someone when they're down. (I'd say it's a clear reflection of the intelligence of these weasels by looking at their grammer and spelling - very bright folks, eh?)
Others have already said it better, but I'd like to echo that the folks at Lockdown are some of the best folks I have ever had the privelege to work with. Of course there were some folks I would probably choose not to work with again, but by and large these are some of the most hard-working, brightest and most dedicated in the industry.
Yes we were probably overly ambitious in our vision, but the product was head and shoulders above the competition. I'd always to chose to work with a company that strives to be a leader, rather thatn one that settles for mediocrity. Were mistakes were made - in my opinion, yes; but when you're in the trenches, you don't always have the luxury of seeing above the fray. And I wasn't privy to all the information the executives and Board had. Would I still follow Brett or Rob in future ventures - in a heartbeat. And if any those little weasels out there with all the answers had the guts and smarts to be running a company, they would be, rather than sitting in their cube, surfing the internet, and responding to blogs, when they should be working.
I'm also glad to see there's a customer comment here about how terrific the product was (hate using that word instead of "is"). We as ex-employess are losing out - but I feel even worse for the customers and potential future of customers of Lockdown Networks for the fantastic solution that they are going to miss out on.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 2:20 p.m.

I'm glad to see some other ex-employees step up and respond to the idiot naysayers out there. It's a time of intense pain for us ex-Lockies, so it's interesting to see how some of the little twerps out there love to jump on the opportunity to kick someone when they're down. (I'd say it's a clear reflection of the intelligence of these weasels by looking at their grammar and spelling - very bright folks, eh?)
Others have already said it better, but I'd like to echo that the folks at Lockdown are some of the best folks I have ever had the privilege to work with. Of course there were some folks I would probably choose not to work with again, but by and large these are some of the most hard-working, brightest and most dedicated in the industry.
Yes we were probably overly ambitious in our vision, but the product was head and shoulders above the competition. I'd always to chose to work with a company that strives to be a leader, rather thatn one that settles for mediocrity. Were mistakes were made - in my opinion, yes; but when you're in the trenches, you don't always have the luxury of seeing above the fray. And I wasn't privy to all the information the executives and Board had. Would I still follow Brett or Rob in future ventures - in a heartbeat. And if any those little weasels out there with all the answers had the guts and smarts to be running a company, they would be, rather than sitting in their cube, surfing the internet, and responding to blogs, when they should be working.
I'm also glad to see there's a customer comment here about how terrific the product was (hate using that word instead of "is"). We as ex-employees are losing out - but I feel even worse for the customers and potential future of customers of Lockdown Networks for the fantastic solution that they are going to miss out on.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 5:39 p.m.

Yawn. ex-Lockies you are no better than ex-granite or ex-network_clarity ...., and list goes and goes on and on.
It could be you wrote some special function in your ruby code that only you or your parents were excited about.
But this is nothing to do with the fact that company has failed in a big time. It failed its shareholders, employees and those whose money from pension fund were used to fund your great time.
Sure, you can join those experts in money raising again in the new startups. You will get your salary, cube and beer in the fridge while no need to go through extensive interview process. Engineers, admins.... it may be not your fault Lock has failed so get some rest and move on.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 7:58 p.m.

I am a mid-level techie and I had the privilege of interviewing at Lockdown about 5 weeks ago. Between the 2 company phone screens, the initial recruiter's phone screen (what a trip that was!) and the on-site, they used up about 25 man-hours ... and I got no offer. I've never actually seen anything like it. While I appreciate that they invested the amount screening me that a typical startup would invest in screening a Senior Manager, Mr Logic was telling me something was amiss. From my experience any more than 15 man-hours means that they're pitching the candidate more than screening the candidate.

Anyway, people there did seem fairly smart but appeared to be suffering from too much time on their hands. I believe the writing's been on the wall for a while.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 10:21 p.m.

I am not even going to dignify the last post with a response. Oops just did. I am sorry that we did not like you for an addition to the team. Were you were one of the guys that could not even answer switch questions a major requirement to work on a NAC product. I remember they were trying to give someone every chance to get the questions right.

I hope that you are successful in finding work and if you cant there is a recruiter posting from the laurel group that could help you. Maybe I will see you again there. Good luck to you.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 10:22 p.m.

Entertaining flame war, to say the least. I don't know who took 25 man hours, it certainly wasn't much of my time.

I'm not privy to the minutes of the board meetings at Lockdown, so I don't know exactly what happened. I do know I spent a substantial amount of the last year resolving customer issues and cursing the selection of Ruby as the language of choice. But despite that I felt the product was approaching the stability needed to really gain traction. I was very disappointed to see it end.

Maybe the market conditions weren't right, maybe there were missteps by management, it's really not that easy to say. Without a stable base to build on, you handicap yourself quite a bit, and customers aren't known to be happy to keep buying a product with the same features while you improve the performance in this arena.

It was, however, a great learning experience. It's not the first company I've been at that went south, and might not be the last, but it certainly had a charm and a potential that other startups I've been through haven't.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 10:31 p.m.

I love my Enforcer and I will use it for a long time. 4.6 was amazing software. Thank you to all that worked on this product. I know the updates wont be coming but, I can make it work for several years for my needs. Authentication works great, triggering on mac addresses work great. I have 15 switches and 5 AP's and it works perfectly. Someday I will master policy.

The thing I really want is "24 hour access" but, I guess I will just dream of that. Thank you all for making me a box that does exactly what I need at a reasonable price.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/21/08 11:10 a.m.

http://www.napera.com/blog/?p=17

Posted by unregistered user at 3/21/08 12:53 p.m.

To all of the Lockdown team - you did good work. I have compared your product to a number of others and it was head and shoulders above the competition. As one of you stated, maybe it was too ahead of its time. Wish you all the best.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/22/08 5:41 p.m.

Oh my god. I just read the news. We are a customer well x customer now of lockdown. We finally got the enforcer working the way we wanted works great.

We had evaluated all the other products out there and Lockdowns was the best. Bradford, Still Secures, and Cisco's NAC is crap compared to the Enforcer. We have not figured out what to do yet. We are not looking forward to having to migrate to one of the ones that we do not like. So I think that we will continue to use the enforcer at least for this quarter and then see how it goes. The tests will become out of date but, we can work with that.

The Enforcer is a great product maybe ahead of its time or others did not get to experience it in action.

I would like to thank all the Lockdowners for all the hard work they did to help us get our Enforcer deployed. I hope that you will come back in some form in the future and if you do please come look us up (07027).

Posted by unregistered user at 3/23/08 6:57 p.m.

#110823: It is nice of you-exLocky to try improve the image of failed company. However companies capable to execute and ones deliver the best products do not fail. Even during the recession time. Unfortunately Lockdowns was just another burner. The nice chunk of VCs money in the bank did not help.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/23/08 8:52 p.m.

The company failed because management failed to execute. The technology was one of the best out there. 3 in the Network world report. What is going to happen to the others will be the interesting story to see.

http://www.secureaccesscentral.com/wordpress/?p=7.php

It is to bad that they could not pull it off.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/24/08 8:01 a.m.

#110952: My NAC is better than your NAC... Since you are such a knowledgable person, we look forward to your product introduction...

Posted by unregistered user at 3/24/08 4:19 p.m.

NAC, NAC, Who's there.?

Posted by unregistered user at 3/28/08 5:50 a.m.

As a customer of Lockdown I'd just like to say that we liked the product, it did what we wanted it to do, appeared stable, latest release 4.6 has excellent features, integrated with our existing systems readily and were looking forward to extending our use of the product. Awaiting the final statements on the company and IP with interest, with hope that someone will pick the product up. If not would be good if it was pushed out to the open source community, would make things interesting in the market place.