Another One Bites the Dust

Many Ottawa high-tech companies have come and gone over the years, and now one more has come to light: Natural Convergence. Considering the near-dead investment climate and a deep recession, it is hardly the only one, and so it may seem pointless to mention this particular news item.

Natural Convergence's failure has struck close to home since it has been a survivor, struggling mightily to win customers and continued investor confidence over many years. Unlike many other startups, it did have a product (Sihouette) and customers, and even revenue. Unfortunately they were trying to carve out a niche in a field that is populated with too many similar products - telephony business feature and application servers. Their unique product attributes could not win it enough business to sustain even a skeleton product staff. That they were bought out by a customer, Broadview Networks, indicates that its other customers have long since abandoned Natural Convergence for successful competitors such as BroadSoft, which is happily also a Canadian-based company.

I can't say I'm surprised by this turn of events since the persistent silence, broken only when they picked up the remnants of another failed company, Newstep Networks, spoke volumes about their business. No news means there were no sales successes to celebrate. There is only so much money that investors can afford to plow into a venture that continues to find success elusive, or can at least reach financial break-even. It had its chance, and perhaps that will have to suffice. Not every startup can succeed.

I knew some of the players in this company since my career has been in the telecom field. Perhaps that's why I took particular notice when their passing made a small ripple in the news flow. In the end it will fade into obscurity, as so many have done so in the past, or will over the coming months and years. All I can do is salute their effort; it is better to try and fail than not to try at all. All the talented people that worked there are certain to show up elsewhere in the industry, hopefully in Ottawa, to pass on what they've learned to other ventures. That knowledge will give those newer companies a better chance of success, which I can only see as a hopeful sign.