Bay Partners is the latest Silicon Valley venture firm to go through a major generational change — witnessing an influx of new faces, even as an older generation of partners exits for reasons apparently related to poor performance.
Chamath Palihapitiya, a partner at another well-known Mayfield Fund, recently said he was taken out of context when quoted complaining about an exclusive white circle of insiders. While that may be true for the world in general, it isn’t in Silicon Valley, he said in clarifying remarks. If his views are still in doubt, take a look at Bay Partners, a venture firm that embodies the consistent, radical change occurring in Silicon Valley.
Bay was founded by former lawyer, John Freidenrich, in 1976 (second to left in photo below). Over the past 18 or so months, the firm has rid itself of several partners, after hundreds of millions were invested and lost after the bubble burst. Some left voluntarily, some didn’t. That the change is largely along ethnic lines may be coincidental, but it does highlight how a younger generation of immigrants is grabbing a greater share of influence.
It also continues a long tradition of metamorphoses and spin-outs at valley venture firms — from Redpoint, to Highland, Benchmark, August and True Ventures — in many instances, driven by younger partners eager for change, even as older partners seek, unsuccessfully, to maintain their grip on a firm’s profits. We recently wrote about the changes at Battery Ventures.
The changes at Bay began with the departure of partner Loring Knoblauch about a year and a half ago, and accelerated last year to include Dino Vendetti, Chris Noble and Bob Williams. VentureBeat has tried contacting these partners. Dino Vendetti, asked about his departure last year to Formative Ventures, said it was related to differences with the firm about it structure, and not to performance — though he apparently did not see any of his investments exit while at Bay. Bay had raised a lot of money, and it was hard to invest so much money in early stage ventures, he said. Noble and Williams are still on the company’s Web site, but are no longer actively investing for the firm, according to sources. Williams declined comment. Knoblauch could not be reached, though one profile shows an affiliation with Bay Creek Resort & Club.
Freidenrich has retired. Neal Dempsey, one of the two founding members of the firm, is still at Bay. Pressured by limited partners concerned about the firm’s performance, he helped promote new partners with the help of Atul Kapadia, who joined in 2003 and has taken a leadership role.
They found that younger investors were more attuned to new technologies, after a decade of swift change driven by the Internet. Enterprise software and networking companies were out of favor, and the older partners were having a tough time. Analysis based on available data shows Vendetti, for example, invested large amounts of money networking and wireless companies like Telesym, Magis, Steridian, now all out of business, and into Capella and Cswitch, both start-ups with uncertain futures. Noble invested in companies like Airflow, Ispheres, Jarna and Transat, all out of business. One source indicated that Noble has one private company still in business that looks promising. Williams saw one company, Sonicwall, go public, but that was in 1999. Most others he sourced, including Ammocore, Littlefeet, Netpost, Peakstone and Pluris, had nothing to show. Knoblauch, saw a similar story, with six out of seven companies going out of business, and one acquired, but for an insignificant amount.
Meanwhile, new, younger hires showed more energy. Of 17 deals done in 2005 and 2006, 14 were led by the younger group promoted by Atul, with blessing from Dempsey
Despite the poor performance of the older partners, Bay was able to raise a $290 million fund in 2005, which it is now investing. Technically, investors in the fund could have pulled their money back, because the departing partners triggered a “key man” clause. This clause protects investors by giving them the right to withdraw their money when key partners leave.
Private Equity Week reported on the departures late last year.
However, Kapadia (far left, in picture), hit the road, along with Dempsey, to see if the limited partners would back the new team he brought in. He promoted (from left to right), Eric Chin, Sandesh Patnam, Neil Sadaranganey and Salil Deshpande. Without exception, the investors decided to keep their money in the fund. They have a newer lilt. They still invest in hard-core chips and semiconductor equipment, but Chin, who had co-founded an Internet company (Webspective, acquired by Inktomi), invests in new Internet companies, Sadaranganey invests in Web-based software, and Deshpande likes open source, and even social networking companies.
VentureBeat talked with Kapadia, Dempsey and Chin, who said they couldn’t talk about the records of the outgoing partners. However, they did say they’ve instituted a new team-oriented strategy of investing. For example, one partner recently wanted to fund a search engine called Powerset. However Eric Chin argued against the decision, saying it was overvalued — and the firm decided not to do it. The firm has formalized this process: If one partner argues a company should get funding, the firm makes the most critical partner of the deal co-lead the diligence process, letting the two debate whether or not to fund the company. They come to an agreement, or the firm doesn’t do the deal. In another deal, Chin was at first critical of Eventful, a company supported by Sadaranganey, questioning whether the team had the chops to pull off its vision. The two got exercised, and argued loudly in the office; Atul said he called a meeting among the partners, to debate it more. After doing a series of reference checks, and finding that some bigger Internet companies may be interested in doing business with it, Chin agreed to the investment.
Despite all this change, however, some things stay the same. In this case, the power of Sand Hill Road, where the valley’s venture companies are located: After 29 years, Bay is leaving its Cupertino headquarters and moving there — to stay in the thick of things.
54 Comments
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MBB said:
changing of the guard and a new approach that makes sense. Having multiple partners work deals may decrease the number of deals that get done, but should result in better deals. Looks like a win for Bay LPs
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DSS said:
Being an observer of Bay for a long time now, this report is on the money. One side-note, though, is that the gents with poor records who got booted out or left were all nice guys, whereas another old-timer with a worse record and having really poor social skills (euphemism) is still there as a leader. Speaks a lot about the team dynamics in a venture fund, eh?
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chris said:
Leadership succession. Fresh ideas. Process refinment… As these are the essence of business prosperity and continuity, I look forward to Bay Partners’ ongoing contribution to the inimitable Silicon Valley story.
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GDW said:
Bay has been good to the entrepreneurs they support and the new guard appears to have the team that will continue to support entrepreneurs.
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Matt Marshall said:
DSS,
You mention an \”old-timer\” still there. You appear to be talking about Neal Dempsey, and I\’ll point out that the PEW piece quoted unnamed sources saying he was difficult to get along with. My reporting didn\’t really unearth that part, so I can\’t agree or disagree with your assessment. However, it is clear that Dempsey is not actively investing in new companies these days. He\’s doing a lot of communications with limited partners, and appears to be an asset in helping ensure continuity. Neal, feel free to chime in, if you disagree with my assessment.
Matt
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Robert Castaneda said:
I’ve worked for and with Salil Deshpande on several occassions and am continually motivated by him to improve what I do. I work with a lot of other young entrepreneurs and everyone that meets him immediately changes their view on what a VC is.
Without hesitation I would work with him if I had the chance and would also work for him again.
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Tyler Cavell said:
Bay Partners has always offered me objective, visionary strategic advice. To me, they believe in both having fun and growing businesses in a true symbiotic way.
This is a great firm that really makes a positive difference by looking towards the bigger picture in a truly strategic manner.
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Ramon Peypoch said:
I have not worked with any of the recently departed partners from Bay but I have worked with Eric Chin in the past and IMHO he has excellent judgement, patience and the ability to synthesize the complexities of business easily. If the other partners at Bay are like Eric, then I would not hesitate to work with them in the future.
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Jeremy Toeman said:
I too have had the opportunity to spend time with a couple of folks there, and Salil & Co. have a pretty good set of heads on the collective shoulders.
I believe the VC industry is going through some hefty changes these days. As the needs & requirement to start a technology company change, so must the people who put the money in them.
Glad to see the coverage of a fresh & interesting VC - the ‘big boys’ get enough time in the limelight to share a little. ;)
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Salim Ismail said:
Fascinating story which very nicely encapsulates the structural changes in the VC industry. I’ve had two generations of pitching to Bay Partners, so can comment with some direct experience. With PubSub, we talked to Neil Sadaranganey and were going down the normal route of first telling the story, then getting buy-in from one partner, then presenting to the partnership etc. They were great; hugely responsive, very professional and asked all the right questions (the deal fell apart for ‘other’ reasons). More recently, I’ve been talking to them about Confabb and the model is quite different as we’re only looking for a small bridge note, and they have an accelerated process for that which has been a dream to go through. Salil Deshpande has been our point person there, and totally gets social media, scalable business models and the consumer angle (and even provided some great business ideas). In this case it was one meeting, a quick presentation to get partner approval and on with the negotiations. We are probably on a different funding route with Confabb, but this new model much better addresses the market structure, and I think Bay is on the right track. Would I pitch my next venture to them - absolutely! (Except Salil doesn’t spell his name quite right :)
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carnet williams said:
I met with both Salil and Eric at Bay Partners when we first started chipin.com about six months ago. Even though we were not looking for money at the time, both these guys were extremely pleasant and helpful. I have since met them both on other occasions and would have no problems having them both involved in my startup as Bay Partners. Every organization goes through a shake up now and then. We know as startups, that is about how you recover, not how you stumble that matters. Now go get em!
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Larry Aragon said:
Allow me to rain on Bay’s parade. I’m sure Neal is a great guy, but he’s spinning the situation over there. Check my post here:
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Zach Coelius said:
I can’t say enough good things about Salil and Sandesh… As an entrepreneur I wish every VC was like them.
Good luck to Bay
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nothanks said:
Bay is not a top tier vc firm.
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Frank Cohen said:
This article gives a very insightful look at what it is like to be inside of a VC. I’m an entrepreneur - with 2 VC backed companies in my past life - and my general feeling has often been “what is it with these VC guys? Don’t they get what we’re trying to do?”
I presented Inclusion Technologies to Bay Partners back in 1999 and didn’t get anywhere. A week ago I presented PushToTest and observed the difference the article talks about. The new guard are sharp, quick, and expect a lot. The experience was refreshing and exciting.
Salil Deshpande brought me in. He understands the enterprise Java and open-source space because his management leadership helped to create TheServerSide.com on-line community, now the on-line heart of the Java community.
-Frank Cohen, CEO and Founder, PushToTest, SOA Test Automation and Governance
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Jeremy Toeman said:
Nothanks - way to add value to the conversation! Really, not only was it an insightful comment, but your ability to add it anonymously was an even nicer touch. Well done, and thanks for being a valuable member of the Internet, we need more like you!
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Mike Wranovics said:
I hadn’t had a lot of dealings with VC’s until very recently with the startup I’m running, and I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the experience. But like many above, my experience with Bay Partners, specifically with Salil, has been nothing but positive. Although we’re not actually taking money yet, he has thoughtfully evaluated our pitch and provided some truly valuable feedback. I have very little knowledge of the firm’s history, but the “new guard” there seems to be having a great impact.
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RK said:
Dealing with one of there lead VC’s Kapadia, this guy probably was promoted General Partner as he has good back stabbing skills! I speak from experience with dealing with him at Raza VC
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Franc said:
Well, I made presentations to Bay Partners twice for the same project, at the time, when
their existing portofolio companies are all in
deep trouble. They need to do a stellar investment to save them. Apparently, they judged my project was not such a thing. The old guards favored networking and telecom, which are out of favor now. -
Ed Roman said:
I think this is great news for Bay. Salil in particular is an amazing man who will bring good judgment and energy to the firm. He’s never failed to impress me.
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Bill O'reilly said:
Wow, there is some serious spinning going on here… what are the chances that you have several very busy enterpreneurs who happen to take time out of their busy schedules during the day and write in their endorsements of these really great guys at Bay shortly after the blog was posted? hmm… me thinks this was a great PR job - Kudos to Bay for winning my best spinner of the year award. They are looking rosier than the likes of Worldview, Crescendo and Comven that went through the Venturebeat spank.
Marshall, great job on capturing the story told by Chin; oh yeah, I can really see how the team is collaborating and leveraging teamwork. I am sure this is proprietary to Bay and other firms dont have these processes. Gosh, the Bay LPs are so lucky!! What would be better is if you wrote about these new stars’ prior VC experiences. How were they perceived by the entrepreneurs and fellow VCs at their prior firms? What kind of success/failuers they had? You know, the real investigative reporting rather than letting Chin write your story for you. Sorry for the dig Matt. I am a real supporter and like most of your reporting on VC firms as seldom they are publicly scrutinized. However, your story on Bay falls short of your normal bar.
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PT said:
I have known most of the new Bay team for a while now, and if anyone can pull this off, it’s them. And when they do pull it off, I think it will only reinforce the Silicon Valley message that the only color that matters is green. Matt, instead of alluding to the ethnicity of the new team, I think a better angle for this story would be to analyze the prospects of success for first-time fund managers given the daunting challenges.
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Matt Marshall said:
There are some really good comments here. I think the best thing will be to come back in a year and take a look at how the new team has been doing. As you guys know, the venture industry is a long-term game, with investments now yielding fruit at best in three years — so even a year will be tough. The purpose of this piece was not to give a thumbs up or thumbs down on Bay, but to show that a transformation has taken place.
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David Friend said:
I’m from Boston where it’s tough to get consumer Internet deals financed (Carbonite backs up your PC over the Internet, easy, cheap). Bay had no problem with a consumer deal, and while another VC beat them to the table with a term sheet, I’d go back to them in a minute if the opportunity arose.
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Ben Galbraith said:
Salil from Bay has advised us over at Ajaxian.com since our earliest days and has helped us immensely. Can’t say enough nice about BV…
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Wolf Blitzkrieg said:
I took my business plan in early 2003 to two of the partners at Bay. What followed was a meeting which was a non-stop diatribe in how to build my business. The other partner was too busy with his blackberry device to listen to our presentation. Maybe we sucked.
There was no follow-up from either despite my email to both. We did get funding from Hummer and Redpoint who treated us professionally and we are doing well now.
I went back in for a Series B middle of last year to the new team. The team was engaging and had good suggestions on OEM partnerships. They were specific in the criterion they laid out for what they looked for in Series B investments.
They passed on us again but I received the call the Tuesday after. Much better and professional prosection this time around.
Bill O’Reilly - call it spin or opinion - this is one entrepreneur’s direct experience. -
Tony Montana said:
There ought to be a rule that any VC who checks his freaking blackberry during a presentation should be bitch slapped. If you don’t want to listen to us just close the meeting and tell us no. Had that happen to me during a board meeting recently, from our own board member. Unreal. It’s not like a VC has anything that important to check anyway.
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Jared said:
I don’t see the news here…companies fire people who don’t perform all the time. Bay fired not only parners, but fired junior level people that were not performing. They got rid of a non-performing associate, Neeraj Choubey at the same time.
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Harry Bims said:
I am glad that Bay appears to be turning the corner. The changes should serve them well into the future.
Though my experience in 2001-2004 was negative, I will say that Dino is a great guy.
During the few months I interacted with him, he was always concerned about the entrepreneur, and gave great, honest feedback. He appears to be the only one of the old guard actively doing investments, which shows that he is adaptable to the current VC investment climate. -
Mike P. said:
tester
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Jason Elam said:
Neal is a crook and the sooner you all realize this the better. Greg Reyes told me personally he reported everything to him every day and told him exactly what was going on with Brocade. Neal subsequently iognored his calls and in the end actually turned him him in to the SEC and let Greg take the rap for the whole stock option scandal. He is a two faced coward who has absolutely no people skills whatsoever and screws and uses everyone in his path and uses his legal wrangling to worm out of deals. If he is smart he should be very afraid to sleep at night!
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Bob L. said:
Mr. Dempsey is the real man to blame for the Brocade stock option debacle. Sure, Mr. Greg Reyes is a crook, but Mr.
Neal Dempsey who was on the committee and a confidant of Mr. Reyes should be
implicated for his role in this conspiracy to defraud ordinary shareholders
for
millions of dollars. Mr. Dempsey has consistently demonstrated a pattern of
committing to a plan and executing another and getting rewarded for failure.
Through his hey days in the early 90’s, I worked with Mr. Dempsey. I am
guilty of
not blowing his cover because my enterprise went on to make me considerable
wealth and I chose the path to enjoy the wealth. Mr. Dempsey rarely showed upto Board meetings, when he did, he did not contribute much to my business. He
was good at taking the other board members out to expensive restaurants and
inserting himself in different processes. But his value add on my board was
a little less than zero.
Yes, it is a rant. I am trying to demonstrate a consistent pattern of
incompetence that leads to borderline legal behavior to cover up for the
incompetence.
Stay tuned - I have time on my hand to go unearth more about Mr. Dempsey.Posted by: Bob L
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dieter said:
Interestingly, how America’s Most-Generous Donors Rank:#59 Neal Dempsey III & his wife Janet R. Dempsey of Monte Sereno, Calif.donated or pledged $11,000,000 to the University of Washinton in 2001 however, have yet paid up. Supposedly beucase of the Brocade debacle they have no intention of paying it out either.
According to the SF Chronical they’ve only paid $250,000 which is basically a tax write off. I’ll bet UW will be waiiting a long time to collect that money especially if the SEC gets this guy also. Knowing him, he deserves it!Source of wealth: Finance http://www.philanthropy.com/stats/donors/2007/detail.php?ID_Gift=383
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John Walsh said:
If I were to post exactly what Neal did to me personally, and how he legally or rather illegally wormed his out of his committments he had made with me personally……..we would have a movie of the week……
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dieter said:
Pretrial Gambit Bruises Client in Backdating Case
Judge indicated he’d boost second prison sentence as payback for false declaration meant to sever former Brocade execs’ trials
Dan Levine
The Recorder
March 5, 2008Printer-friendly Email this Article Reprints & Permissions
It’s the kind of ruling that strikes a defense lawyer in the gut.
First, it was Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom partner Richard Marmaro’s turn to take a punch. Judge Charles Breyer sentenced his client, ex-Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes, to an extra six months in prison, all because of a false declaration submitted to the court as part of a strategic gambit to help former HR Chief Stephanie Jensen sever her stock option backdating trial from Reyes’ trial. At the sentencing in January, Marmaro attempted to take the blame and told Breyer the affidavit was drafted by the lawyers.
Now it appears Jan Little of Keker & Van Nest is in line for a hit. Little’s client Jensen deserves a sentencing enhancement because of the same maneuver, Breyer ruled Tuesday — even though it was Reyes who signed the false declaration.
“Jensen knew that Reyes backdated, but she nonetheless sat idly by while her lawyer represented to the court that a severance was justified because Reyes would testify otherwise,” Breyer wrote. “Put simply, that kind of conduct is not permitted.”
Little did not respond to a request for comment. In arguing for the enhancement, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Crudo and Adam Reeves took care to specify their target.
“The government does not suggest in any way that Ms. Jensen’s counsel was aware that the Reyes declaration was false or misleading or that the motion to sever was premised on facts that were not true,” they wrote. “The government does not question the good-faith advocacy of Ms. Jensen’s counsel. Nevertheless, that a client may lie to or mislead her lawyers, whether affirmatively or by omission, does not shield that client from the consequences of her own conduct.”
Even with this enhancement for obstruction of justice, though, Breyer set Jensen’s guideline range at six to 12 months in prison — well below the maximum 20-year sentence for the falsifying books and records counts on which Jensen was convicted. And since the federal guidelines are advisory, Breyer could go above or below them when he metes out Jensen’s punishment on March 19.
Breyer rejected an enhancement based on the government’s contention that Jensen was an officer at a public company, and thus owed a higher fiduciary duty than other executives. Jensen was never listed on securities filings alongside other vice presidents at the company whose duties warranted inclusion, the judge ruled. “Courts must take a practical approach to the determination of whether the defendant is an ‘officer,’” Breyer wrote. “The title of ‘Vice President’ does no more than create ‘an inference’ that can be overcome by proof that the defendant did not exercise the executive responsibilities traditionally associated with corporate officers.”
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San Quentin Prison Guard said:
|Report |#88 Friday Feb 29
Neal Dempsey is next. I hear the felony indictment is coming down next month.
It’s over Dempsey. I will come visit you. -
Mfranz said:
Neal is not a crook but an ordinary thief. Which moron gives him money to invest? He ruined my company by running amuck in my company and firing executives. Decisiveness has its virtues but this moron is just action-prone without an iota of understanding of startups.
Posted by: Mfranz
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John Walsh said:
big deal only 4 months..
Ex-Brocade HR head Jensen sentenced to 4 mos. prison:reports
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Dieter Versen said:
Former Brocade HR head gets 4 months in prison, $1.25M fine in options scheme
Former Brocade HR head gets 4 months in prison, $1.25M fine in options scheme
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1224088/
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Dieter Versen said:
Prison for ex-Brocade official
HR chief gets 4 months for role in backdating scheme
By Jordan Robertson
Associated Press
Article Launched: 03/20/2008 01:47:18 AM PDTThe former human resources chief of Brocade Communications Systems was sentenced Wednesday to 4 months in prison and ordered to pay a $1.25 million fine for her role in a stock-option backdating scheme.
Stephanie Jensen was convicted in December of conspiracy and falsifying corporate records at the networking equipment maker.
She faced as many as 12 months in prison.
“I am so sad today,” Jensen told U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco in a wavering voice and choking back tears before he handed down the sentence. “I would do anything to be able to go back in time and make different choices and spare others from the impact of all this. I stand before you today with sadness and humility and regret. I accept responsibility for my actions.”
Jensen and her former boss, former Brocade Chief Executive Gregory Reyes, were the first two executives to go on trial over backdating when their cases went before separate juries in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last year.
Their trials were seen as important signals about how severely the courts would punish backdating, a new type of securities fraud that prosecutors contend paints an inaccurate picture of a company’s financial health by hiding certain compensation expenses.
The punishments in both cases indicate the offenses are viewed as serious crimes deserving of prison time and steep fines - though not as harmful to shareholders as other types of
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securities fraud such as insider trading, which regularly triggers steeper sentences.
Breyer said he believed Jensen’s remorse was genuine, but he had to impose a sentence that would deter other executives from aiding in backdating schemes that undermine investors’ confidence in the financial records of publicly traded companies.The judge said CEOs like Reyes can’t execute backdating schemes on their own; they always need subordinates to push through falsified paperwork.
“They need help - and that person needs to say no,” Breyer said, adding that, with a net worth over $10 million, Jensen would not face undue hardship in paying the fine.
Jensen dabbed tears from her eyes after the hearing and embraced friends and family members in the packed courtroom.
Her defense lawyer, Jan Little, declined to comment, as did prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office
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Robert Martz said:
All these officers are going in and next should be Neal Dempsey. Neal is the crook of the century but tries to pretend as if he does not know anything. Be careful of this guy. Stay away.
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John Walsh said:
I know Neal personally and he is a big time two faced two timing loser…..If I were to tell you guys what that SOB did to me, you would have an Oscar winning movie of the week! He had betyter watch his back!
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C. Cummings said:
He is a two time idiot and a fool who cheats everyone in his path to get ahead! He buys people for his own personal gain and uses then until he is done with them then spits them out! Putting him in jail is too good for him! He absolutely disgusts me!
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Super Chicken said:
Ex-Brocade HR chief gets prison time, fine
SAN FRANCISCO - The former human resources chief of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. was sentenced yesterday to 4 months in prison and ordered to pay a $1.25 million fine for her role in a stock options backdating scheme. Stephanie Jensen was convicted in December of conspiracy and falsifying corporate records at the networking equipment maker. She faced as many as 12 months in prison. Jensen and her former boss, former Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes, were the first two executives to go on trial over backdating. -
Bob L said:
Happy Easter you Sheister! See you on the rock pile 1
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Judje Judy said:
San Francisco, California: Stephanie Jensen, the former human resources vice president at Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. of San Jose, California, was sentenced to four (4) months in prison and ordered to pay a $1,250,000 fine stemming from her fraudulent backdating of stock options at Brocade. Now, let me state that while four months in prison seems insignificant - it is not. This former Human Resources person is now a convicted felon and is facing a huge fine along with the discomfort of prison. Also, keep in mind, in August 2007, former CEO Gregory Reyes was convicted after trial for criminal charges stemming from the same wrongful conduct.
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C. Cummings said:
I herd Neal Dempsey III has been arrested…..too bad it was only an April Fool’s Day joke….I’ll bet that got him up and around!
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Shahbazian said:
It’s Greg and Neal. Greg is in the slammer and Neal will go in-the guy is a crook and I ahve worked with himfor a short time but it’s easy to tell.
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dieter said:
Tellingly cash generated from operations was at a record high and gross margin rose to 61.1 percent from Q2fy07’s 53.4 percent. Michael Klayko’s Brocade is clearly a much better run business now than it was in Greg Reyes’ time.
http://blocksandfiles.com/article/5171 -
Kenny said:
Hey Neal what happened to the 13 million you and your wife donated to the University of Washington in 2001? I hear they are still trying or wanting to collect? Was that really a pledge or was it just a ploy to get your name on a building and become a big time benefactor? I hear they are wanting their money and you don’t want to give it to them! How come? Oh yeah I forgot about the SEC’s Brocade backdating scandal……well maybe they will get their some day………in their dreams!
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Shahbazian said:
I actually herd that Neal Dempsey was directly involved with the departure of Dino Vendetti. He supposedly made him come down to BAY from his home state of Washington, stayed on 2-3 years and told him to get moving or else. Dino said it wasn’t because of performance but it actually was. None of his companies did anything.
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Dempseys expartner said:
Jenssen was a patsy in Greg Reyes and Neal Dempsey’s scheme. Dempsey nailed Reyes and he is going to jail. The civil case is still open on Dempsey but the criminal case can come anytime. I bet he goes to jail too.
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Jeff George said:
Hey Neal,
Is it Pokey time for you yet?
