“So what’s wrong with selling out? Paradoxically, it seems that once you become popular, you also become very unpopular. Suddenly, those in the know aren’t as awed by Wolfgang Puck — not when his name is displayed in major airports across the country. They look down their noses at Yo-Yo Ma. They disdain Andy Warhol. What is it about ubiquity that breeds contempt? Every day, successful entrepreneurs have to make important choices about whether to expand, to open another branch, to franchise, to license. Once you’ve figured out a winning strategy, it seems only rational to cash out by letting the market have what it wants: More of you!”

“Barry Bycoff, the CEO of the Waltham software company Netegrity, agrees that leaders of high-tech companies are spinning some pretty incredible tales of why customers can’t live without their hardware, software, or services, even during a downturn. His analysis? ‘It’s all bulls–t.’”

“Barry Bycoff, the CEO of the Waltham software company Netegrity, agrees that leaders of high-tech companies are spinning some pretty incredible tales of why customers can’t live without their hardware, software, or services, even during a downturn. His analysis? ‘It’s all bulls–t.’”