As part of its efforts to reach profitability faster, California-based ASP Applicast Inc has culled staff from its operations.
Andrew Sayare, Applicast’s VP of marketing, confirmed the lay offs to ASP News, but said the actual number was “much less” than the 35 alleged by an external source. Sayare would not give an exact figure.
The company has been under pressure to shorten its planned time to profitability, he said. This is one of the reason operational personnel were let go.
Instead of first quarter 2002, the company now expects to turn a profit in early 2001, Sayare said.
Of late, the company, like many others in the high-tech sector, has had a more difficult time raising capital. Applicast did, however, recently receive an infusion of capital from existing investors and a new, unnamed corporate partner. Sayare said he was not at liberty to disclose any numbers or other information regarding the new funding.
“In terms of financing we actually have some good news,” he told ASP News. “Financing is not as easy to come by as it was a year ago. [But] what weve seen is there is a lot of confidence in the ASP model. There is just no appetite [by investors] for a company not showing a clear line to profitability.”
Applicast is not alone in shedding staff. Nasdaq-listed ASP pioneer FutureLink Corp announced 75 job losses today – see related story, FutureLink Announces Staff Cuts. The news is the latest in a procession of job cuts from leading ASPs in recent months. See ASPnews.com feature, ASPs Shed Staff As Cost Pressures Bite, Oct 9th 2000.
