Bowstreet Cuts Head Count

Bowstreet

The layoffs reduced the company's workforce by about one-half, a former employee said.

John Caron, director of marketing at the company, confirmed the layoffs had occurred but would not specify numbers.

"We're doing this proactively," Caron said. "Two types of companies will survive this particular storm, established market leaders and smaller, nimbler companies that are well-funded. We're in the latter category. We showed prudence and maturity by acting now to ensure viability even if this downturn lasts another year or so."

Bowstreet employed nearly 300 people as of two years ago, the sources said.

Patricia Seybold, CEO of The Patricia Seybold Group, a Boston researcher, said Bowstreet is operating on the assumption that it must last at least another 18 months at their current "modest revenue rate" and is managing cash flow day-to-day to make sure it can do so.

Bowstreet, founded in 1998 by former Tivoli chairman Frank Moss, seeks to automate the development of Web portals and extranets. Like other startups funded and nurtured in the dot.com boom, it has fallen on hard times.

Last week, Wheelhouse, another Boston-area company, drastically scaled back its operations, cutting its hosting and professional-services business in hopes of reconfiguring itself with new funding into a software company.