By William Fellows
High-profile CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston’s technology group Frank Quattrone has quit the board of Silicon Valley darling Crossworlds Software Inc. He is said to have had major disagreements with the company about how it runs its business, particularly the lack of control on spending. Crossworlds is currently struggling to produce an impressive reference site (CI No 3,548), particularly considering all the hype it has generated in advance of delivering its products. Ironically, other vendors will likely take advantage of Crossworld’s marketing spending to generate awareness for the market and will take revenue away from Crossworlds. In its most recent private placement financing, conducted without an investment bank standing behind it, Crossworlds raised less than half the valuation of a previous round. Some behind-the-scenes financial cut and thrust is also believed to have helped put the relationship out of kilter. Quattrone’s departure would appear to be significant, at least from a perception standpoint, given his larger-than-life reputation in Silicon Valley.
