Grand Junction Networks

Charney's people experienced the new realities even more than he did. "The game had changed," says Margot Gangola. "At Grand Junction, we only had time to deal with really important matters. Now we're part of a bigger organism. And sometimes we ask, 'What is our contribution?"'

Debra Pelsma offers a similar view: "We lost spontaneity. Everything we did involved asking permission from the Mother Ship." But Pelsma, now a program manager for new products at Cisco, also sees the bright side. She still reports to her former boss at Grand Junction. "I'm fortunate," she adds. "Cisco is not really like a giant company. There's a startup atmosphere here."

Still, something is missing, and Charney is honest enough to confront it. "I've traded away things," he says. "There is an edge to creating something from nothing. There is excitement in the ebb and flow of a little company. There is beauty in getting one product to market. Cisco's product catalogue is half an inch thick."

He sinks back into his chair: "I liked being the CEO. You can't call me an entrepreneur now. And that's okay." His voice trails off. Then he leans forward: "But I tell people I'm an entrepreneur at heart."

Pat Dillon pdwolf@aol.com wrote the cover story "Money Changes Everything" for the June:July 1997 issue of Fast Company. His new book, "Lost at Sea: An American Tragedy," is a nonfiction account of the nation's worst modern fishing disaster. it will be published early this summer by The Dial Press.