Is This Company Beyond Repair?

By: Keith H. HammondsWed Dec 19, 2007 at 12:33 AM

Novalux looked like it had it all: killer technology, a top-flight executive team, and plenty of money. But when its red-hot market went ice-cold, the company's bright future looked bleak. So it fixed everything: strategy, technology, operations, leadership. And that still might not be enough.

Days after his departure, Thompson sounds oddly ebullient. Perhaps it is the prospect of three months of photography and gardening ahead. Perhaps it is the understanding that there was not much he could've done differently. He wishes that Novalux had spent less on equipment -- but it bought what it did to be ready for torrential demand. He wishes that he had taken more than $109 million in the last funding round. "That would have been lovely." But then, who knew that wouldn't be enough?

"Those are learning experiences, as opposed to mistakes," Thompson muses. And through it all -- the thrill of discovery, the VC high, the rush to market, and the implosion -- this is what he has learned: "There is no correct answer."

Keith H. Hammonds (khammonds@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor. Learn more about Novalux on the Web (www.novalux.com).