| “We
should improve the landscape for these sorts of
businesses,” says Ledlow, whose boyish face contrasts
with a prematurely gray crop of hair. “How do we get tax
money from Jeb? How do we rope in the universities?”
After
stepping down last October as vice president of sales for
North America at CyberGuard Corp., which is based in Fort
Lauderdale, Ledlow planned to take some downtime “to go
golfing and boating and spend two years playing,” he
says. “That lasted about a month, and I got antsy.”
So by
February, he launched Acarra, a fledgling consulting firm.
He operates from an office in his Boca Raton home. His
focus is to help budding high-tech businesses to refine
strategies and boost sales and profits.
Instead
of putting in venture capital, he says, “we’re giving
you time and talent.” Ledlow seeks a retainer from
clients, an equity stake and some sort of
pay-for-performance incentive.
Acarra's annualized run rate is $480,000 and he looks to
bring in additional partners to increase the firms '06
offering.
So
far, he’s lined up numerous retained agreements with high-tech
clients including Authentium,
West Palm Beach; NetClarity, North Chelmsford, Mass.; and
SteelCloud (NASDAQ SCLD) in Herndon, Va.
“He’s
very sharp,” says Gary Miliefsky, NetClarity’s CEO.
“He knows what resonates with IT managers. He’s helped
us create partnerships, and he’s opened several doors to
companies.” |
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