But the new player immediately complicated Danner's relationships both with Holmes and with HavenWizards by insisting that Danner sign a nondisclosure agreement. For some six weeks the previously outspoken Danner was forced to craft forum postings that were unflaggingly optimistic without being wholly forthcoming. Holmes, meanwhile, knew nothing of the potential acquirer when he signed over Haven's intellectual property and source code to Danner. Danner planned to reassign the rights to Smith-Gardner when the deal moved forward.
>>> "Greetings! I'm pleased to announce that the first phase of restructuring is complete and we will resume support of all Wizard users immediately at no charge. I will be traveling to Chicago this week to wrap up details with Bruce and the crew." --Tom Danner
A collective sigh of relief rose up from forum members in late September, when Wizard technical support returned. With it came the software's development team. In mid-September, Danner had signed contracts with six of Haven's eight former employees. It was progress, clearly, but only partial progress. And that wasn't good enough for forum members, who were being forced to make long-term plans based on short-term information.
>>> "We've had a few drabs of partial announcements on the new company since your news on 9/25. When can we expect some significant updating as to the status of plans for Wizard and Castle?" --Cary Harwin, Catalyst Development
Danner tried to answer Harwin's question as diplomatically as possible. He hadn't posted in a while because he didn't want to "appear to be saying a whole lot about nothing .... The slowdown in progress has been very frustrating but necessary," he wrote in his next posting. The truth was that Danner was itching to formally announce the acquisition, but Security and Exchange Commission rules sealed his lips. Meanwhile, the due-diligence wheels ground slowly. Holmes, too, had become more demanding in his dealings with Danner after learning -- from one of his former employees -- that Haven's savior would be a large company rather than a gallant band of users. Danner now owned Haven's intellectual property and customer database, but he still needed Holmes's expertise and sought to bring him along as a consultant. That deal wasn't signed until early November, and it would give Holmes terms more favorable than Danner had originally offered.
But aside from the delays, signs of restlessness among the forum's natives disturbed Danner, who had worked so hard to placate them. Indeed, like any parent of a growing child, he found himself increasingly confronting an independent entity with a will of its own. And with 400 members and more than 1,000 postings, HavenWizards was an entity to be reckoned with.
And then on November 15, the child began to turn on him.
>>> "Tom, why do I have to read this on PR Newswire?" --Anonymous
The above message referred to a press release from Smith-Gardner, which the subscriber had pasted into his posting. The release announced the formation of a subsidiary called NewHaven Software, with Danner as general manager. Danner had intended to notify forum members by E-mail at the same time that Smith-Gardner notified the world. But on the day that Smith-Gardner chose to raise the curtain, Danner was at Comdex, the computer trade behemoth in Las Vegas, and a series of communication snafus prevented him from learning about the cat's departure from the bag. Some of the HavenWizards were not amused.
>>> "Tom, this is very disturbing. What about those of us who wanted equity in the new venture? Don't you think a third-party involvement should have been disclosed to us? I'm in shock." --Mary Beth Wright, Avinet Inc.
For the next day or two Danner soothed tempers, indulging his renewed ability to speak openly while taking care not to appear defensive. His postings simultaneously explained his actions and trumpeted the results of those actions as a culmination devoutly to be wished.
>>> "Now that the deal is official, I can tell you that I think we have worked a virtual miracle. Funding and other resources to complete Castle are now a certainty -- -- something many of us have been waiting to hear for many years." --Tom Danner
And that, for most members of the forum, was good enough. Three months before, they had proclaimed their loyalty to a fading friend; now they celebrated a new incarnation of the company and closed ranks behind its champion.
>>> "I think I can sense sincerity and integrity in people. I doubt that Tom gains anything from this other than more work to do -- -- and a small salary -- -- and in truth, he saved something from dying, and placed it with a source likely to really care. YIPPPPPEEEEE!!!!" --Peggy Glenn, Firefighters Bookstore
Glenn singled out Danner for praise, but she could also have listed herself and her fellow HavenWizards in the closing credits. For as Danner agrees, without the Internet forum's ability both to sustain and to unite, Haven might never have risen from the ashes. Because of the HavenWizards' community activism, the company's former employees have jobs with considerable promise, and Wizard users have support for old products and the realistic prospect of new ones. As for Holmes, he comes away with a consulting contract, a path out of debt, and a happier ending than he ever expected.
>>> "Running a software company is incredibly expensive, and running weak-kneed in the red means that the users suffer. Things will cost more with the new company. But I believe you'll get a whole lot more. And the users who do stick around will be working with a major power that can make things happen. I think Tom pulled off a minor miracle here and has come up with the best possible solution." --Bruce Holmes
Donna Fenn is a contributing editor at Inc.
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