Hats off to Dylan McGrath for continuing to bird-dog the fate of CSwitch Corp. at the EETimes site. It’s frustrating to think that any company, startup or public, would even consider in the 21^st century that a strategy of silence serves any purpose. When executives and investors are anything less than forthcoming and transparent with the media, analysts, or partners, their reputation for future endeavors nose-dives. Is there anything difficult to understand about this?

Look, as McGrath and others have documented and as we mentioned here early in the year, there’s not a lot of opportunities for startups in FPGA architectures or software in a year like 2009. Yes, there are new design starts, but it would be a struggle to challenge the entrenched players in a year of growth. It is that much more difficult in a time of contraction, and there is nothing even slightly embarrassing about giving up the ghost. If someone is not ready to throw in the towel and is pursuing funding or M&A options, a simple generic comment to the press and partners that “We’re still here looking for alternatives, but we’re aware of market realities” will suffice. But those that lock the doors and leave town without a word have burned bridges, make no mistake.