PACKETEER INC. Cupertino, California; For Maker Of Tech Gear, The Sale's The Thing.(THE NEW AMERICA)

Byline: AMY REEVES

A year ago, Packeteer Inc. was just turning a corner. For the first time in its six-year history, the firm was finally turning a consistent profit.

Founded in Silicon Valley during the height of the Internet boom, Packeteer makes hardware and software that manages traffic in computer networks. Though the dot-com bust deepened its losses in 2001, the company hung on.

Then last May it was hit by the news that founder and Chief Executive Craig Elliott would have to resign due to a serious medical condition. The young company searched for several months for a new CEO before settling on David Ct, who took the helm in October.

Packeteer liked Ct's track record. As a senior marketing executive at SynOptics, now part of Nortel Networks Corp., he helped launch a line of stackable hub products that quickly went from 10% to 35% of the firm's revenue.

Most recently he worked for IDT Corp., where he launched its Internetworking division.

In addition to filling Elliott's shoes, Packeteer hoped Ct would bring his sales and marketing experience to bear on expanding the business. As is often the case with tech start-ups, the firm had been better at developing technology than marketing it.