Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'

Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'

PALO ALTO, California (AP) -- Amid rising hopes for a high-tech turnaround, there's this sobering sign: Martin Pichinson -- a man who has buried nearly 150 failed startups since 1999 -- has swooped into Silicon Valley like a vulture lurking over a pack of wounded animals.

Pichinson, a self-described "doctor of reality" who helps liquidate companies, says he wouldn't have moved from Los Angeles to Palo Alto a few months ago had he not smelled more high-tech trouble looming.

"Sadly, it looks like 2004 is going to be another busy year for me," Pichinson said. "There's still another 6,500 to 7,500 companies out there who are among the walking dead."

Even before the move, Pichinson became a familiar face in Silicon Valley and other high-tech hubs, largely because so many venture capitalists summoned him and his firm, Sherwood Partners, to help clear the debris left by the dot-com implosion.

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Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead'