POWAY , Citing an industrywide downturn, Littlefeet Inc., a Poway-based maker of telecommunications equipment, laid off 11 people from its staff earlier this month, leaving the company with about 100 employees.
“This is a belt-tightening for us,” said Rick Harden, Littlefeet’s president and chief operating officer. “We’re adjusting for market conditions and to better manage our burn rate.”
Besides the staff cuts, the firm also made contract adjustments with contractors and consultants to reduce its burn rate, or spending by 25 percent, Harden said. He wouldn’t reveal the firm’s monthly spending figures or the remaining cash.
The cuts made were across the board and affected workers in operations, sales, engineering and human relations.
“We looked at functions where we had the capacity to support what we do with fewer people,” Harden said.
Those laid off received severance packages comparable to what was paid in the industry.
Founded in April 1999, Littlefeet has developed a low-power network base station transmitting wireless signals that can be mounted on existing telephone and utility poles.
The company’s product, called Spice (for small profile intelligent coverage element) is touted as an a more cost-effective and less obtrusive alternative to traditional cell phone towers.
Littlefeet attracted $7 million in first round funding and then received another $30 million in a second round last year led by ComVentures, a Palo Alto VC firm, and Bay Partners, a Cupertino-based VC.
It had planned to go public this year, but because of market conditions decided the timing wasn’t right.
Littlefeet expects to release its first Spice product geared to the GSM, or global standard for mobile wireless platform, in August or September and should hit about $5 million in revenues for the fourth quarter, Harden said.
While the initial product line serves the GSM platform, the company will also produce equipment that serves CDMA and other wireless technologies, he said.
