Monterey Networks was a venture capital backed start-up formed in 1997 in the Silicon Valley with primary equity financing from Sequoia Capital and Jafco. The company was developing a “Wavelength Router” in the optical telecommunications space. By the founders’ description, when they advertised for open positions, they were overwhelmed with the number they received from a place they’d never heard of — Richardson, Texas. They investigated Richardson further and found that the Richardson “Telecom Corridor®”  contained thousands of telecom-savvy engineers and the U.S. headquarters of telecom multi-nationals Nortel Networks, Alcatel and Ericsson. Headed by Telecom Corridor veterans Joe Bass and Paul Peck, who had worked together at Alcatel, Monterey optimistically leased 20,000 square feet in Richardson in the spring of 1998 with only 4 employees. The company quickly grew to over 100, and in 1999, Monterey Networks was acquired by Cisco Systems for $500 million in Cisco stock.