Were Jim Manzi's Big Ideas Too Big?

When employees of Nets Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., and Pittsburgh were summoned to a meeting on May 9, they knew the news couldn't be good. Nets had been on the edge for months and layoffs were likely. But there also had been rumors that a financial savior, possibly from Malaysia, was near. Just days earlier, managers had assured workers that Chief Executive Jim P. Manzi "wouldn't let the company go bankrupt with his name on it," as one recalled.

Yet Manzi, talking from his home in Chestnut Hill, Mass., told employees gathered around speakerphones that it was "the worst day of my life." Nets, he announced, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Despite his best efforts, including lending at least $1 million of his own money to keep Nets going in the previous few weeks, Manzi hadn't been able to land new investors.