The 1990s software industry: Silicon Valley, cool technology, stock options, high-flying IPOs, instant adolescent millionaires. All true, but not the entire story. Legions of software engineers spewed forth products that would have never seen the light of day without an aggressive sales force. Richly compensated sales teams aimed at tech-addicted corporate America, where they found a target rich environment. Dazzled by technical wizardry and slick sales tactics, information officers bought and kept buying, inflating the “tech bubble”. By 2001, they were left with essentially worthless software and the angst of empty promises.

Selling Air the first novel in a trilogy about software startups in the late 90s, does for the high tech sector what Po Bronson’s Bomdardier, Michael Lewis’ Liars Poker, and Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities did for financial services in the 1980’s, and the recently released Hollywood novel, Action!, by Robert Cort. The book follows the exploits of two startups’ sales teams as they strive to fuel their companies’ growth toward an eventual IPO.

Wayne Angelis joins InUnison Software, his third attempt at riding a startup to IPO. The company appeals to him because InUnison and its visionary CEO have sterling reputations for integrity. Wayne inherits the territory of Tom Gatto, ousted for dubious sales tactics that put InUnison’s business at risk. Gatto, motivated more by immediate financial – and sexual – gratification than his customers’ success, lands at fierce competitor VibraWeb, whose management has no moral qualms about his nefarious sales tactics. Wayne must contend with Gatto and more - internal competition, jealousy, hidden agendas and downright incompetence – in order to achieve his number and capture the brass ring.

Linking events and personalities culled from my twenty years in software - ten in technical sales with software startups including a very successful IPO - Selling Air will appeal to current and former players of the software fraternity who now reflect nostalgically on the feverish days of chasing their numbers and succeeding beyond their wildest dreams. Yet the allure extends beyond the hundreds of software companies and their thousands of US sales teams. Corporate IT managers caught up in the 90s software sales hype, as well as the large population of investors during this era, are interested in dissecting the inner worings of these software companies. As the economy emerges from its malaise, Selling Air will serve as a reminder of past excesses and a warning about the consequences of "irrational exhuberance".