Earlier this month, Cisco completed deals for Procket Networks , which sold high-end, high-bandwidth routers and had a solid customer base, and Parc Technologies , a developer of software to streamline network traffic.

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Power plants give it a solid customer base.

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"A little customer-base and solid feedback is a real sweetener when you're pitching your product, " he says.

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It has a solid revenue model and a growing customer base.

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