Monday, March 3, 2008

Sigma's Potter to lead Expressor Software as CEO

By Christopher Calnan

Bedford technologist John Russell got more than he bargained for last year when pitching an entrepreneur-in-residence at Sigma Partners in Boston. Besides $6 million in venture capital, he got the entrepreneur, Bob Potter -- who is now leading the data management software company.

Potter, a previous CEO of Sigma-backed WebGen Systems Inc. and, before that, CEO of Kalido Inc., is now the CEO of Expressor Software Corp., based in Burlington. Next month, Expressor plans to release a beta version of its software backed with the VC financing from four investors, including Sigma.

Expressor is Potter's third CEO position at a New England tech company in three years. Before WebGen, Potter was the CEO of Burlington-based enterprise software maker Kalido from mid-2003 until January 2006, when he resigned after a disagreement with the board.

Potter said he joined Sigma as an entrepreneur-in-residence following Kalido. Sigma, a WebGen investor, enlisted Potter in August 2006 to find a buyer for the intellectual property of WebGen, which had launched its web-based electricity and temperature control system in 2005.

He said he's prohibited from disclosing the name of the acquirer. WebGen laid off most of its 45 employees in April 2007, after losing its largest customer, Bank of America Corp. It had raised $23 million in venture and debt financing.

Russell, 37, said he established Expressor as a limited liability company in 2003 and planned to self-fund it until he met Potter last year. That's when he decided to ramp up operations with Sigma's money and Potter's experience.

"I thought this was the right time to accelerate this," Russell said. "I thought, 'I can work with this guy.'"

In July 2007, Expressor was incorporated when Sigma and Globespan Capital Partners invested in the company.

Sigma managing director John Mandile said Potter's credibility coupled with his enthusiasm for Russell's technology was a major factor in the firms decision to back Expressor.

Potter said he expects the software to be generally available at the end of the second quarter. He plans to market it to businesses managing large volumes of data in real time. The financial services sector is expected to be a large customer base, Potter said.

Competitors include California-based Informatica Corp.; Ab Initio Software Corp., in Lexington; and IBM Corp.'s Ascential division, acquired in 2005 when IBM bought Westborough-based Ascential Software Corp. for $1.1 billion.