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Vertica Systems Inc. has appointed former Acopia Networks CEO Christopher Lynch as its new CEO, replacing Ralph Breslauer, who led the company since October 2007 and departed in February.
Lynch said his goal at Vertica, a Billerica analytic database management software company, will be to build out a global sales force. He declined to specify a headcount for the company’s hiring plans.
“The company has been opportunistic in their sales campaigns to date,” Lynch said. “You can expect to see us over the course of this year in every NFL city and every major city across the globe.”
The task is similar to work he did at ArrowPoint Communications, Lynch said. Arrowpoint went public in 2000 and was acquired later the same year by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) for $5.7 billion. “(Vertica) will be somewhere on the (growth) track of Arrowpoint, but probably not as fast,” he said. Lynch offered a few of the lessons learned from his experience at Arrowpoint in a Q&A interview yesterday.
Vertica vice president of product management and marketing David Menninger said the company has grown from 54 customers at the end of 2008 to more than 130 now. Its data-intensive customer businesses range from large telecommunications and financial services firms to gaming companies like Zynga and Playdom. Contracts are “six and seven figures,” Menninger said, but he declined to discuss the company’s overall revenue or profitability. He said the company expects to see “triple-digit growth” in 2010.
Profitability is not a near-term focus, Lynch said. “I think depending on the quarter, we’ll be there,” he said. “The company today has managed to be profitable, but I’m not going to tie myself to that in the near term as we build out the sales organization.” Vertica may seek additional venture capital funds in 2010 to build out its sales force, he added.
Founded in 2005 by serial database entrepreneurs Michael Stonebraker and Andy Palmer, Vertica has so far raised at least $23.5 million from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Highland Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates. Its last round was a $16.5 million Series B, closed in February, 2007. Stonebraker was named a Mass High Tech All Star in 2009.
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