LSI CFO Eyes IPO

LSI Logic Storage Systems Inc. has hired a new CFO in a move that could help the company toward its goal of an IPO by June.

LSI Logic Storage Systems is splitting off from parent LSI Logic Corp. (NYSE: LSI), according to an S-1 statement filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (see LSI's Storage Sub Plans IPO and LSI Logic Spins Off Storage Systems). And now management has plucked an IPO veteran who had been CFO at a competing startup to hold the top financial post.

Bill Kurtz joins LSI after serving as CFO of 3PAR. Before that, he helped take Scient Corp., an e-business consulting firm, to an IPO in 1999 (see 3PARdata is Ready and 3PARdata Appoints New Execs).

This job fits my experience,” says Kurtz, who also served in a senior executive role at AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T). “It’s one of my goals to be the CFO of a publicly held company, and that will be achieved through the IPO.”

LSI Logic Storage sells SAN arrays to IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) (NYSE: STK), the Teradata division of NCR Corp., and Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) (NYSE: SGI).3PAR is a well-funded SAN vendor that grabbed $32 million in a February round and upgraded its hardware earlier this month to try and goose sales (see 3PAR Gooses Its X). 3PAR CEO David Scott says Kurtz left on good terms, and his duties will be split between treasurer Adriel Lares and newcomer Jim Dawson, who will be named VP of worldwide sales on Monday.

“Bill got a very lucrative offer from a company deciding to go in a different direction,” Scott says. “It’s a backhanded compliment to the executive team here.”

Kurtz might have been able to achieve his goal as CFO of a public company with 3PAR, but he probably would have had to wait at least two years. That’s the timeframe he gave back in February for 3PAR's turning a profit (see 3PAR Pockets $32 Million).

Dawson will join 3PAR from NeoScale Systems Inc., a data protection appliance startup. Part of his job at 3PAR will be to take over Kurtz’s role in helping to develop international business.

— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch0