Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Interview with Robert Petrossian, Siderean Software
El Segundo-based Siderean Software (www.siderean.com) is announcing this morning that it has appointed a new CEO, Robert Petrossian. Siderean Software is an enterprise search company backed by Clearstone Venture Partners, Innocal, and Red Rock Ventures. Petrossian most recently served as COO of Pasadena-based Integrian, and served as vice president of strategy and business development at I-many. I spoke with Petrossian on his new position, and on how Siderean software is approaching the enterprise search market.
BK: For those who aren't familiar with Siderean, what does Siderean do and how do you fit into the enterprise search industry?
RP: Siderean Software provides organizations with the world's first comprehensive turn-key navigation solutions for enterprise digital content and catalogs. Our Seamark Navigator reveals the full scope of digital assets and cataloged items available to enterprise users and customers, presenting a discovery and precision search framework for navigating to the most pertinent choices. Ideally suited for a wide variety of markets and organizations, Seamark Navigator improves overall business performance by providing a clear, contextual map of available digital materials, quickly directing users to all relevant assets or goods, leading to better individual and group decisions, content usage and purchasing.
Lack of visibility for scope is fast emerging as the urgent information and content management problem that inhibits business success. With the explosion of structured and unstructured information sources, enterprises have been unable to offer users comprehensive tools and services that reveal the range of available digital assets and provide context for discovery and selection. When able to identify all the content available to satisfy a need and quickly find what's most valuable, users see the benefit of equal access to everything digital through a single view. With a contextual framework for discovery and selection, enterprises and their customers benefit from improved creative output, increased workgroup productivity, optimal business decisions and improved satisfaction with online purchasing.
With our unique approach to solving the problem of 'hidden scope,' we are able to pair available content with the necessary navigational functions to create a very powerful information access and management tool.
BK: Why did you decide to join Siderean?
RP: I have strong familiarity and a passion for this industry, as well as a genuine interest in the problem Siderean has set out to tackle. I was very impressed with the management and the senior team. More importantly, the size and timing of this opportunity could not have been more appealing.
With the explosion and emergence of various structured and unstructured digital web content, such as RSS and blogs, a new kind of solution is required to rapidly categorize and organize all these disparate sources of information. This need has become even more critical as more and more industries are recognizing that navigational platforms are the ideal method for solving this problem. Many companies have realized that navigational applications are critical to the health of their business, but over the last few years, the only option has been investing in non-standards-based, expensive and cumbersome platforms. Siderean is the first to provide an affordable, standards-based, easily deployable and user-friendly navigation solution.
BK: Where is Siderean now -- I see you raised a VC round in early 2004, have you raised any more recent funding?
RP: We have not raised any additional funding since 2004. Our plans for future funding will depend on the opportunities which we anticipate will present themselves as we continue to build our customer base and open new markets. Right now, we are preparing to release a new version of Seamark Navigator later this fall. We are growing substantially at healthy rate each quarter, and we are currently hiring in sales and marketing.
BK: Why did you decide to move from Integrien?
RP: The career move presented by Siderean was an opportunity I could not pass up. It is truly exciting to become a part of the Siderean team, whose vision for addressing the need for scope visibility and navigation matches my own.
BK: Finally, what kind of results do you hope to accomplish in your new role at Siderean?
RP: We have a unique opportunity to build a large, profitable and innovative business within the next 2-3 years, and most importantly, introduce new navigation solutions that address functional and business limitations in today's enterprise and online commerce search tools.
BK: Thanks!