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Verdiem Names Kevin Klustner as President & CEO
March 13, 2006
Former WRQ Chief Operating Officer to Succeed Steven L. Sperry who is Retiring
Seattle, WA— Verdiem, the leading developer of power management software for PC networks, announced
today the retirement of its president and chief executive officer, Steven Sperry, and the appointment of long-time
software industry executive Kevin Klustner as his successor.
Klustner is a technology industry veteran with 20 plus years of experience leading and growing organizations to
achieve their strategic objectives. Prior to joining Verdiem, Klustner helped a number of leading high technology
companies scale their businesses for growth and profit, ranging from Hewlett Packard to WRQ, where he served as
chief operating officer, to Sightward Inc., a local startup where he served as president and CEO. While at WRQ,
Klustner developed a successful track record in guiding the company through rapid growth, working his way up
from product manager to COO of the company. As COO of WRQ, Klustner was responsible for all aspects of product
development, marketing, and worldwide sales, and had full profit and loss responsibility for the company. Klustner
helped lead WRQ to 77 consecutive quarters of profitability, and helped grow the company from $15 million to
$160 million in revenues.
“Kevin’s experience in helping companies maintain a focus on serving customers, while growing rapidly, is an ideal
match for Verdiem in its present stage of expansion,” said Steven Sperry, who is retiring as president and chief
executive officer after three years with Verdiem. “Continuing it's remarkable growth, Verdiem is building lasting
value and saving energy costs for more and more organizations with sizable PC networks. Kevin’s track record in
managing rapid growth profitably will be a key factor in guiding Verdiem to the next level of success.”
“I am excited about joining Verdiem,” said Klustner. “The urgent need to conserve energy is driving demand for
Verdiem’s software. The software helps organizations lower energy costs, reduce energy dependence, and cut CO2
emissions which contribute to global warming, and these are all hot issues for both governments and businesses.
The rapid proliferation of PCs and the rising cost of electricity are combining with the increasing energy appetite of
computers to create a growing drain on government and corporate budgets. Verdiem has a cost-effective, easy-to-
install software solution that eliminates energy waste in PC networks.”
The Department of Energy estimates that the average PC wastes up to 400 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year
simply by running at full power when no user is present. Verdiem’s flagship product, SURVEYOR, eliminates energy
waste in PCs by enabling network-level control over PC and monitor low power settings. SURVEYOR is an easy-to-use
application that measures, manages, and reduces PC energy use, lowering the operating cost of PC networks by
$15 to $40 per PC annnually. SURVEYOR allows network managers to easily configure and maintain PC power
settings across large, distributed networks, without impacting user productivity.
Sperry, who is also an investor in the company, is retiring to take an extended sabbatical to sail around the world.
Sperry, a serial entrepreneur, joined Verdiem in 2003 just before the company first introduced its product. During
his tenure at Verdiem, Sperry led the company through a period of accelerated growth that has seen revenues
more than double in each of the past three years, and the company is on track to triple its revenues in 2006. Prior
to Verdiem, he founded and was Chairman and CEO of Primus Knowledge Solutions, an enterprise software
company which had an IPO in 1999, and of Acadio, an online learning company.
“Although we’re sorry to see Steven leave, we’re excited to have an executive with Kevin’s reputation and
experience take the leadership role at Verdiem,” said David Johnston of Phoenix Partners, an investor in the
company. “We feel that Verdiem is very well positioned to extend its market share and technology leadership in
this category, and we are excited to have Kevin on board to help Verdiem to the next stage,” said Jed Smith of
Catamount Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that also invested in Verdiem.
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