Pure Storage hits out at rivals' 'bullsh*t' FUD campaigns

Pure Storage kicks off its first-ever partner and user conference in San Francisco

Pure Storage has kicked off its inaugural partner summit by calling out rivals which it claims are spreading "bullsh*t" fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about them to customers.

Pure Accelerate began in San Francisco on Monday and attracted more than 1,000 partners and customers.

The Global Partner Forum (GPF) was included in the summit and saw the firm's senior channel execs set out their go-to-market plans for the coming months and years.

Pure Storage floated last year and since then has posted big losses on soaring sales.

Pure Storage's president David Hatfield took to the GPF stage first and told partners that the company is in a strong position.

"There's people throwing FUD out there saying ‘these guys don't have a business, they don't have any profits, blah, blah, blah, blah. Give them the facts! Trust the maths," he said.

Hatfield claimed Pure has a total addressable market of $24bn and does business with 66 Fortune 500 companies, along with around 1,600 others.

He added that the firm's channel partners, with which the firm does all of its business, are essential.

"You are our engine - without you, we don't grow," he said. "We can deliver great technology and customer experiences... but without you, we don't grow. So for that, we genuinely thank you."

For the three months ending 31 January 2016, Pure made a net loss of $44.3m - compared with $47.6m the year before - on sales of $150.2m, which rose 128 per cent over the same period.

Hatfield insisted the numbers prove the company is strong.

"[Regarding] stability - all that bullsh*t that's out there from our competitors saying we are not financial viable; we have the best-in-class gross margins, and I don't apologise for saying that. If we're talking to a customer, they're like ‘why are you talking about gross margin? We will just negotiate more.' But I say ‘no, you want a healthy company!'

"[We have] $30m in free cash flow. So, financial analysts and anyone else throwing FUD out there: are we generating cash? Yes. $32m in Q4. So if anyone is giving you FUD and is saying we don't have a sustainable business practice, send them to our blog, send them to the press release on our financial results and this will [halt] the conversation quickly. We're not out here spending investor money, we are out there investing in growth."