Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders

ICR
  • 5.0 (83)
  • Management

In the increasingly crowded and competitive corporate and financial ecosystem, it’s harder than ever for companies to break through the clutter and be heard. The media, investors, agenda-driven influencers, even customers and competitors, are defining your business story on their terms. Therefore, it is imperative that companies take control and proactively drive the conversation with stakeholders in an effort to build & maintain equity value. In Welcome to the Arena from ICR, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of ICR, Tom Ryan, interviews key business and financial players who influence the fate of public or aspiring public companies in the capital markets. As a former Wall Street Journal ranked sell-side equity analyst and the founder of one of the largest strategic communications firms in the world, Tom understands what it takes to navigate this complex environment. This is a forum for CEOs, CFOs, institutional investors, sell-side analysts, financial journalists, private equity professionals and other financial community participants to share their stories and give advice in an open and candid conversation. For more information, visit http://www.icrinc.com

  1. 2d ago

    Jeremy Morgan, CEO, American Family Care — Not Just Emergencies: How a national network of urgent care clinics is expanding their services to meet patient needs

    Historically, urgent care clinics were places you only went to treat acute injuries, but people are now turning to them for a growing slate of non-emergency medical services. And for operators in the space, that's creating a huge amount of opportunity.  Jeremy Morgan is the CEO of American Family Care, the nation's leading provider of urgent care with nearly 400 walk-in clinics across the United States. AFC's team of over 3,500 highly trained healthcare professionals deliver care to more than four million patients annually, driving system-wide sales exceeding a billion dollars.    Jeremy joins us to discuss how changes in American healthcare are impacting AFC's growth prospects, their approach to franchising, and how they're leveraging technology to deliver fast, convenient, and high quality healthcare to the communities they serve.    Highlights: Why Jeremy Joined AFC (2:20)Urgent Care as a Retail Business (4:00)What Makes AFC Different (6:22)Taking Over a Founder's Business (8:26)The Three-Stage Growth Plan (10:48)Building the Leadership Team (12:58)Going All-In on AI (17:36)The Case for Franchising with AFC (20:10)Buying Out the Competition (25:39)Links:Jeremy Morgan LinkedInAFC LinkedInAFC WebsiteICR LinkedInICR TwitterICR Website Feedback:If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

  2. Jul 22

    Orazio Buzza, Founder & CEO, Fooda — Table Stakes: How Fooda reimagined workplace dining across America

    What if instead of a corporate cafeteria, your employer brought a different local restaurant to your office every day? It’s a simple idea, but the execution is surprisingly complicated.  Orazio Buzza is the founder and CEO of Fooda, a leading workplace dining platform serving offices, hospitals, distribution centers and other workplaces across the US. Before founding Fooda in 2011, Orazio was part of the founding team at Echo Global Logistics, where he served as president and COO and helped take the company public.  Today, Orazio walks us through how Fooda went from a single pop-up program at a Chicago office to a national platform, how they rebuilt the company almost from scratch after losing 95% of their business during COVID, and why food has become table stakes for employers trying to attract the best talent.  Highlights: Echo Global Logistics and the IPO (1:54)The origin of Fooda (4:12)The three-sided marketplace (6:06)The scale of the business today (12:35)City-by-city expansion (13:20)Losing 95% of business in COVID (15:00)Return to office and food as a perk (19:07)Technology and Fooda OS (22:33)Goals for ‘26 into ‘27 (27:20) Links: Orazio Buzza LinkedIn Fooda LinkedIn Fooda Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website   Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you’d like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

  3. Jul 15

    David Cantu, CEO, Craftable — Solving Margin Drift: How Craftable is giving hospitality operators real-time visibility into where the money is going

    Summary: In a restaurant, food and labor account for 60 to 65 cents of every dollar spent, and there are a lot of ways to lose money when you’re not watching them closely. Most back-office tools only tell operators what went wrong after the fact; today’s company gives them a clear picture of what’s happening right now, and what it will cost them if they don’t do anything about it. David Cantu is the CEO of Craftable, one of the hospitality industry’s leading SaaS profit management platforms. He’s been in the industry for approximately 35 years — starting in operations at P.F. Chang’s, co-founding HotSchedules, and most recently serving as CEO of Black Box Intelligence. Today, David walks us through how Craftable works, what they’re most focused on as they look to automate the back-office workflow, and why you can’t manage costs at the expense of the customer experience. Highlights: Hooked from the first shift (2:08)From P.F. Chang's to HotSchedules (2:52)How David came to Craftable (6:40)The back-office workflow, explained (9:21)Scale and ideal customer (11:40)Staying operator-first (13:40)Actual vs. theoretical (17:37)Cost discipline vs. guest experience (20:09)Texas Roadhouse and playing the long game (23:18)What's next for Craftable (24:29) Links: David’s LinkedIn Craftable LinkedIn Craftable Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

  4. Jul 8

    Joe Musselman, Founder & Managing Partner, BVVC — Building Deterrence: Bolstering national security by investing in defense tech (Re-broadcast)

    We're taking a short hiatus for the holiday, and we thought now would be a great time to resurface this episode from March about a venture capital fund focused on restoring America’s arms manufacturing capabilities.  We hope you enjoy! Happy Fourth of July!  Summary: When it comes to defense tech, it's not enough to design the best weapons systems, you need to be able to actually build them. Today's company is investing in the infrastructure that will restore American arms manufacturing capabilities, and preserve our advantage in a world that's becoming more dangerous. Our guest today is Joe Musselman, Founder and Managing Partner of Bravo Victor Venture Capital, a US-based early seed and series-A venture capital fund. Joe is accountable for the firm's strategic vision and day-to-day mission, and leads all teams at the firm, including capital, investment, portfolio, and fund operations.   Since 2019, Joe's invested in companies like Firestorm, Epsilon3, Havoc AI, and notable early breakouts like Anduril, and Figure AI. And importantly for our conversation today, he recently led investments into Union, a new energetics prime where he is Co-Founder and Chairman. Today, Joe discusses his fascinating journey as a founder, how BVVC is enabling national security start-ups to scale effectively, and why winning the AI race will be crucial for the future of our country.   Highlights: Joe's journey (2:17)Why defense tech? (6:01)Fund in the field (8:26)Scaling national security startups (13:18)Union and the manufacturing advantage (19:01)The importance of AI (23:25)Why defense tech investments are crucial (27:29) Links: Joe Musselman LinkedIn Joe Musselman LinkedIn BVVC Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website   Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

    Joe Musselman, Founder & Managing Partner, BVVC — Building Deterrence: Bolstering national security by investing in defense tech (Re-broadcast)

  5. Jul 1

    Meghan McGowan, Founder & CEO, Barramundi — Inflection Points: Leveraging networks and technology to give investors timely access to some of the world's most exciting companies

    In ‘ID Fund’, Meghan McGowan and her husband Joe built a platform that gave their investors seamless access to exclusive — and lucrative — private investment opportunities. Now, with their new firm, Barramundi, they hope to build on that previous success by leveraging new technology, and expanding their total addressable market. Meghan is the Founder and CEO of Barramundi, a private markets and pre-IPO investment firm. Under her leadership, the company has grown to roughly 1.5 billion in assets under management, with more than five hundred million invested across the companies, and they are defining the next era of the economy, from AI infrastructure to drone technology and digital finance. Meghan joins us to discuss her atypical career path from wine futures to founding Barramundi, and the incredible opportunities they're creating for investors. Highlights: From wine to private markets (2:41)Coming up with a better way to invest (7:20)Investment opportunities (11:09)Barramundi vs. ID Fund (14:02)Leveraging Technology (16:38) 50k Minimum (17:50)Investing at Inflection Points (18:53)Marriage and Business (22:29)5-year Outlook (25:05)    Links: Barramundi Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website   Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

  6. Jun 24

    Ricardo Azevedo, CEO, Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming — Canine Coifs: Building America’s largest premium pet brand through a commitment to quality and care

    Many people view their dogs as more than just pets — they see them as family members. So when they bring them to the groomer, they want to be sure they're well cared for. And many dog owners are willing to pay a premium for that kind of certainty. Ricardo Azevedo is the CEO of Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, America’s largest premium pet brand. Since joining in 2022, Ricardo has led the company from 150 locations to more than 330, adding five to eight new stores every month.    Prior to Woof Gang, Azevedo held senior leadership roles at Restaurant Brands International, where he worked across iconic brands, including Tim Hortons and Burger King.  Today, we talk to Ricardo about how his QSR experience translated to the pet space, what it takes to scale a franchise brand sustainably, and why the grooming industry is ripe for a dominant national player. Highlights: A decade at RBI (2:15)Inside Woof Gang (5:14)The white space in grooming (6:55)Footprint, growth, and real estate (9:48)Building the infrastructure (13:26)Restaurants vs. services (17:07)Selecting franchisees (18:38)Protecting brand standards (21:49)The pet industry today (23:49)Goals for ‘26 into ‘27 (27:38) Links: Ricardo Azevedo LinkedIn Woof Gang LinkedIn Woof Gang Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you’d like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

  7. Jun 17

    Sami Inkinen, Co-founder & CEO, Virta Health — Reversing Diabetes: How nutrition and technology are rewriting what’s possible in metabolic health

    The medical establishment spent decades telling patients that type 2 diabetes is a chronic and irreversible disease. Today’s guest decided to prove them wrong. Sami Inkinen is the co-founder and CEO of Virta Health, a company using a combination of nutrition science, remote monitoring technology, and individualized coaching to help patients reverse type 2 diabetes, obesity and other metabolic conditions.    Previously, Sami co-founded Trulia, the online real estate marketplace, serving as COO and president through its IPO and eventual sale to Zillow. He has also held roles at Microsoft and McKinsey, and rowed from California to Hawaii with his wife to raise awareness of the dangers of sugar. Sami joins us to talk about how his own health journey influenced his decision to start Virta, the challenges of scaling in the health space, and the incredible success they’ve had in treating metabolic disease.  Highlights: A personal pre-diabetes diagnosis (2:35)Lessons from Trulia (6:00)Why reversal, not management (9:30)Clinical results and outcomes (12:47)GLP-1s and Virta’s approach (15:26)Technology and personalization (17:33)Selling to employers (20:17) Overcoming the status quo (22:33)Building a full-stack team (25:15)Rowing California to Hawaii (28:30)Goals for ‘26 into ‘27 (30:58) Links: Sami Inkinen LinkedIn Virta Health LinkedIn Virta Health Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website   Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you’d like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

  8. Jun 10

    Mike Silvestrini, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Energea — High Yield and High Impact: Bringing clean energy to emerging markets, and generating incredible returns for investors

    Investing in clean energy infrastructure in emerging markets sounds more altruistic than profitable. But today's company shows that doing the right thing can also be incredibly lucrative. Mike Silvestrini, co-founder and Managing Partner of Energea, a US-based renewable energy investment platform. Mike's a seasoned renewable energy professional who has played a central role in developing over 500 solar projects across the US, Brazil, and Africa, contributing meaningfully to the global transition to clean energy.   Today, we talk to Mike about how Energea evaluates investment opportunities, how they mitigate risk, and the incredible differences he's been able to make in different regions around the world.   Highlights: Where the idea for Energea came from (2:20)How the platform functions (5:58)The types of deals Energea pursues (7:30)The minimum investment in Energea (9:52)Investment portfolios (11:53)Brazil (13:33)Investor Relations (15:27)Energea's Wealth Management Channel (18:32)Vetting new deals (19:45)Big institutional partners — Brookfield & Goldman Sachs (22:20)Community impact (24:23)Life perspective (28:16)Emerging Markets (30:11)Goals for '26 into '27 (31:37) Links: Mike Silvestrini LinkedIn Energea LinkedIn Energea Website ICR LinkedIn ICR Twitter ICR Website Feedback: If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

See All (238)

Trailer

5
out of 5
83 Ratings

About

In the increasingly crowded and competitive corporate and financial ecosystem, it’s harder than ever for companies to break through the clutter and be heard. The media, investors, agenda-driven influencers, even customers and competitors, are defining your business story on their terms. Therefore, it is imperative that companies take control and proactively drive the conversation with stakeholders in an effort to build & maintain equity value. In Welcome to the Arena from ICR, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of ICR, Tom Ryan, interviews key business and financial players who influence the fate of public or aspiring public companies in the capital markets. As a former Wall Street Journal ranked sell-side equity analyst and the founder of one of the largest strategic communications firms in the world, Tom understands what it takes to navigate this complex environment. This is a forum for CEOs, CFOs, institutional investors, sell-side analysts, financial journalists, private equity professionals and other financial community participants to share their stories and give advice in an open and candid conversation. For more information, visit http://www.icrinc.com

Information