CEO Cafe

Spencer Walsh

Hello, and welcome to CEO Cafe. I'm your host, Spencer Walsh, and in this interview series we sit down for coffee chats with executives of industry leading technology companies. We'll breakdown their business models, examine competition & trends in their industries, and discuss current investor expectations. I hope you enjoy the conversations. ***DISCLAIMERS*** These interviews are for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The host, Spencer Walsh, also serves as the Managing Member of Kinesic Capital LLC, an investment advisor based in San Francisco, CA. All opinions expressed by Spencer Walsh and the guests in this interview are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Kinesic Capital LLC or the companies at which guests are employed or affiliated. These interviews may also contain statements that are considered forward-looking under various securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based upon current market conditions and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Kinesic Capital LLC and its clients may maintain positions in the securities discussed in these interviews, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. These interviews do not intend to be complete or entirely accurate on any topic addressed, and the information discussed in these interviews is provided as of the date of their publication and will not be updated.

Episodes

  1. Interview with Shutterstock Inc. CFO Jarrod Yahes

    09/15/2023

    Interview with Shutterstock Inc. CFO Jarrod Yahes

    Hi there, I’m your host Spencer Walsh, and today on the show we have Jarrod Yahes, the CFO of Shutterstock, Inc. Shutterstock is one of the leading digital content marketplaces, and in this conversation we discuss the history & growth prospects for their core marketplace, how generative AI is impacting the business, and the rationale behind the company’s recent acquisition of GIPHY. I hope you enjoy! Part 1: Shutterstock Core's Digital Marketplace Business 1:52 - What has made Shutterstock an attractive businesses historically? 7:55 - Is Shutterstock's core digital marketplace an organically growing or declining business going forward, and why? 20:35 - Competitive landscape discussion; how big of a threat is Adobe Stock in particular?Part 2: How Generative AI is Impacting the Business 27:25 - Before we try to predict the future, how has generative AI impacted the business to date? 35:45 - Will every enterprise end up training their own open source large language models, or will they simply just use one of a handful off-the-shelf models? 42:10 - Does generative AI pose a different level of disruption risk to illustrations vs. photographs?Part 3: Rationale Behind GIPHY Acquisition 47:25 - Who are the largest players in the GIF market? 50:05 - How does GIPHY's advertising business model work? 53:25 - How much platform cooperation does GIPHY's business model require***DISCLAIMERS*** This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The host, Spencer Walsh, also serves as the Managing Member of Kinesic Capital LLC, an investment advisor based in San Francisco, CA. All opinions expressed by Spencer Walsh and the guests in this interview are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Kinesic Capital LLC or the companies at which guests are employed or affiliated. This interview may also contain statements that are considered forward-looking under various securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based upon current market conditions and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Kinesic Capital LLC and its clients may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this interview, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. This interview does not intend to be complete or entirely accurate on any topic addressed, and the information discussed in this interview is provided as of the date of its publication and will not be updated.

    1h 1m
  2. Interview with trivago N.V. CFO Matthias Tillmann

    06/06/2023

    Interview with trivago N.V. CFO Matthias Tillmann

    Hello, and welcome to CEO Cafe. I’m your host, Spencer Walsh, and today we sit down with Matthias Tillmann, the CFO of trivago N.V. trivago is one of the leading hotel metasearch platforms, helping consumers around the globe find the best rates on hotels. In 2022, trivago generated over €500M in revenue and over €60M in free cash flow. Matthias joined trivago in 2016, and has served as the company’s CFO since early 2020. I hope you enjoy the discussion. ***DISCLAIMERS*** This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The host, Spencer Walsh, also serves as the Managing Member of Kinesic Capital LLC, an investment advisor based in San Francisco, CA. All opinions expressed by Spencer Walsh and the guests in this interview are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Kinesic Capital LLC or the companies at which guests are employed or affiliated. This interview may also contain statements that are considered forward-looking under various securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based upon current market conditions and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Kinesic Capital LLC and its clients may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this interview, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. This interview does not intend to be complete or entirely accurate on any topic addressed, and the information discussed in this interview is provided as of the date of its publication and will not be updated.

    45 min
  3. Interview with Q4 Inc. CEO Darrell Heaps

    09/14/2022

    Interview with Q4 Inc. CEO Darrell Heaps

    Today, I'm excited to have Darrell Heaps on the show for our inaugural interview. Darrell is CEO of Q4 Inc., a business that he founded in 2006 and has since built into one of the leading capital markets software providers in North America. Q4 went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange 2021, and today has over 500 employees. Topics discussed: 3:20 - Overview of Q4's software 12:55 - Connecting companies and investors 16:50 - Q4's platform approach to investor relations 23:55 - Competitive landscape 30:50 - Partners vs. competitors 35:35 - Customer and revenue retention 40:15 - Growth formula of the business 44:45 - Biggest ARPU levers 49:25 - Margin prospects of the business 56:55 - Balancing growth & profitability 1:00:45 - Growth from existing vs. new customers 1:02:15 - Discussion on valuation 1:07:30 - Largest investor concerns ***DISCLAIMERS*** This interview is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The host, Spencer Walsh, also serves as the Managing Member of Kinesic Capital LLC, an investment advisor based in San Francisco, CA. All opinions expressed by Spencer Walsh and the guests in this interview are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Kinesic Capital LLC or the companies at which guests are employed or affiliated. This interview may also contain statements that are considered forward-looking under various securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based upon current market conditions and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Kinesic Capital LLC and its clients may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this interview, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. This interview does not intend to be complete or entirely accurate on any topic addressed, and the information discussed in this interview is provided as of the date of its publication and will not be updated.

    1h 11m
5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Hello, and welcome to CEO Cafe. I'm your host, Spencer Walsh, and in this interview series we sit down for coffee chats with executives of industry leading technology companies. We'll breakdown their business models, examine competition & trends in their industries, and discuss current investor expectations. I hope you enjoy the conversations. ***DISCLAIMERS*** These interviews are for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The host, Spencer Walsh, also serves as the Managing Member of Kinesic Capital LLC, an investment advisor based in San Francisco, CA. All opinions expressed by Spencer Walsh and the guests in this interview are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Kinesic Capital LLC or the companies at which guests are employed or affiliated. These interviews may also contain statements that are considered forward-looking under various securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based upon current market conditions and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Kinesic Capital LLC and its clients may maintain positions in the securities discussed in these interviews, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. These interviews do not intend to be complete or entirely accurate on any topic addressed, and the information discussed in these interviews is provided as of the date of their publication and will not be updated.