Compounders Podcast

My guest on this episode is Jeff Rosica, the CEO of Avid Technology, a 1.2 billion dollar market cap company that sells software and hardware for digital media production and management. For decades, Avid’s products have been considered the gold standard in the entertainment industry. In fact, its Media Composer and Pro Tools products are used to make many of the movies you see and to create the songs you listen to. Jeff Rosica was Avid’s Chief Sales Office and became the CEO in 2018. Since then he has overseen the company’s transition to a SaaS, or software-as-a-Service business model. After a few fits and starts, the company has started to deliver on its margin and cash flow targets as the benefits of the business model transition are flowing through the financial statement. Given the company’s recent success and my desire to better understand Avid’s journey, I thought it would be a great time to catch up with Jeff and discuss: - What moving from perpetual licenses to a subscription software business really looks like internally - How the company is approaching a world where people can create great content on their iPhones - Whether or not having activist shareholders involved in the company can be helpful - And how to balance the different cultures within engineering and sales teams This episode of Compounders: The Anatomy of a Multibagger is sponsored by Tegus, an innovative and disruptive company that is changing the way professional investors work. For more information, please visit: https://www.tegus.co/ Key Takeaways: - You can’t fix a business without first fixing the culture. Without the right people, you have nothing - Fear the innovators more than you fear the incumbents. If you aren’t willing to cannibalize your own business to innovate, you’ll never win against the ankle biters. - Listening to alternative perspectives is incredibly important and often activist investors can be those voices. - With the right underpinning of a solid company, you can change a company incredibly quickly—and probably even faster than you would think. You might regret certain things you do if you move fast, but you’ll always really regret the things you didn’t change and improve. Time stamps: 1:20 – Introduction 2:50 – Being named interim CEO with no forewarning 4:55 – Communicating your strategy as a new CEO 6:02 - Was being CEO always part of the plan? 8:10 – What it took to fix a broken culture 9:49 – Building a media creation tool in the age of iPhones and accessible software 12:55 – Competing with innovative ankle biters as the incumbent 15:55 – Balancing the dreams of engineers with the realities of the business 18:34 – How COVID has changed consumer needs for media creation 21:07 – Moving from a perpetual license business to a modern SaaS structure 23:27 – Fixing a company first and then thinking about M&A 26:50 – Capital allocation strategy now that M&A is on the table 29:23 – How activist shareholders have helped AVID 35:13 – Maintaining bargaining power even against the largest customers 37:17 – Remaining focused in a world with geographically diverse opportunities 39:18 – Managing rising stakeholder expectations during a period of rapid growth 41:00 – Incentivizing an organization to achieve stretch goals 43:48 – COVID’s long term effects on a tradeshow-focused industry 47:49 – Mistakes made and lessons learned as a brand new CEO 51:07 – Expanding an organization’s focus from the short run to the long term 53:05 – Jeff’s ideal legacy 54:37 – Knowing when a company is ready to take on new initiatives 56:29 – Getting better at communicating with stakeholders regarding ESG 59:05 – Lessons learned in trying to get the right people on the bus 1:01:45 – Why industry consolidation has always been 1 year away To get all the latest updates about the podcast, see who we’ll have on next, as well as watch the video version of the pod, please follow us on twitter at @BenClaremon and subscribe to the SNN Network YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/snnwire. For more information about Cove Street Capital, please visit: https://covestreetcapital.com/  iTunes: https://apple.co/3xlUvPY Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jxkxLl Each new episode will be available every Tuesday morning on Apple, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms. All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Cove Street Capital or any affiliates. This podcast is for informational purposes only, it is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending the purchase or sale of any securities. The hosts and guests may be beneficial owners of the securities discussed. You should not assume that the securities discussed are or will be profitable.

Mauricio Ramos is the CEO of Millicom, a key player in mobile and broadband services across Latin America. He dives into the company's strategic shift towards broadband, inspired by insights from John Malone's cable playbook. Mauricio discusses the aggressive investments in connectivity, how they’re enhancing market presence in the U.S., and the importance of a cohesive company culture across diverse regions. He also touches on the untapped fintech opportunities in Central America, highlighting a commitment to long-term growth amidst industry challenges.

My guest on the show today is Jim Hallett, the former CEO and now Executive Chairman of KAR Auction Services. KAR is a $2.25B market cap company that operates within the wholesale auto remarketing industry. Jim is very well known in the used car auction industry and has built up a wealth of knowledge over his close to 30 years at KAR. He joined the company back in 1993, then became CEO in 2009 and just this past April stepped back to Executive Chairman. During his tenure, Jim has overseen the company’s spin-off of IAA, which is now a $7.3B market cap company on its own. He also has helped spearhead the company’s aggressive initiatives to extend its digital offerings and add scale beyond KAR’s physical car auction facilities. In this wide-ranging discussion, we covered: - Jim’s thoughts on KAR’s very important pivot to digital that occurred in 2020 - What has changed about the car auction industry over the last three decades - Why he thought it was the right time to pass the torch - Maintaining the company’s culture within a rapidly changing industry - Why KAR believes that the model of the future is hybrid: digital and physical If you are at all interested in how incumbent companies defend their turf against digital upstarts, this was a great discussion. This episode of Compounders: The Anatomy of a Multibagger is sponsored by Tegus, an innovative and disruptive company that is changing the way professional investors work. For more information, please visit: https://www.tegus.co/ Timestamps for this episode: 1:50 - Introduction 3:42 - KAR’s rapid digital transformation 6:12 - Putting customer safety over market share 9:30 - Managing stakeholders during a transformational change 11:50 - Layering a digital strategy on top of a historically brick and mortar business 13:42 - Balancing KAR’s rapid digital transformation with the needs of customers 16:37 - Digitizing their dealer-to-dealer business through M&A 20:43 - Key lessons learned competing against digital upstarts 23:14 - M&A: to build or to buy? 25:30 - Successful leaders have to embrace change 28:56 - How do you know when to pass the CEO torch? 31:31 - Digitization of the used car auction industry 33:42 - Imparting a culture of optimism 36:42 - Growth opportunities via expanding into Europe 40:02 - Limiting management distraction while expanding outside the US 41:12 - Competing for digital talent from Indiana 44:40 - Pushing old school customers to digitize their business 48:42 - Maintaining a moat within an increasingly digital world 51:35 - Jim Hallett’s ideal legacy 54:45 - Biggest changes in the car auction industry over 3 decades 57:57 - Most underappreciated aspect of KAR’s hybrid model 1:00:25 - Why the industry may never be fully digital To get all the latest updates about the podcast, see who we’ll have on next, as well as watch the video version of the pod, please follow us on twitter at @BenClaremon and subscribe to the SNN Network YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/snnwire. For more information about Cove Street Capital, please visit: https://covestreetcapital.com/  iTunes: https://apple.co/3xlUvPY Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jxkxLl Each new episode will be available every Tuesday morning on Apple, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms. All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Cove Street Capital or any affiliates. This podcast is for informational purposes only, it is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending the purchase or sale of any securities. The hosts and guests may be beneficial owners of the securities discussed. You should not assume that the securities discussed are or will be profitable.

My guest on the show today is Sean O’Connor, the CEO of StoneX Group (NASDAQ: SNEX), a $1.2 billion dollar market cap financial services company that generated over $50 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2020. Sean became the CEO of International Assets Holding Company in 2002 and was a key architect of the 2009 transformational merger with FCStone that serves as the foundation of what StoneX is today. During his tenure, the company has been quite acquisitive and has added several new product lines and geographies. Currently, StoneX is involved in a number of businesses, including: - Risk management and hedging services - Commodities trading - Equity securities trading - International payments; and - Foreign exchange services Sean has been a steward of a stock that is now 3.5 times higher than it was when the FCStone merger closed, a period of time in which book value per share is up over 4 times. In this wide-ranging discussion, we cover: - Sean’s philosophy on M&A and integrating companies - How StoneX approaches risk management and what the company has learned from prior mistakes - The process of incubating and funding an international payments business; and - How financial services companies can distinguish themselves from competitors This episode of Compounders: The Anatomy of a Multibagger is sponsored by Tegus, an innovative and disruptive company that is changing the way professional investors work. For more information, please visit: https://www.tegus.co/ Timestamps for this episode: 1:50 - Introduction to SNEX CEO Sean O’Connor 3:35 - Why even attempt a transformational merger during the Global Financial Crisis 12:04 - The challenges associated with deals where the minnow swallows the whale 19:30 - Deep integration vs. a hands-off approach post-acquisition 23:00 - Building a differentiated risk management culture at StoneX 31:01 - Important lessons from significant loss events 37:11 - Starting an international payments business from scratch 44:04 - How StoneX looks at cryptocurrency as an opportunity 47:37 - Creating a moat around StoneX despite the competition 59:13 - StoneX’s relationship with regulators and becoming good at regulation 1:03:19 - Key elements that have propelled StoneX’s valuation 1:06:27 - The most underappreciated aspect of StoneX: long term-compounding To get all the latest updates about the podcast, see who we’ll have on next, as well as watch the video version of the pod, please follow us on twitter at @BenClaremon and subscribe to the SNN Network YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/snnwire. For more information about Cove Street Capital, please visit: https://covestreetcapital.com/  iTunes: https://apple.co/3xlUvPY Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jxkxLl Each new episode will be available every Tuesday morning on Apple, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms. All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Cove Street Capital or any affiliates. This podcast is for informational purposes only, it is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending the purchase or sale of any securities. The hosts and guests may be beneficial owners of the securities discussed. You should not assume that the securities discussed are or will be profitable.

My guest on the show today is Tom Gayner, the co-CEO of Markel Corporation. Markel is a Fortune 500, $16.7 billion market cap financial holding company that primarily operates in the insurance and re-insurance industry. Though Tom has only been in the co-CEO seat since 2016, he has been with Markel for close to 30 years and he has been an investor longer than that. Markel has been compared to Berkshire Hathaway in both structure and performance and Tom has been a key architect of the company’s diversification away from insurance through the acquisition of operating businesses. In fact, Markel Ventures has gone from $1.2 billion in revenue in 2016 to about $2.8 billion today. Tom is well-known in the value investing community for his charm and intellect. Also, many people who have made the trek to Omaha for the Berkshire Shareholder Meeting have also attended the Markel Breakfast event. I had the opportunity to listen Tom speak a number of times in Omaha and that is why I thought he would be a great guest on the podcast. In this conversation, we will cover: - His thoughts on what makes a compounder - How to invest more like a grandmother than a Wall Street trader - And why he is a better investor because he is a CEO—and vice versa Click the timestamp to jump to each answer: 1:38 - Introduction 3:07 - The 2008-09 financial crisis and Markel’s response 7:55 - The benefits of a legacy of family ownership 11:39 - Comparing today’s market to that of 1998-99 15:53 - The benefits of investing like a grandmother 18:18 - How being a Co-CEO has made Tom a better investor 24:09 - How to tell if a person is a good cultural fit 28:35 - Building culture by articulating what your company stands for 32:15 - Bottom up and top down approaches to compounding 35:39 - Applying the Colfax Business System at Markel 38:08 - Some challenges of working within a family-controlled business 42:03 - Markel’s willingness to invest today for future benefit 48:45 - How Markel Ventures helps diversify the company 51:53 - Why culture is a big part of the moat around Markel’s insurance operations 55:14 - The emergence of ESG and embedding Quaker values 62:30 - Tom’s ideal legacy within Markel 63:50 - Learning from your mistakes to become more adaptable 66:14 - Starting with principals and then learning by doing 69:15 - The most under appreciated aspects of Markel To get all the latest updates about the podcast, see who we’ll have on next, as well as watch the video version of the pod, please follow us on twitter at @BenClaremon and subscribe to the SNN Network YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/snnwire.  iTunes: https://apple.co/3xlUvPY Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jxkxLl Each new episode will be available every Tuesday morning on Apple, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms. All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Cove Street Capital or any affiliates. This podcast is for informational purposes only, it is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending the purchase or sale of any securities. The hosts and guests may be beneficial owners of the securities discussed. You should not assume that the securities discussed are or will be profitable.

My guest on the show today is Weston Hicks, the CEO of Alleghany Corporation. Alleghany is a Fortune 500, $9.3B market cap company that focuses primarily on the insurance and re-insurance industry. Weston became CEO all the way back in late 2004 and since then, the company has grown its book value significantly and, like a mini-Berkshire Hathaway, has built up an interesting portfolio of non-insurance businesses that includes everything from a machine tool company to a toy company. And the Berkshire parallels don’t end there. Weston is a value investor at heart and is well known for his eclectic shareholder letters where he dives deep into the insurance industry and the capital markets as a whole. Weston was a key driver of the company’s 2011 transformational merger with TransRe, a deal that established Alleghany as a global insurance powerhouse. After close to 20 years with the company, Weston will be retiring at the end of this year. So, I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk to Weston before he officially leaves the CEO seat and get his insights and perspectives, on a variety of topics, including: - His thoughts on what makes a compounder - The benefits and the setbacks associated with the merger with TransRe - How to compensate people and establish a competitive advantage within the insurance industry - The emergence of ESG and how that impacts a company that underwrites catastrophe risks Click the timestamp to jump to each answer: 3:40 – Introduction and the transformational merger with TransRe 7:50 – Weston’s plan as CEO (why the diversification into reinsurance) 9:50 – What made TransRe such a compelling opportunity 11:30 – The difficulties of M&A and why Alleghany is unique as a company 13:30 – The big surprises from the TransRe deal 14:55 – Looking back on the TransRe transaction 10 years later 17:50 – The impact of new competition moving into reinsurance 20:24 – What makes insurance companies such effective compounders 23:19 – Compensation as a lever for performance 25:40 – The history of Alleghany’s investment strategy 28:11 – How involved the board is in capital allocation 32:00 – Alleghany’s capital allocation strategy, investing North Star, and inevitable missteps 36:20 – Alleghany Capital and family run businesses 40:47 – Growing Alleghany Capital & the insurance business 43:17 – Weston’s approach to growing shareholder wealth 48:30 – Hiring, compensation, and employee retention 52:08 – The emergence of ESG 57:20 – Why Alleghany utilizes special dividends 61:20 – Alleghany’s exceptional stock growth 64:40 – What about Alleghany makes Weston so comfortable stepping away 67:50 – Areas where Alleghany has had to adapt 70:25 – What is the most misunderstood aspect of Alleghany? To get all the latest updates about the podcast, see who we’ll have on next, as well as watch the video version of the pod, please follow us on twitter at @InoculatedInves and subscribe to the SNN Network YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/snnwire.  iTunes: https://apple.co/3xlUvPY Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jxkxLl Each new episode will be available every Tuesday morning on Apple, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms. All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Cove Street Capital or any affiliates. This podcast is for informational purposes only, it is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending the purchase or sale of any securities. The hosts and guests may be beneficial owners of the securities discussed. You should not assume that the securities discussed are or will be profitable.

Welcome to the Compounders Podcast, where we explore the anatomy of public company wealth creation stories. On this show, we invite you to be a fly on the wall for the actual conversations professional investors have with public company CEOs. Through a series of interviews, we will learn about how to create a compounder—a sustainable company whose success builds upon itself—by hearing about the real-life experiences of leaders who run smaller-cap public companies. I’m your host, Ben Claremon, a partner and portfolio manager at Cove Street Capital. In these conversations, I interview public company senior executives by posing the exact type of questions I ask as part of Cove Street’s diligence process. By talking to people who operate within a wide variety of industries, we will dig into the holistic aspects of company building that you are not going to hear anywhere else. Whether you are a professional investor, founder or someone who is simply interested in business, we think this podcast has something for you. To get all the latest updates about the podcast, see who we’ll have on next, as well as watch the video version of the pod, please follow us on Twitter at @InoculatedInves and subscribe to the SNN Network YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/snnwire.  Each new episode will be available every Tuesday morning on Apple, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms.  All opinions expressed by your hosts and the podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Cove Street Capital or any affiliates. This podcast is for informational purposes only, it is not investment advice, and should not be relied upon for any investment decisions. We are not recommending the purchase or sale of any securities. The hosts and guests may be beneficial owners of the securities discussed. You should not assume that the securities discussed are or will be profitable.