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

Summary: AI and AR technologies are rapidly becoming stable stakes for any retail experience, and today's guest is leading the way there. On this episode, we're talking to Louis Chen, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Perfect Corp, which trades under the symbol PERF. Perfect is an AI and AR-powered beauty tech solutions provider, and Louis leads the company's corporate develop...

Success in the restaurant industry can be tricky, but today's guest has really nurtured the built-in growth opportunities in his business, with remarkable results. On this episode we're sitting down with Andy Wiederhorn, President and CEO of FAT Brands. FAT Brands is a global franchising company that acquires, markets and develops a range of casual and quick-service dining restaurant concepts. And...

Even the most ingenious technologies won't go far without a solid legal foundation and a forward thinking framework that will help it scale,  and this episode's guest knows all about that. Cindy Hess is a corporate partner at Fenwick and for over 10 years she's served as the co-chair of the firm's startup and venture capital group.  Over the course of her practice, Cindy has counseled technology c...

Summary: If you're going to jump into the massive beverage market with a brand new product, you better have some incredible experience and a solid team behind you. And that's exactly what today's guest has. On this episode we're sitting down with Mike Pengue, who has been CEO of ZOA Energy since its launch in March of 2021. Prior to ZOA, Mike was Senior Vice President, General Manager for the Emer...

Summary: To really serve your customer, you have to understand them. And that's just one of the crucial ways that today's guest has led her company into remarkable growth. On this episode, we welcome Molly Langenstein, CEO, President and Board Member of Chico's FAS. She joined the company in August of 2019 and became CEO and President less than a year later, in June 2020. Molly is a 30-year retail...

Summary: Extreme weather, aging grids, power storage and distribution; these are just some of the challenges that clean energy is stepping up to solve. And companies like Stem are at the forefront, with cutting edge AI-driven services. Today we hear from John Carrington, CEO of Stem. John leads the energy storage and analytics movement at the company and has more than 25 years of leadership experi...

Summary: It's been an amazing year on Welcome to the Arena , and we've heard from some of the most exciting and successful businesses and strategists in the game. On this brief episode of the show, Tom Ryan, founder and CEO of ICR, and host of Welcome to the Arena shares his reflections on 2022, and looks ahead to 2023 and the 25th anniversary of ICR.  Enjoy the holidays, and look for new episodes...

Summary: Being a disruptor in business can be as uncomplicated as putting out high quality products, in a small-but-mighty category. And that's what today's guest has done, with incredible success. On this episode we're talking to Todd Lachman, the founder, President and CEO of Sovos Brands. For 25 years, Todd's delivered growth and value creation for some of the biggest names in consumer packaged...

Summary: There are a lot of things that California produces well: movies, wine, and now cannabis. Today's guest knows all about that. Kyle Kazan is co-founder and CEO of Glasshouse Brands, a vertically integrated sustainable producer of cannabis products. In 1991, he began investing in real estate, and became a manager of private equity funds. He's now launched a total of 23 funds with a current e...

Summary: At a time when many restaurants are cutting back on what they offer guests, the One Group is raising the bar on the dining experience, and positioning themselves for huge success in the process. Today's guest is Manny Hilario, CEO of The One Group and long-time friend of ICR. The One Group is a global hospitality company that develops and operates upscale and polished casual, high energy...

Summary: You can never underestimate the power of high quality consumer research from a globally renowned team, especially when they're led with energy and heart by a top industry analyst. Case in point is today's guest, long-time friend of ICR, Dana Telsey. Dana is the CEO and Chief Research Officer of Telsey Advisory Group, which was founded in 2006. The firm has grown to be a leading equity res...

Summary: We take for granted how rapidly restaurants have gone digital in the past few years, but it's actually been a vision 20 years in the making. And it all started with today's guest. Noah Glass is the founder and CEO of Olo, a leading commerce platform powering the restaurant industry's digital transformation. Over 600 of the most recognized restaurants and C-Store brands use Olo to grow dig...

Summary: It's always a pleasure to speak to a grizzled veteran who has decades of experience leading hundreds of deals that have raised billions of dollars. Here to share that wisdom is Gregg Nabhan, Chairman of the America's Equity Capital Markets, as well as Managing Director of the Consumer and Retail team at Bank of America. Gregg is responsible for the origination, IPO valuation, structuring,...

Summary A growing number of food companies are investing in sustainable product development, but only a handful are really getting it right. Joining me to talk about doing sustainability successfully is Joe Ennen. Joe is CEO and a director at SunOpta, which trades under the symbol S T K L. The company sources, processes, and produces organic, natural, and non-GMO plant and fruit-based food and bev...

Summary In an industry that's seen incredible growth in the last few years, lots of Saas companies are exploding. But Saas software vendor AvePoint was on the scene long before the industry took off, and their strategic vision of the cloud's potential has helped secure their own extraordinary long-term growth. Back in March we chatted with AvePoint's Chief Brand Officer, Dux Raymond Sy about build...

Summary: Private markets investment is a giant field, and finding a unique place in the business isn’t easy. But when you pay close attention to timing, the needs and wants of your clients, and building a solid team, you can make a definitive mark in the industry.  Joining me to talk about how that's done is Scott Hart, CEO of StepStone Group, a private markets investment firm. Since its founding...

Summary: In an ever-changing market, consistent communication and messaging is essential to building up stakeholder trust. Corporate access is key when it comes to developing relationships between companies and investors, but access strategy can be difficult to navigate without the right experience.  Joining me on this episode of ICR Industry Reports is Meaghan Montegari, Managing Director and Hea...

Summary: In today's knowledge-based economy, your intellectual property is your competitive advantage and it needs to be protected.  My guest this week is John Mancini, partner at Mayer Brown and a member of the firm's global intellectual property practice, which was named IP practice group of the year in 2017 and 2020 by Law360.  John's practice focuses on litigating copyright, trademark, trade s...

Summary: Given the legal complexity of just about every aspect of running a company, lawyers are nearly ubiquitous in the corporate world. So, it should come as no surprise that a lifetime in corporate law amounts to an incredible wealth of knowledge and insight that can extend a lawyer's value far beyond just providing legal advice. My guest this week is Henry Nassau, CEO of global law firm, Dech...

Summary: My guest this week is co-founder and president of Zenger Folkman, a leadership development consultancy, Joe Folkman. For more than 30 years, Joe has been assessing and studying top leaders in a variety of industries and is a world-renowned psychometrician and leadership development expert. If you're not familiar with his unusual job title, a psychometrician creates psychological tests to...

Summary: According to recent surveys, 43% of Americans expect to add to their debt in the next six months in order to make ends meet. Most will use credit card debt to bridge the gap, but high interest rates could see this put the financial futures of many Americans at risk. Innovative solutions to help manage that debt can make all the difference. Today's guest is Scott Sanborn, CEO of LendingClu...

Summary:   While gyms were closed, and most of the population was stuck at home during the pandemic, the home exercise equipment category saw a huge boom in sales. With this came increased consumer appetite for connectivity and consolidation of their fitness experience across all the products in their home gyms. Today's guest is Jim Barr, CEO of the iconic fitness brand Nautilus Inc. Also falling...

Summary: Tech companies are having to work harder than ever to prove their resilience in an increasingly noisy market. For investors, the pandemic has highlighted the need for sustained growth and detailed future planning when choosing where to put their capital, and communicating these avenues of value to investors needs to be a part of every company's core strategy.  Joining me today on this epi...

Summary: The 'Fountain of Youth' was first mentioned in the writings of Herodotus in the 5th century BC. The world may have changed a lot since the Ancient Greeks, but our desire to look better, look younger, has not. Fast forward to today, Tiktok "beauty hacks" and YouTube videos promising to help us "look younger in seconds" flood the internet. The human obsession with youth and beauty has been...

Summary: Testing the population is a vital step in the pursuit of disease control. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the biotech industry was challenged to rapidly adapt and produce safe, effective testing at an almost unimaginable scale, businesses were forced to adapt and re-think the way diagnostic tests are designed, distributed, and safely conducted in order to keep up with demand.  Today's...