Absolute Return Podcast

On today’s podcast we welcome special guests, Altus Power Co-CEOs 

Gregg Felton and Lars Norell. Altus Power is a market-leading clean electrification company focused on solar power.

On the show, Gregg and Lars discuss:

-The major skills and resources gained in law and investment banking that gave them the confidence to start Altus

-The company’s current portfolio assets and growth pipeline

-The macro thesis behind clean electrification

-Why CBRE holdings was an ideal merger partner in going public

-And more

On today’s podcast we welcome special guest, IronNet’s co-CEO Bill Welch. IronNet is an innovative leader transforming cybersecurity through Collective Defense.

On the show, Bill discusses:

- How cyber threats have evolved over the past 20 years

- What CTOs and executives should be concerned about regarding their company’s network security

- What he learned from their recent going-public process

- Key drivers of IronNet’s forecast 78% revenue CAGR

- And more

On today’s podcast we welcome special guest, BBQGuys CEO Russ Wheeler. BBQGuys is a leading specialty e-commerce platform for higher-end BBQ grills, grilling accessories and outdoor living products for both homeowners and professional builders.

On the show, Russ discusses:

-How the business evolved from a single brick-and-mortar store back in 1998

-BBQGuys’ competitive advantage and omnichannel strategy

-How the legendary football family, the Mannings, are involved in the company

-Key growth initiatives to drive a forecast 26% revenue CAGR

-And more

On today’s podcast we welcome the Co-Founder and CEO of Embark Trucks, Alex Rodrigues. Embark is a leading developer of autonomous software technology for the trucking industry.

On the show, Alex discusses:

-What it was like to drop out of university to become a Thiel Fellow

-Embark’s self-driving technology and their value proposition to customers

-Insights into the $4.55 billion merger with Northern Genesis Acquisition II

-How they get investors comfortable with a pre-revenue stage company

-And more

On today’s podcast we welcome special guest John Carrington. John is the CEO of Stem, the market leader in AI-driven clean energy storage systems.

On the show, John discusses:

- How Stem’s business has evolved in the 8 years since he joined

- The competitive landscape and what makes Stem the market leader

- Insights into the recent going-public process

- ESG, AI and the company’s growth opportunities

- And more

On today’s podcast we welcome special guest, Vacasa CEO Matt Roberts. Vacasa is the leading vacation rental management platform in North America and it just announced a $3.75 billion going public transaction.

On the show, Matt discusses:

- Vacasa’s business model and how it differs from Airbnb

- Its value proposition and why customers would choose Vacasa

- Insights into Vacasa’s merger with TPG Pace Solutions

- The investment case for the stock

- And more

On today’s podcast we welcome special guests Victoria Grace, Founder and CEO of Queen’s Gambit, and Youssef Salem, CFO of Swvl. Queen’s Gambit is a sustainability-focused SPAC that announced a $1.13 billion merger with Swvl, a Dubai-based provider of transformative mass transit and shared mobility solutions.

On the show, Victoria and Youssef discuss:

- The founding of Queen’s Gambit and whether Victoria is a fan of the Netflix series or chess

- How Swvl differentiates itself from Uber / Careem or other competitors in the marketplace

- Some of the key drivers that investors should be aware of for Swvl

- And more

On today’s podcast we welcome special guests Sean Harper, Co-founder and CEO of Kin, and Matt Higgins, Chairman and CEO of Omnichannel Acquisition. Kin Insurance is an insurance technology company that makes home insurance easy and affordable. It recently announced a $1 billion merger with Omnichannel Acquisition.

On the show, Sean and Matt discuss:

- The thesis behind the founding of Kin

- Kin’s value proposition, competitors, and why DTC is a fundamentally better insurance model

- How the merger between Kin and Omnichannel came together

- Why investors should consider Kin stock

- And more

 On today’s show, we welcome special guest Peter Chapman, CEO of IonQ. IonQ is a leader in quantum computing and just announced that it is going public in a deal worth $1.4 billion. 

On the podcast, Peter discusses:

- Starting out in MIT’s artificial intelligence lab at 16 and why he pursued technology

- The basics of quantum computing

- How IonQ is different from other quantum computing competitors

- Some of the risks that quantum computing presents

- The company’s strategy behind going public through a merger with dMY Technology Group III and its growth plans

- And more

On today’s podcast, we welcome special guest Will Marshall, CEO of Planet Labs. Planet Labs is a leading provider of daily data and insights about the Earth and is currently going public at a $2.25 billion enterprise value.

On the show, Will discusses:

- His background at NASA and some important missions they accomplished

- How Planet plans to become the “Bloomberg Terminal for Earth data”

- Planet’s business model and competitive advantages in the marketplace

- What made dMY Technology the right merger partner

- And more