Telco stocks used to be Wall Street darlings, but in recent years have become stable dividend plays for grandpa investors. Can they return to their former glory? 

Today’s guest, Recurve Capital Founder Aaron Chan, has well-informed thoughts on what the industry needs to do to restore its shine. He’s at the forefront of investment strategies and market trends in telecom, and not surprisingly, he sees its future linked to the public cloud. 

Before you listen, it’s important to note that the thoughts Aaron shares in this podcast are his opinion, and do not constitute investment advice. Now, hit play to hear our conversation about: 

• What needs to happen to bring telco stocks back into the spotlight [04:02];
• The opportunity the metaverse presents for the industry [06:28]; 
• How the public cloud and hyperscalers can help telcos get back in the game [11:21];
• How Starlink changes the equation for the rural broadband market [15:37].

Listen now by clicking play above or subscribe through your favorite podcast platform—see the links in the right column above. You can find the transcript for this episode here.

Links and Resources

• Learn more about Recurve Capital.
• Hear more from Aaron on Greg Bryan’s TeleGeography Explains the Internet podcast.
• Want to read a book about creating outsized shareholder returns by taking calculated risks? Then pick up The Outsiders, by William Thorndike, which focuses on eight unconventional CEOs like John Malone of Liberty Media. He focused on generating cash flow, using leverage to create value, and investing in businesses with strong competitive advantages.
• I’m running a vertical SaaS enterprise software company called Totogi. In a nutshell, we’re trying to run this thing using the Rule of 40. Software is soooooo much easier than telco; maybe after reading about Rule of 40 some telco execs will want to join me?
• Aaron compared Elon Musk’s Starlink to The Avengers’ Thanos. Check out this video clip of Thanos snapping his fingers to destroy half the universe, so the other half could survive.

Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.

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The Telco in 20 podcast won a 2022 Platinum MarComm Award, a 2022 Gold Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast.  If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

This week’s guest

About Aaron Chan

Aaron Chan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Recurve Capital. He has 20 years of long/short investing experience. Prior to founding Recurve Capital, he spent more than six years at MIG Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund. Before MIG he was a Sector Manager at Facet Capital Management, where he oversaw investments in Media and Telecom sectors. From 2011 to 2013, he was a Portfolio Manager at QM Capital, and began his career at Criterion Capital Management, a long/short equity fund focused on Technology, Media and Telecom sectors. He earned his B.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 2004.

Podcast Credits

• Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Royston, TelcoDR
• Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
• Editor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing
• Editing: Andrew Condell
• Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio
• Music: Dyami Wilson