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

AI coverage tends to skew pretty negative, with things like energy consumption and job losses dominating the headlines. Today, we're re-running an episode that spotlights the hopeful side of AI, and how one company is using it to help the millions of people around the world who lack access to adequate medical care.

Enjoy!

Summary:

In today's medical system, getting a proper diagnosis and course of treatment can take ages, with potentially disastrous consequences for your health. Today, we're spotlighting a company that's trying to change that paradigm, using the power of AI.  

George Tomeski is the CEO of Helfie.ai, a company whose platform will allow you to assess a whole host of health conditions using only your smartphone. And they hope to bring that ability to billions of people around the world who have historically lacked access to proper medical care.   

In this episode, we get into the fascinating origins of Helfie.ai, the company's groundbreaking tech, and George's thoughts on AI's evolving role in the healthcare sector.

Highlights:

• George's professional journey (2:18)
• Origin of Helfie.ai (3:32)
• The people healthcare is leaving behind (5:45)
• How Helfie.ai works (7:28)
• Working with healthcare orgs (9:53)
• Next steps after disease identification (10:58)
• Choosing which diseases to tackle (13:15)
• Building the algorithm (14:19)
• Partnerships (17:35)
• Helfia.ai funding (18:33)
• The leadership team (19:41)
• Thoughts on the future of AI in healthcare (20:49)
• What's on the horizon for Helfie.ai (24:10)

Links:

George's LinkedIn

Helfie.ai LinkedIn

Helfie.ai Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected].

When it comes to defense tech, it's not enough to design the best weapons systems, you need to be able to actually build them. Today's company is investing in the infrastructure that will restore American arms manufacturing capabilities, and preserve our advantage in a world that's becoming more dangerous.

 Our guest today is Joe Musselman, Founder and Managing Partner of Bravo Victor Venture Capital, a US-based early seed and series-A venture capital fund. Joe is accountable for the firm's strategic vision and day-to-day mission, and leads all teams at the firm, including capital, investment, portfolio, and fund operations.

Since 2019, Joe's invested in companies like Firestorm, Epsilon3, Havoc AI, and notable early breakouts like Anduril, and Figure AI. And importantly for our conversation today, he recently led investments into Union, a new energetics prime where he is Co-Founder and Chairman.

Today, Joe discusses his fascinating journey as a founder, how BVVC is enabling national security start-ups to scale effectively, and why winning the AI race will be crucial for the future of our country.

Highlights:

• Joe's journey (2:17)
• Why defense tech? (6:01)
• Fund in the field (8:26)
• Scaling national security startups (13:18)
• Union and the manufacturing advantage (19:01)
• The importance of AI (23:25)
• Why defense tech investments are crucial (27:29)

Links:

Joe Musselman LinkedIn

Joe Musselman LinkedIn

BVVC Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected]

Running a hotel can mean processing all sorts of guest transactions, from check-in, to spa treatments, to a martini in the lobby bar. One company promises to consolidate all of those transactions — and all of that customer data — onto one single platform.

Taylor Lauber is the CEO of Shift4 payments, which trades under the symbol FOUR. Taylor's been with the company since 2018 with prior roles including President and Chief Strategy Officer, he was also one of the company's first interns 25 years ago.

Taylor joins us to discuss Shift4's incredible growth over the last few years, how they differentiate themselves in the crowded payments industry, and their strategy for generating new revenue streams organically or through M&A.

Highlights:

• What is Shift4? (2:02)
• Shift4's Market Share (5:38)
• Brands within the brand (8:55)
• Taking over as CEO (10:26)
• Strategy for Organic Growth (11:49)
• M & A Strategy (13:58)
• Global Blue Acquisition (17:22)
• Stable Coin payment processing (20:18)
• Building cross-regional consistency (22:18)
• AI's evolving role in the business (23:47)
• Balancing growth and profitability (25:47)
• Exciting things ahead (27:41)

Links:

Taylor Lauber LinkedIn

Shift4 LinkedIn

Shift4 Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected]

 Heavy hitters like Larry Fink and Paul Atkins have said that tokenization is the future, but acquiring and managing tokenized assets can be a tall order for the average retail investor. Today's company is working to change that, with a unique strategy that provides value far beyond market exposure. 

Marco Santori is the Chief Executive Officer of Solmate, which trades under the symbol SLMT. Solmate is an institutional infrastructure company accelerating Solana’s growth, and giving investors exposure to Solana's native token, SOL.

Marco is a treasury company pioneer, launching the very first Altcoin treasury on Nasdaq, and he was a partner at Pantera Capital where he helped to structure some of the industry's best performing treasuries. Marco was also the Chief Legal Officer at Kraken, one of the world's largest digital asset exchanges, served as the President of Blockchain.com, and he was a partner at the law firm Cooley, where he led the firm's global fintech team.

Today, Marco joins us to explain how Solmate's infrastructure flywheel creates value, what makes Solana unique among blockchains, and how the emergence of digitized capital markets will impact the world of finance.

Highlights:

• Blockchain basics (2:22)
• What is Solana? (4:27)
• What sets Solmate apart (7:28)
• Infrastructure flywheel (11:08)
• Digital capital markets (13:31)
• Why the UAE? (15:42)
• Institutional readiness and blockchains (19:30)
• How will blockchains change finance? (21:17)
• Innovations in the works (24:53)
• Solmate's investment thesis (27:19)

Links:

Marco LinkedIn

Solmate LinkedIn

Solmate Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected]

The African American community has long been an under-appreciated and underserved segment in retail. One clothing retailer is tailoring their offerings to meet their specific needs, which has led to incredible brand loyalty, and huge profits.

Ken Seipel has served as Citi Trends CEO since November of 2024, and became the chairman of the Board of directors in April of 2025. Ken has extensive retail leadership experience, including serving as the CEO of West Marine from 2019 to 2021, and CEO of Gabriel Brothers from 2013 to 2017.

Ken joins us to talk about his storied career in retail, how Citi Trends is leveraging AI to make smarter decisions, and why he feels so confident in their future growth.

Highlights:

• Ken's retail journey (2:05)
• Turnaround experience (3:53)
• The Scale of Citi Trends (5:03)
• Off-price retail (6:35)
• Serving the African American community (7:21)
• Three-Tiered Product Strategy (10:08)
• The Citi Trends Turnaround (12:38)
• Leveraging AI (14:29)
• What's driving their recent success? (16:21)
• Gross Margin Expansion (19:35)
• Expansion Strategy (21:44)
• Focus for 2026 (24:46)

Links:

Ken Seipel LinkedIn

Citi Trends LinkedIn

Citi Trends Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected]

For most companies in the oil industry, drilling new wells is a major part of their business strategy. Today, we're highlighting a firm that's taking a very different tack.

Will Ulrich has served as co-CEO of Presidio Petroleum alongside his partner Chris Hammack, since founding the company in 2017. Presidio's mission is to generate the oil industry's best return on capital by delivering the industry's lowest operating expenses, highest profitability and best emissions profile — all without doing any drilling.

Today, Will shares Presidio's unique approach to value creation, their upcoming plan to go public via business combination, and the reasons why they're optimistic for the future.

Highlights:

• Founding Presidio (1:57)
• Going Public (4:45)
• The end of the 'Capital Intensive Shale Era' (7:06)
• Institutional Backing (8:58)
• Dividend (10:46)
• Private Equity (13:58)
• Reducing Operating Costs (17:21)
• Field Incentive Plan (20:55)
• Stable Well Production (22:30)
• Hedging (23:42)
• CapEx (25:43)
• Acquisition Strategy (27:23)
• 5-year Outlook (29:17)

Links:

Will Ulrich LinkedIn

Presidio LinkedIn

Presidio Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected].

For thousands of years, people in Eastern Europe have been drinking Kefir, a fermented dairy drink. Now, people around the world are waking up to its incredible health benefits, and for one US company, that presents a tremendous opportunity.

Julie Smolyansky is the CEO of Lifeway Foods. When she took over Lifeway in 2002 at just 27 years old, she became the youngest female CEO of a publicly traded company. Since then, Julie has propelled the business forward with innovative product development and marketing, bringing Kefir into the US mainstream.

Today, Julie joins us to recount the history of the company since it was founded by her father, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, back in 1986, and discusses the different market forces working in tandem to drive their recent success.

Highlights:

• History of Kefir (2:19)
• History of Lifeway (6:52)
• Behind Lifeway's recent success (9:44)
• Approach to Social Media and Marketing (13:43)
• GLP-1s (15:23)
• International Distribution (16:41)
• Goals for 2026 (20:19)
• The Lifeway Team (21:35)
• Brand Authenticity (23:02)
• What investors miss about Lifeway (24:37)

Links:

Julie Smolyansky LinkedIn

Lifeway LinkedIn

Lifeway Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected].

When a once-successful business falls on hard times, it can sometimes be hard for them to diagnose and fix the problem from within. Today's guest has built a career out of helping these businesses turn things around, and he's doing it again with one of America's premiere fitness brands.

Mark Goldston is the Executive Chairman of The Beachbody Company, which trades under the symbol BODI. Mark is one of the world's most respected turnaround executives, and has spent his career reviving some of the best known brands in the world, including Revlon, Reebok, and LA Gear to name a few. He is also a prolific inventor with 135 US and foreign patents to his name.

Today, Mark walks us through the history of The Beachbody Company, the issues he identified within the business, and how he and his team are working to right the ship. 

Highlights:

• Mark's Career (1:40)
• Symptoms of a struggling business (6:34)
• The Beachbody Company turnaround (10:12)
• Navigating a difficult retail environment (17:16)
• Brand Awareness (21:58)
• How GLP-1's are impacting the business (26:46)
• What are investors missing about Beachbody? (29:50)

Links:

Mark Goldston LinkedIn

The Beachbody Company LinkedIn

The Beachbody Company Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected].

After serving as CEO of ICR for nearly 30 years, Tom's role within the company is changing. Today, Tom sits down for a chat with his successor — the new CEO of ICR, Anton Nicholas. 

After joining ICR in 2012, Anton eventually came to run ICR's consumer practice, and was subsequently tasked with managing the entire communications division. He has over 25 years of communications and advisory experience, having served in several senior positions at leading US and International public relations firms. 

Anton joins us to discuss what sets ICR apart in the world of strategic communications, and how he aims to build on that legacy of excellence as he leads the company into the future. 

Highlights:

• What sets ICR apart? (1:55)
• StratComs (5:18)
• Why ICR services are critical for management (6:34)
• ICR Capital (9:09) 
• Services for Private Companies (12:04)
• Building Culture (14:48)
• Case Studies (16:47)
• Getting to know Anton (19:23)
• The benefit of ICR's network (20:35)
• ICR's 3-5 year outlook (23:34)

Links:

Anton Nicholas LinkedIn

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected].

Weight Watchers became one of the most trusted brands in weight-loss by emphasizing the importance of human connection. Now, medications like GLP-1's have completely changed the weight loss landscape, and Weight Watchers has adapted their platform and product offerings to meet the moment.

Tara Comonte became the President and CEO of Weight Watchers in February of 2025 after serving as a director since June of 2023. Tara has over two decades of executive leadership experience across corporate and digital strategy, technology, operations, and finance. That includes serving as CEO of Tomorrow Life Sciences, CFO of Shake Shack, Chief Financial and Business Affairs Officer at Getty Images, and CFO of McCann World Group, the world's largest marketing communications business.

Today, Tara takes us through a whirlwind year for Weight Watchers, and discusses her plans for reinvigorating the brand through innovation, while maintaining their emphasis on personal connections.

Highlights:

• History of Weight Watchers (2:15)
• Brand Positioning (6:50)
• Pharmaceutical Company Collaborations (10:03)
• Rebranding Weight Watchers (11:38)
• Product Innovations (13:25)
• Brand Partnerships (15:39)
• Marketing Strategy (17:50)
• Weight Watchers' B2B Strategy (20:48)
• Using AI and Maintaining Human Connection (22:34)
• Outlook for 2026 (24:35)

Links:

Tara Comonte LinkedIn

Weight Watchers LinkedIn

Weight Watchers Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, [email protected].