SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie Sees Plenty of 'Green Field' to Compete in 'Massive' Market
*By Chloe Aiello*
Despite tumbling shares post-earnings and the loss of a longtime executive, SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie is bullish on the future, saying independence from big tech backing could prove to be an advantage in an increasingly competitive market.
SurveyMonkey ($SVMK) is a subscription software as a service company that offers customizable surveys and a suite of back-end data analytics tools for individuals and enterprises. Its shares have been tumbling since it reported earnings in line with analyst expectations Wednesday evening. Lurie attributed the plunge to the expiration of SurveyMonkey's post IPO lock-up period.
"We had our lockup released today, so a lot of the shareholders who have accumulated stock over the last 19 years finally had a chance to sell it. I think if we deliver on the plan that we laid out for shareholders, our shares will perform just fine," Lurie said.
Concurrently with Wednesday earnings, SurveyMonkey announced that Chief Financial Officer Tim Maly will retire at the end of March.
Lurie told Cheddar he will serve as interim CFO, but is confident the company can absorb Maly's departure.
SurveyMonkey has had a volatile couple of months since its September IPO as it fights to compete in a crowded space with huge competitors like SAP-owned ($SAP)Qualtrics and Google ($GOOGL). But Lurie told Cheddar he sees independence from big technology companies as a strength for SurveyMonkey as it fights for customers.
Lurie noted that Qualtrics is now "owned by SAP, so you can imagine them steering deeper into SAP's customer base."
"That leaves a lot of green field for us to compete, especially for shops that are using Microsoft ($MSFT) software, Salesforce ($CRM) software," he added. "We see a massive category that can support several multi-billion dollar companies."
Distance from big tech companies might also help keep SurveyMonkey far from the data scandals that have plagued them in recent months.
"We have built the biggest canonical data set in the survey category with over 50 billion responses," Lurie said. "That data is our customers' data and we invest significant dollars to protect that data. Our business is really built on people paying for our products." He added that he [commends Europe's data protection regulation](https://cheddar.com/media/surveymonkey-ceo-says-gdpr-compliance-is-strength-in-a-crowded-market) for "raising the bar" for data security.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Kyle Jaeger, senior editor for Marijuana Moment, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why a stigma still exists for the cannabis industry in advertising and social media after NBC rejected Weedmaps' ad for the big game even though more states across the country are legalizing cannabis.
A bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) aims to tackle the spread of misinformation on social media platforms, as well as the addictive nature of the sites and negative mental health impacts they have on users. The 'Nudge Act' would require studies to find and compile potential interventions that platforms could use to encourage people to think before they share a post, or log off after spending too much time on an app. The FTC would create rules based on these findings, and hold the platforms accountable. But will it work? Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech, joins Closing Bell to discuss the bill, whether real results and regulations could come from it, and more.
We know that the Los Angeles Rams emerged as Super Bowl champions, but the crypto industry also came out a winner on Sunday with several notable companies getting airtime in primetime. However, Richard Smith, author of the Risk Rituals Newsletter, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the campaigns were a 'disappointment' and adds that crypto companies would be wiser spending their resources on creating value.
A.I.-based entertainment company, Deedub, recently raised
$20 million in a Series A round, led by Insight Partners. Deepdub uses A.I. technology to automate the dubbing process for foreign-language movies or TV shows, while using actors' original voices. The company says it can take just two to three minutes of data from an actor's voice and transform the voice into a different language. The funding comes as foreign-language films and shows like Netflix's 'Squid Game' have recently become more popular with audiences in the U.S. and around the world. Oz Krakowski, Chief Revenue Officer at Deepdub, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Energy Vault, the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II. Energy Vault develops sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions designed to advance the transition to a carbon free, resilient power grid. Robert Piconi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Vault, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to disucss.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
Alyson Wilson, VP of Brand Innovation at Alo Yoga, joins Cheddar News to discuss the yoga apparel company entering the metaverse and teaming up with Spring Studios for New York Fashion Week.
