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.
Florists are dreading weekend pickups for this year's Valentine's Day, which lands on a Monday. Christina Stembel, founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers joined Cheddar News to discuss the challenges presented by shortages caused by supply chain issues, lack of labor, and climate change and how her company is preparing for this year's holiday. “A Monday delivery is just really hard for small businesses like us," said Stembel. "Larger companies have the scale that some of the large transportation carriers will provide a Sunday pick up for Monday delivery, but for small companies like us, that's not an option. So we have to try to convince people to order early."
Americans placing bets on the Super Bowl is expected to reach a record high due to multiple states legalizing sports gambling. Hana Ostapchuk, the host of Cheddar Bets, joined Baker Machado on Between Bells to discuss the action on the Big Game.
Chipotle posted its quarterly report showing a beat on earnings and revenue. The restaurant chain was able to stay ahead of inflation by raising prices and noted digital sales made up more than 40 percent of overall sales.
trivago reported its last earnings of 2021 yesterday, marking the end of a rollercoaster year. The online hotel search site was forced to cut costs during the pandemic as the travel industry shut down entirely, instead pivoting its strategy to meet customer demand in other ways. Matthias Tillmann, CFO of trivago, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's results and why he's optimistic about the future of the travel industry in 2022.
PLAY, a low-cost airline headquartered in Iceland, is expanding service to New York Stewart International Airport, marking its third destination in the United States. PLAY is the latest affordable carrier to fly onto the scene, debuting its first flights a little more than six months ago. Birgir Jonsson, CEO of PLAY, joined Cheddar to discuss what this expansion means for the airline and what it's been like to lead a new airline during a pandemic. "For us to get into the market now, have the availability of great, brand new aircraft at historically low prices, and basically being able to secure a low operating cost base for the future is a completely rare opportunity," Jonsson said. "We can get into the market now when our competitors are also weak."
