Business Breakdowns
· Matt Reustle, Geoff Collette
[00:00:00] S0: On valuation, there's a lot of different ways to look at insurance businesses, businesses that revolve around franchising. What's just the general approach from the market for valuing Goosehead, whether it's a certain metric or methodology that's used? [00:00:00] S1: My perspective on this may be somewhat limited relative to what the overall market assesses the business as, but it's really considering a range of outcomes in terms of the free cash flow per share that the business can generate over the long term. Assessing what that is informs judgment on valuation multiples that would be reasonable or not today or a few years out. I think that's the easiest way to think about it. There's not really tricky working capital dynamics that impact EBITDA to free cash flow conversion. A lot of that is pretty straightforward and so that's, I think, how it's generally approached. [00:00:00] S0: That makes sense and it's cleaner and more straightforward that way. So I can understand that. We close out these conversations with the lessons that you can pull away and this is an interesting business in an interesting market doing interesting things. What stands out the most to you in terms of a key lesson or lessons that you could take away from Goosehead?
· Matt Reustle, Geoff Collette
[00:00:00] S0: That makes sense and it's cleaner and more straightforward that way. So I can understand that. We close out these conversations with the lessons that you can pull away and this is an interesting business in an interesting market doing interesting things. What stands out the most to you in terms of a key lesson or lessons that you could take away from Goosehead? [00:00:00] S1: I love this question. I'll answer it in a personal way and start with the question itself. When it comes to the investment research process, will you be a detective or a newspaper reporter who gets an edge over dust-bound colleagues who don't solve crimes or break stories? Approaching your research and investment process with a beginner's mind and genuine gratitude toward those involved helps unlock insights and open doors, particularly in situations where an industry is evolving and technology is being brought to bear on the distribution of that product. I'd say there's an important thread of trust that can extend from a client to their investment manager and to portfolio company management teams that can make a material difference in driving outsized investment returns, returns that may be unattainable otherwise. Think of situations like when the stock became dislocated and the company was buying back shares. Was that a buying opportunity or was it not? And ultimately for me, the key lesson here is you find what you look for and doing the hard work yourself is really the shortcut.
· Geoff Collette, Matt Reustle
[00:00:00] S1: I love this question. I'll answer it in a personal way and start with the question itself. When it comes to the investment research process, will you be a detective or a newspaper reporter who gets an edge over dust-bound colleagues who don't solve crimes or break stories? Approaching your research and investment process with a beginner's mind and genuine gratitude toward those involved helps unlock insights and open doors, particularly in situations where an industry is evolving and technology is being brought to bear on the distribution of that product. I'd say there's an important thread of trust that can extend from a client to their investment manager and to portfolio company management teams that can make a material difference in driving outsized investment returns, returns that may be unattainable otherwise. Think of situations like when the stock became dislocated and the company was buying back shares. Was that a buying opportunity or was it not? And ultimately for me, the key lesson here is you find what you look for and doing the hard work yourself is really the shortcut. [00:00:00] S0: This has been a great conversation. I've learned a lot about the industry and about this business. Thank you very much for joining us, Geoff. [00:00:00] S1: Thank you, Matt.