Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders
In the increasingly crowded and competitive corporate and financial ecosystem, it’s harder than ever for companies to break through the clutter and be heard. The media, investors, agenda-driven influencers, even customers and competitors, are defining your business story on their terms. Therefore, it is imperative that companies take control and proactively drive the conversation with stakeholders in an effort to build & maintain equity value. In Welcome to the Arena from ICR, Co-Founder & CEO of ICR, Tom Ryan, interviews key business and financial players who influence the fate of public or aspiring public companies in the capital markets. As a former Wall Street Journal ranked sell-side equity analyst and the founder of one of the largest strategic communications firms in the world, Tom understands what it takes to navigate this complex environment. This is a forum for CEOs, CFOs, institutional investors, sell-side analysts, financial journalists, private equity professionals and other financial community participants to share their stories and give advice in an open and candid conversation. For more information, visit http://www.icrinc.com
Episodes
As 2025 comes to a close, Tom provides a recap of the biggest stories in business from the past year, talks about the value ICR continues to provide for clients, and looks ahead to what 2026 may have in store.
Happy new year!
For those who might be newer to the space, Digital Asset Treasuries, or 'DATs' for short, can be a good way to start investing in crypto. Not all of these treasuries do a great job of creating value for users, but today's company uses an innovative model that includes several different strategies for yield generation.
Patrick Horseman is the Chief Investment Officer at BNB Plus, a digital asset treasury company that tra...
In this country, health outcomes are too often dictated by your ZIP code, but one company is working very hard to fix those inequities.
Demond Martin, is the CEO and co-founder of WellWithAll, a health and wellness company dedicated to advancing health equity for underserved communities. Operating under ‘inclusive capitalism’, WellWithAll reinvests 20% of its profits into health initiatives tailored to specific communit...
This week, another trip down memory lane as we revisit an episode from April with Dan Galpern, the CEO of DanceOne, who's managed to harness the explosion of interest in dance, into a thriving global brand.
Summary:
We may not talk about them the same way we talk about basketball or baseball players, but make no mistake, dancers are elite athletes. Their training is intense, and the competition is fierce. And with Breakda...
This week we're once again dipping into the archive, and revisiting an episode we released in May with Adam Goldenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Fabletics. Adam has been an entrepreneur since the age of 16, and he shares what decades of experience have taught him about building a successful brand.
Summary:
When you're shopping for clothes, there's a checklist of things you look for: you want them to look and feel good, you wa...
Today, we're hopping back into the archive and revisiting an episode with Gerard Barron, the co-founder, CEO, and chairman of The Metals Company, who joined us to discuss the company’s plans to harvest critical metals off the sea floor.
Summary:
The Trump administration has made American reindustrialization a top priority, but to do that, the US is going to need access to an abundance of metals like copper, man...
Across the United States, discarded food too often ends up just rotting in landfills. But one company in California is harnessing the power of data to make sure those valuable nutrients don't go to waste.
Clemens Stockreiter is the Founder and CEO of RE:CIRCLE Solutions, a company transforming pre-consumer food byproducts into sustainable animal feed ingredients. He's spent more than two decades leading recycling and ci...
Please enjoy the second part of our conversation with Maja Vujinovic where we break down staking, the evolving crypto regulatory environment, and how the emergence of AI could influence blockchains.
Maja is the CEO of Digital Assets at FG Nexus, which trades under the symbol FGNX and specializes in ETH accumulation, yield generation and real-world asset tokenization. She's been a pioneer in financial innovation for nea...
If you hear words like 'crypto', 'Ethereum' and 'Blockchain' and feel confused, you're definitely not alone. Today, we're sitting down with someone who's been in crypto since long before it became the hot new thing, and getting her insight into how it works, and why it matters.
Maja Vujinovic is the CEO of Digital Assets at FG Nexus, which trades under the symbol FGNX and specializes in ETH accumulation, yield Generati...
It's officially fall, and that means we're deep into the MLB playoffs, and the NHL, NFL and NBA seasons are in full swing. With it being such an exciting time for professional sports, we thought it'd be an opportune moment to revisit an episode we recorded in April, where Doug Perlman, CEO of Sports Media Advisors, demystifies the complex process of negotiating league media rights. We hope you enjoy this fascinating look i...
This week, we're reaching back into the archive, and re-releasing an episode from back in May with Jereme Kent, the CEO of One Power Company. Given our recent episodes focusing on AI-driven enterprises, we thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode where Jereme discusses the need for a modernized grid to power those projects. Enjoy!
Summary:
The world has changed a lot in the last century, but it might surpris...
When you're running a large industrial operation, tracking all of the elements of your process to know where they are and what they're doing in real-time, can be a huge challenge. Today, we're spotlighting a company whose revolutionary platform can help solve that problem.
Ed Nabrotzky is the CEO and co-founder of Dot Ai, a company specializing in industrial asset intelligence solutions. Ed brings with him over 25 years of...
George Tomeski, CEO, Helfie.ai – Paging Dr. iPhone: Using AI to help you take control of your health
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 hop...
Summary:
Since the 1980s, beloved children's clothing brand Hanna Andersson has been delivery quality and durability to happy customers.
Now, Aimée Lapic leads the company as CEO and is using her deep experience in apparel, retail, and omnichannel marketing to turn the legacy brand into a digital powerhouse. Today, they're building on their long-standing strengths with innovative products and services designed to give fam...
When John O'Donnell founded Johnnie-O in 2005, his goal was to create a brand that combined East Coast prep with West Coast surf culture. 20 years later, you'll find their surfer logo in golf pro-shops and menswear stores across the country.
Today, John joins us to share his incredible journey from being a walk-on on the UCLA golf team to founding one of America's most iconic golf brands.
We get into the origins of J...
Issuing convertible derivatives can be a great way for companies to raise capital, but issuance can be complex and daunting. Today's guest, Syed "Raj" Imteaz, has made a career out of demystifying that process.
Raj is the head of ICR's Convertible and Equity Derivatives Advisory. During his career at ICR, Barclays and Lehman Brothers, he has worked on more than 200 convertible and equity derivatives transactions, totall...
Ziosk's pioneering pay-at-the-table solutions mean that customers at their partner restaurants are never stuck waiting for the bill. And now they're working to leverage their treasure trove of data to boost efficiency and improve customer experience, in ways that go far beyond payment.
Rhonda Levene is the CEO of Ziosk, a leading digital hospitality platform serving major restaurant brands such as Chili's, Texas Roadhouse,...
Summary:
a.k.a. Brands have seen incredible success bringing their digitally native brands into the physical marketplace. A big part of that success comes from their 'test and repeat' retail strategy, which allows them to gauge and adapt to consumer trends extremely quickly.
Ciaran Long has been serving as the CEO of a.k.a brands for more than two years. He was previously CFO at Samsclub.com, and held other leadership p...
Summary:
There are a lot of different brands fighting for market share in the "polished" segment of the restaurant industry. To stand out, you need to offer great food, at great value, in a great atmosphere. But above all, you need to make sure you have the right people at your side.
And if anyone knows the value of people, it's Steve Kislow, the CEO of Firebirds wood-fired Grills. Since joining the Firebirds team in 20...
It's been nearly a year since we sat down with Andy Goldberg, the CEO of PCH media, to discuss how the company has successfully navigated more than 40 years of shifts in the media industry. A lot has changed since we spoke, which in a way, makes this conversation all the more relevant. We hope you enjoy, and we'll be back with a fresh episode next week.
Summary:
Longevity in any business is something to celebrate, but when...
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