Venture Life Share Discussion Threads

[essentialinvestor] 11/3/2017 09:36

From an investment stance Tuesday with A50 may be interesting.

Nearing a possible inflexion point in GBP weakness, perhaps, if UK real estate is
weak again on Monday/Tuesday will be tempted to add further.

ULVR over £40, wow.

[redartbmud] 11/3/2017 09:17

APAD

Three minutes or so, but worth a listen. he makes several key points.

www.erevalue.com/interview-andrew-brode-non-executive-director-erevalue/

If the link fails, it is easy to find by googling Andre Brode.

red

[redartbmud] 11/3/2017 09:11

APAD

Should we run for the hills?
Is there a theme running through the posts that demonstrates poor leadership and management in a company where the culture is poor?
There are often disgruntled employees, for whatever reason, who can now use the internet as a tool to undermine the business. It may, or may not, be fair but goes largely unchecked.
Compare and contrast with Renishaw.

You would expect that RWS has undertaken due diligence, and knows something of the detailed background of a company that it is taking over
A long time ago, I worked for a fast growing software company, for a short time. The employees were highly skilled and hard working but 'off the wall geeks', in many instances. Most were happy, but there were a small number, who didn't fit, and made noises along similar lines. The founder had reached a point where he was stepping back and had relinquished considerable responsibility to a management team, a couple of whom I had no time for but they could do no wrong. There was some disharmony and I left after about a year.

One of the key factors that attracts me to growth companies is the quality of management. It is one of the reasons for attending AGM's and chatting to directors and staff. It is only a snapshot, but gives some clues.
Linhur considers that Andrew Brode is an excellent entrepreneur. So far, his business ventures have been very successful. There is plenty of information about him, written by well respected sources. I will have to consult to find out more and report back, after my Sunday evening briefing session.

red

[apad] 11/3/2017 08:13

ppps
2016?
L
LUZ, Inc.
Location
San Francisco, CA
Revenue
$25m
Total Funding
$–
Founded
1994
Headcount
180
Stage
private
Company Website
luz.com/
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/LUZ, Inc.

[apad] 11/3/2017 08:09

pps

Job: Senior Director, Account Management LUZ
APPLY

Posted: 2016-06-18

Job Status: Full Time

Job Type: Management - Mid-Level (Manager, Director)
Jobing Description

Position Description

The Senior Director, Account Management role is responsible for the baseline growth and sustainability of house accounts for LUZ.
On an ongoing basis, this individual will be responsible for the day to day management of the Account Managers and for maintaining his/her individual account portfolio. This position sits on the Senior Leadership team and is expected to work closely with fellow Senior Leadership colleagues in driving the company’s strategy.

Primary Objectives

Oversee LUZ’s annual account management portfolio as agreed upon with CEO, President and COO.

Manage individual account portfolio, focused on growing accounts with both base and stretch targets.
Provide leadership, clarity, vision and sets goals for the account management team, as well as on-going coaching to achieve stated goals.
Work with individual Account Managers to develop and establish account plans and strategies to grow the share of assigned client’s budget.
Responsible for retention of existing business and will run point on efforts to protect revenue.
For existing accounts, own MSAs and RFPs ensuring accuracy, with an eye on margin and profitability.
Partner with CEO to on-board new logo clients, as needed, and subsequent account ownership.
Work with COO to review legal contracts and SOWs for risk to ensure terms and conditions are properly managed.
Manage and prioritize all opportunities to enhance client relationships and accelerate the decision making process that will grow revenue through increased utilization and production partnership.
Demonstrate clear understanding of the sales process and product and service value propositions
Create effective presentations to prepare for and lead client pitches and meetings.
Provide marketplace surveillance on targeted key clients and monitor our competitive landscape providing updates to the Executive Team.
Work with Vice President, Production to ensure stated and agreed upon gross profitability margins.
Ensure target on-going client satisfaction levels are met via bi-annual satisfaction surveys.
Provide vocal leadership as a member of the Senior Leadership Team and during All Company meetings.
Manage Quarterly Account Reviews, identify and implement client action plans to achieve stated revenue targets.

Skills and Qualifications

10 or more years in localization management and production.

Ability to lead and manage remote teams
Possess knowledge of competitive services and markets
Excellent interpersonal and client services skills
Demonstrates ability to think creatively and analytically
Ability to dive deep into account plans while keeping a strategic lens on client relationships
Demonstrate service excellence to clients and internal stakeholders
Ability to travel frequently to client sites
Passionate, energetic, disciplined independent thinker with proven ability to retain a “seat at the table” while effectively engaging in forward-thinking discussions.
Strong familiarity with Microsoft Office Suite and Salesforce
Capable of conducting independent research in related markets
Comfortable dealing with and managing in a fluid, fast paced environment.
Possesses strong planning skills to keep the account management team focused on a set of strategic client objectives.
Excellent presentation and business writing skills.
Four-year degree; preferably in Finance, Marketing or Business. Masters or MBA a plus.

[apad] 11/3/2017 07:59

ps
New COO 9 months ago.

Joe Lugo

Chief Operating Officer

Joe Lugo has responsibility for LUZ’s day-to-day operations across all office locations, both in the US and abroad, with direct oversight of all departments. Joe focuses on ensuring that all departments are committed to the values of transparency, operational efficiency, and client satisfaction.

Joe brings to LUZ over 25 years of experience in finance and operations, having most recently served as COO at Saatchi & Saatchi, Naked Communications, and Interbrand. Throughout his career, Joe has been able to combine his strategic and financial expertise with operational insight to drive profitable results on both domestic and international scale.

Joe is a licensed CPA and holds an MBA in International Business from Pace University.

[apad] 11/3/2017 07:56

RWS is taking over LUZ, for which we have no idea about profitability.
US adventures are notoriously difficult (two nations divided by a single language).

LUZ has been going since 1994, founded by a couple of Arts graduates.
So, it has survivied.

Glassdoor suggests an exodus of experienced employees in 2016 (see below).
So, could this be the reason for the sale at this time?

apad

LUZ Glassdoor


"Previous management level employee"

Former Employee - Anonymous Employee


Recommends

Positive Outlook

Approves of CEO

Pros
High quality production processes, excellent people. Fun and engaging environment despite the tight deadlines inherent in the work. Excellent, proprietary workflow software is great for employees and customers.
Cons
Difficult work if you don't understand the life sciences space. Needs more training on customer base and industry. Tendency to burn out the food and strong PMs.
Advice to Management
Stay engaged to keep the best employees. Try not to burn out the strong PMs.

"Great environment with limited opportunities"

Current Employee - Anonymous Employee


Pros
A very good work environment with great people! Colleagues are supportive and friendly- Luz values every single employee very much.
Cons
Growth potential at LUZ is limited.
A lot of responsibilities are given, but your salary might not be as high as you expected



"Opportunity to learn quickly"

Former Employee - Project Coordinator in San Francisco, CA


Doesn't Recommend

Positive Outlook

Disapproves of CEO
I worked at LUZ full-time (More than a year)
Pros
I had a great opportunity to learn a lot while I was working at LUZ. There is an emphasis on teams, so that's also good.
Cons
The company can be immature and move frustratingly slowly.


"Great founders who care genuinely and smart employees who are proud to be part of the team."

Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA


Approves of CEO
I have been working at LUZ full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
Co-founders who care and listen to employees' concerns. The company is growing and subsequently there are growing pains, but the co-founders are attentive to these pains and wisely adjusting their targets often to maintain a reasonably healthy work environment while delivering high quality work on time.
Cons
Once in a while there seems to be signs of following business practices from other larger language service providers whose sole focus was the bottom line.
Limited career growth opportunities.
Advice to Management
Be mindful and cautious about following business practices from other larger LSPs as it can threaten the culture and values of LUZ that we love.
Create more opportunities for upward mobility for employees.



"Two steps forward, two steps back"

Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA


Doesn't Recommend

Neutral Outlook

Disapproves of CEO
I worked at LUZ full-time
Pros
- Excellent benefits, including a generous holiday offering as well as progressive PTO, 401k matching, and a plethora of health insurance options.
- The people. Everyone who is down in the weeds just gets it, and regardless of the amount of work or the level of stress, there's a real sense of camaraderie.
- It may have changed by now, but there was always an opportunity to challenge yourself with new opportunit… Show More
Cons
- A very large amount of senior and seasoned employees left within a short timespan, taking years of knowledge with them. Management just seemed to shrug and hold the door for them instead of trying to understand why a mass exodus took place.
- The emphasis on promoting from within is a lovely idea, but it's not necessarily based on the best candidate for the job.
- The pay is rather abysmal for anyone working … Show More
Advice to Management
Figure out a way to stop the employee hemorrhaging, and do it soon.
Promote from within when it's warranted, not when you feel like, and if you're hiring from outside make sure that person is going to be an effective member of the team no matter the title.
You're not a $50 million company yet, but you can be. Just stop trying to jump to the fifth tier when you're only at the second. A lot of people get lost tha… 



"Great place to start a career"

Former Employee - Business Unit Manager in Boston, MA


Recommends

Positive Outlook

Approves of CEO
I worked at LUZ full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
LUZ is a very well run private company with a focus of providing quality service to its client as well as taking care of its employees. Executive team members are very accessible and helpful. Most employees are very professional. It has a great team atmosphere.
Cons
The company is growing rapidly and there are constant changes to its strategy to make sure it is on the right track. Some people may find there are frequent changes, but those are for the good of the company and often times, for the good of the employees.



"Worked there a year- good people poor vision."

Former Employee - Manager in San Francisco, CA


Neutral Outlook

Disapproves of CEO
I worked at LUZ full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Good production process most of the good management left. Daily good presence in the market. Good production team- almost too good to be there the way they are treated.
Cons
Huge disconnect in vision between the co-founders and CEO. CEO was spot on but co founders lacked operational maturity. Overall strategy was a continuous moving target. Every time traction was starting they changed focus. I hope clients don't realize this and for those considering employment be aware there is no loyalty. You will be viewed as disposable.
Advice to Management
Co-founders need to really mature- don't hire a CEO and others to create vision and execute a strategy and then tie their hands behind their backs and expect the results you would like to achieve.


"The little engine that can't..."

Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in South San Francisco, CA


Doesn't Recommend

Negative Outlook
I have been working at LUZ full-time
Pros
Very smart people, great work/life balance, open-door policy, management is very supportive and complementary, extensive amount of resources and tools help you to succeed. A high-quality product.
Cons
A genuine disapproval of upper management that has led to a recent mass exodus from the company. Completely unrealistic growth goals and lack of true industry differentiation. A very compartmentalized organization where nobody really knows what's going on. Ever changing policies and procedures.
Advice to Management
You've got the potential to be a great organization, but those in power need to step back, put their pride aside and realize that things are simply not working! Great companies change with the times, those that don't are left in the dust. Until your employees are completely happy and every department is transparently aligned, future success will be merely a pipe dream. Engage and solicit honest feedback from all empl… 



"Good place to work, but limited growth potential"

Former Employee - Associate Project Manager in San Francisco, CA


Recommends

Positive Outlook
I worked at LUZ full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
One of LUZ's goals is to the best place to work in the industry. Although it has lately moved a little away from that end, placing more of an emphasis on sales and growth, it is still a very good place to work: management is reasonable in its demands, employees are friendly, and the overall atmosphere is casual but professional.

LUZ is extremely good at hiring the right people. 90% of hires are talented, motiv… Show More
Cons
Plain and simple, LUZ is a penny-pincher. Good workers can expect regular raises in the 1 - 3% range. Getting promoted from Project Coordinator to Associate Project Manager took me from $42K to $46K; not a huge addition to an already very low San Francisco salary.

;Growth potential at LUZ is limited. Mediocre employees can expect to keep doing the same thing month after month, year after year, while no distinct… ;Show More
Advice to Management
While you're doing a great job hiring and training new talent, more needs to be done to retain top talent, especially production staff (it's become a trend for top project managers to leave within a year or two of joining LUZ). While growth is great, don't lose your focus on what made you succeed in the first place: a commitment to delivering the highest quality life science translations and a desire to be the best p… 



"Great company for growth opportunities and fairness"

Former Employee - Anonymous Employee


Recommends

Positive Outlook

Approves of CEO
I worked at LUZ full-time (More than 8 years)
Pros
The management team really cares about the quality of the product and the quality of the company.
They are open to ideas and there is always an opportunity to be heard if you think things can be done better.
The company believes in promoting from within, and there is always an opportunity to grow.
Compared to other translation companies, this is definitely a progressive and supportive environment, and employ… Show More
Cons
Company is going from being a small company (where the culture was based around the employees' personalities) to being a larger company (where personalities must fit into the culture). There are some growing pains associated with this.
Policies aren't always flushed out yet, so there are times when we have to "wing it", which can be frustrating.
PMs are given a lot of responsibility, which is a good thing, but … Show More
Advice to Management
Don't forget what made the company great up to now. You don't want to lose what made LUZ special in the first place at the expense of growth, otherwise it will become "just another" localization company.

[discodave4] 10/3/2017 22:45

Me?, never!..........just following your lead, SOU error a classic lesson that sometimes doing what you should never do can turn out to be the best thing you did.Dabbling with a spread bet on FXPO.......that's scary!, you would love it APAD :)DD

[apad] 10/3/2017 21:59

Dave, I think you like frightening me? A secret run by a knight!
apad

[redartbmud] 10/3/2017 21:21

Numis on behalf of RWS has placed 12.1m new Ordinary Shares at a price of 330 pence per share with new and existing investors.

Guess that answers the question.

red

[apad] 10/3/2017 21:06

From memory, it was 350p odd at the time of the placing.
It looks to be na interesting home for some of my ROR :-)
apad

[redartbmud] 10/3/2017 20:59

APAD

It does seem to be around the current bottom, where it consistently attracts buyers. The odd chance down to 328p occurs occasionally, but doesn't hang around for very long.
That gives me some confidence.

red

[apad] 10/3/2017 20:55

Good to know you have RWS, red.
The 330p placing is a sort of floor I suppose.
apad

[redartbmud] 10/3/2017 20:36

It looks like oil has turned to the dark side for now. Downside greater than upside and any rally likely to be short lived.
This will provide opportunities for the patient who aim to buy and hold, including me.
Happier with RDSB following divestment of much of the Canadian Oilsands.

APAD
I have been looking to add to my RWS, but I keep missing 328p which is achievable IMHO.

Maybe the whole market will soften in the near term. Granny Yellen and oil may assist.

red

[discodave4] 10/3/2017 20:04

APADRe:BURNot too wild IMO, not compared to oilers / miners!.What's not to like: H1 income +88%, Op profit +117%, profit after tax +123%. On last FY to 2015, op margin 78%, ROCE 12% (ok not brill), eps growth 42%, low debt, current peg 0.6, PE 28.Other positives: 94% of balance sheet denominated in $ and 100% of debt denominated in £.Major litigations include Peterson and VW. Also read a couple of days ago that a study undertaken by MIT identified that there will be 1,200 premature deaths as a result of the omissions cheating, so given there was over 0.5 million cars affected in the USA I imagine a lot more litigation is to come..........don't forget the Trump as well!.Woodford holds 10% as well. Ok the rise in share price may well mean that next weeks results are priced in but........you may like this APAD et al, this is directly from the BUR website:"Burford is pleased to be followed by a number of research analysts and we are grateful for their efforts to understand and explain our business. They perform a valuable role in assessing our operating performance, the evolution of the litigation finance market and interpreting other relevant industry developments. However, prospective investors and other market participants must appreciate that, due to the confidential, potentially privileged, long-term and uncertain nature of each investment asset, it is very difficult for research analysts to project accurately the likely investment income of the business. Any projections produced by research analysts are not produced on behalf of Burford and Burford takes no responsibility for such projections. As a result, prospective investors and other market participants should not treat, and Burford does not intend to treat, the financial projections produced by research analysts as indicative of the market's expectations of Burford's future financial performance. We specifically eschew any obligation to correct estimates made by financial analysts or to inform the market should we come to believe that our actual performance will diverge from those estimates."DD

[apad] 10/3/2017 17:16

Indeed, H!

RWS, I like this, a lot:
Reinhard K-H Ottway
Group Chief Executive
Appointed as a Director on 1 January 2012
Joined RWS in 1993, Group Business Development Director from 2001-2011

apad

[hydrus] 10/3/2017 17:06

Investors who have become loss making traders!Annoyed about TSTL - their recent statement was good and despite my concerns re sales visibility I thought about a top up - took too long and it's got away from me. RWS excellent high quality company, bit cyclical but not necessarily reason to not invest. Again almost pulled the trigger a couple of years back. There is a theme here.....

[apad] 10/3/2017 16:56

Traders vs investors I guess, H. Single company forums can be strange places. Mind you, your timing was excellent, I suppose there must be some folk who 'bought the peak'.
I stick to trying to understand the company and drops are an opportunity not a threat - if I am correct, of course (remember GDWN).

It'll be interesting to dig further into RWS now I have a first holding. I missed out on this one a long while ago, and seem to have gotten over it :-)

apad

[hydrus] 10/3/2017 16:35

G4M and PVG having what I'd describe as healthy falls recently. The panic on some forums when a share falls is amazing really particularly for G4M when it's gone up from £1 to £7 in a few short months - falls back to £5.50 and some investors think it means something's wrong with the company. I'd suggest it's inevitable!PVG Rns out some Director sales to institutions. They held 75% of the business now about 55%. Healthier position and improves liquidity.

[apad] 10/3/2017 16:24

GDWN really inform the shareholders (NOT).
apad

[apad] 10/3/2017 16:22

Crude Index down 9.4% on recent high.
apad

[essentialinvestor] 10/3/2017 16:15

Now that is interesting, oil heading lower again.


HSTN, bounce from the low, added quite a few under 1.17.

[redartbmud] 10/3/2017 14:37

APAD

"Goodwin PLC today announces its third quarter Interim Management Statement for the period 1st November 2016 to 31st January 2017.

The consolidated, abbreviated and unaudited income statement below for the nine months' trading ending 31st January 2017 shows revenue of £105.5 million (2016: £87.5 million ) and profit before taxation of £8.2 million (2016: £9.0 million ).

Whilst the turnover is up by 20.6%, the profitability has reduced by 8.5%, this being a feature of much fiercer competition for the lower level of orders being placed in the oil and gas industry.

The oil, gas and mining industry markets remain very quiet and the order input for the Group as a whole is 10% lower than that at the third quarter last year. The refractory engineering division companies both in the UK and overseas are still increasing sales volumes and profit.

Our focus remains on trying to improve cash flow and in handling the very significant currency swings that have resulted following the Brexit vote."

Sell was a good call.
The pain is ongoing in O&G and refractories are not filling the hole

red

[essentialinvestor] 10/3/2017 12:47

Thought we were in for may be a week of market weakness to shack out
some complacency, but not happening, any dips being bought back.