WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - April 1st, 2022 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:05.400 This is Bloomberg Business Week Inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.160 global business, finance and tech news as it happens. Bloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messier and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.920 Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, everyone, Welcome to the weekend 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.280 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. The war in Ukraine remaining 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:29.360 atop the headlines, with the humanitarian and economic costs still 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.240 on the rise, and as Russia's economy gets driven further 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:35.519 into isolation, some investors think they may be able to 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.360 capitalize on the carnage. That's the subject of our international 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.159 cover story. Also ahead on our broadcast will explore the 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.000 most important link in the U S. Pharmaceutical supply chain 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.680 and here's a hint, it is not China. We've also 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:52.199 got an unlikely comeback story from America's Postmaster General. Plus 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.800 NBA star Chris Paul's Financial Playbook will take you behind 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:58.840 the scenes with the kings of fast casual dining. Carol 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.480 goes one on one with the CEO of Chipotle Mexican 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:03.560 grow It's a pack couple of hours. All of that 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.600 to come. We begin though with our editors roundtable this 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:11.080 week's international cover of Bloomberg business Week magazine. It's also 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.360 I gotta say, check out the image. It's quite a 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.880 cover image. The story it is about the financial vultures 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.720 tapping into what maybe the opportunity of a lifetime. Bloomberg 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.679 Business Week Editor at Large Eric Shatzker wrote the piece. 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.720 He and Bloomberg Business Week editor Joel Webber help us 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:30.600 break down a case study and distressed investing that's playing 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.840 out in real time. Bosses everywhere, We'll love this one. 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.520 This is why returned to office policies exist. Eric and 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.120 I were just brainstorming while we were both in the office, 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:42.839 and I was like, look like, I think the big 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:47.240 question that everyone's wondering is like, who's buying Russian debt? 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.000 Because that is could be viewed as toxic. A lot 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:53.000 of people feel that way, just want nothing to do 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:56.040 with it, and yet it also could become a major 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:00.160 buying opportunity. Uh. And that led Eric to make some calls, 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.800 and what he found was that lo and behold, maybe 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.400 some of the usual suspects were actually doing just that. 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.520 So so Eric quit, what does this strategy look like? 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.200 And talk about the morality side of it, because a 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.560 lot of people just don't want to go there. Oh yes, uh, well, 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.520 let's set aside the morality for a second and begin, 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:21.880 as you say, with the strategy. There's two ways of 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.160 thinking about Russian debt. You can either buy the Russian 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:28.120 sovereign debt, which your bonds issued by the Russian Federation, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.639 or you can buy Russian corporate debt. Now, sovereign debt 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:35.720 has been trading at a big discount. Initially was trading 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.920 at twenty cents on the dollar. In some cases you 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:42.440 could get a yield north of seventy pretty extraordinary even 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.200 in the distressed world, and corporate debt was trading in 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.440 the same neighborhood. Now, one of the reasons the Russian 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.720 debt was trading in such a discount is that some people, 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.000 some very notable people. In fact, I thought that Russia 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.080 was going to default on interest payments as early as 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:58.600 the middle of March, and it hasn't defaulted. In fact, 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.760 Russia made the interest payments, those bonds have re rated, 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.760 and anyone who bought in that early. Again, we're talking 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:07.960 about the sovereign debt has made out at least on 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.400 paper like a bandit. So far um the other opportunities 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.000 I say, was corporate debt. You could buy Russian corporate 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:17.400 bonds also trading at a huge discount, to part with 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.160 high yields and hope that you get paid back there 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:24.200 as well. Now this is where the moral quandary enters. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:27.519 The equation if you're buying Russian sovereign debt, even though 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.280 U S sanctions and European sanctions allow you to do so, 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:36.280 are you tacitly supporting Putin's war in Ukraine. Many people 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.040 think that that is the case, which is why even 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:42.480 the most adventurous distress debt investors have instead opted for 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.520 the corporate debt. Why because it's a little further away 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:50.160 from Putin himself, and also because in theory, there are 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:54.119 better recovery opportunities if these companies default, which is to say, 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.160 stop making interest in principal payments. Some of these bonds 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.320 are governed by British law. For example, they were issued 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.360 in the Netherlands, and you could go to court and 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.720 you might actually win control over some of these companies. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.480 Assets outside the Russian Federation could be in Spain, could 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.760 be in Italy, could be in the United States, even, 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.440 which is the case with Luke Oil, one of the 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:20.200 bonds that these distressed debt investors have been buying. Many 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:23.200 Americans are familiar with Luke Oil gas stations. Luke Oil 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.920 has assets here, so if you made a case against 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:31.760 that company under those circumstances as a creditor, you might 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.920 actually win those assets. Pretty remarkable. Hey, take a step back. 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.440 I'm always thinking about the conversations you had initially as 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.760 you worked on this story, and how many people sa, 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:41.400 I will talk to you, but you gotta keep my 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.200 name out of it. This is so interesting, right, Distressed 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.400 debt is a funky business to start with, because these 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:52.279 investors are buying toxic Yes, yes, yes, they have acquired 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:56.279 that Moniker. They're buying toxic securities. And particularly if you're 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.479 operating in distressed sovereign debt whish to say, government debt, 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:03.120 often emerging markets, you find yourself in the middle of 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:07.800 things like humanitarian crises or negotiating with dictators, and that 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.480 is not a suit that many people find that comfortable 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.640 to begin with. Russia is a different story altogether, because 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:18.480 this is war. There's human tragedy, there are people dying, bodies, 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.560 you know, in the streets, maternity wards being bombed out. 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:27.680 We've seen these images on television and for those reasons, um, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.680 there's much more reputational risk, let's say, involved with the 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.760 Russian debt even than there is in things like Venezuelan debt. 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:40.839 And so some investors who have participated in distressed opportunities 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.119 like Venezuela won't even go near Russia. And I find 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.359 that quite fascinating. Not only won't those people go near it, 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:49.440 but the people who are buying. And I did talk 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:51.360 to a number of hedge funds that have been buying 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.440 Russian corporate debt. Again we're not talking about the sovereign debt. 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:58.440 They won't even admit to doing that publicly because of 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.720 the risk of approbe realm and the fact that many 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:05.440 of their clients, pension funds, have asked them not to 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.039 buy any Russian debt, in fact, a divest of all 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.159 Russian assets. And what are some of them doing. They're 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.720 turning around to those clients and saying, I'm not going 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.800 to fire you as a client, but I'm going to 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.320 have to treat your funds differently, and I'm sorry, you're 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:22.640 just gonna get lower returns, which unfortunately is quite possibly true. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.920 That was Bloomberg Business Week Editor at Large Eric Shatzker, 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.400 along with the editor of the magazine, Joe Weber. More 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.400 from our editor's roundtable to come later this hour, including 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:35.280 our domestic cover story on NBA superstar Chris paul Up. Next, 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:37.680 find out who's really in control of our drug supply 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.400 chain and which virtual health platform received a major investment 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.960 from private equity heavyweights. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:07:00.520 This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Biz to this week 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.440 with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Spinovik from 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:08.080 Bloomberg Radio. A few years back, I was doing some 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.520 research Tim it. I really was schooled on how much 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.960 the global pharmaceutical industry relies on India for manufacturing and supplies. 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.560 Bloomberg News healthcare reporter and Edne writes about it in 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.640 this week's Solutions section. She and Business we get inriginal. 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.520 Webber explain why many Americans are likely unaware of their 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.800 primary drug source and our geopolitics factor in. There have 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:35.240 been several years or longer decades where you know, the 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:40.000 FDA as well as UM lawmakers have been talking about 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:44.320 China and India and how they supply active ingredients for 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.600 our drugs in kind of an equal way there they' 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.440 you know, the SBA has put out a little bit 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:53.560 of data m did not go nearly as deep as 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:57.680 uh the U S Pharmacopeia Group, but they you know, 0:07:57.720 --> 0:07:59.400 it made it look like they were they were a 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.000 little bit more equal footing far as far as providing 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.720 active ingredients go and um, you know that was what 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.160 surprised me. I mean, India's just by far has the 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.280 the you know a vast amount of the large factories, 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.120 um that are making these active ingredients that go into 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.440 the US market. So explain you know, in terms of 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.680 active ingredients, you know, this is what the core of 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.960 so many pharmaceuticals that maybe we take for granted. Yeah, 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.480 this is you know, the key material. This is the 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.720 key chemical that you need and your drug to to 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:36.160 make it work. So you know, if you're taking tile 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.199 and all um, you'll see you know, it's also called 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.280 a set aminicine, and that's the active ingredients because that's 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.440 what's actually making your headache go away or your pain 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:50.160 go away. There are inactive ingredients that go into it. 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:54.600 Um that may mostly probably bind it and and things 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.360 like that, or or help with an extended release if 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.760 that's the kind of drug it is. But the active 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.280 and median is basically what makes it work. And and 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.040 I'm curious, as you know, we're thinking about the geopolitical 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.679 backdrop that has suddenly emerged in you know, the India's 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:16.320 um being more closely aligned than with Russia than maybe 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.240 a lot of people expected. Like how hard would it 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:22.520 be to bring the production of these active ingredients back 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.680 to the US. That is extremely difficult. Um. You know, 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.600 the the drugmakers don't really you know, they're they're perfectly 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.360 comfortable relying on India. It's it's cheap enough, you know, 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:38.080 where they want to go, and so incentivizing them to 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.959 come back in some way federal incentive helping props them 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.480 up with you know, expanding factories they may already have 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:49.520 here um is probably you know, one of the few 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.680 ways that that it's going to happen. But you know, 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:55.600 even then, when if a company decides to build a 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.400 factory here or expand something, it can take several years 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.440 to get that going. It's not just like flip the switch. 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.880 We had this you know, production line lying around it 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.640 has to be very specific to the type of drugs 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.880 they're trying to build in things like that. So, um, this, 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.520 this information that us from my copia has could help 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.920 push that effort a little bit. Um, given that you know, 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:20.040 it's everything is so concentrated there. Um, even when it 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.520 was split when people thought it might be split between 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:26.040 Indian and China a little more. Um. Not great for 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.920 a lot of reasons, but at least there might be 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:32.160 a little more diversity. This is showing that you know, 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.320 he's coming from one area and that even raises a 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.760 lot more eyebrows. Yeah, and a really startling figure in here. 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:41.840 Of the one drugs that Americans use the most, you write, 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.560 eighty three have no production source in the US for 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:48.079 their active ingredients. That's according to somebody, a senior researcher 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.600 at the Center for Analytics and Business Insights at WASH 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:54.240 you in St. Louis. So you mentioned potentially government involvement here, 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.120 Is that realistic for for us to think? Because I 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:58.480 I gotta tell you it, you know, two years into 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:00.640 this three almost three, you know, entering the third year 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.400 the pandemic, it does feel like this is, at least 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.280 on its surface, a national security issue, right and UM, 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:11.200 the Association for Accessible Medicines. They're the ones who are 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.520 the lobby group for the generics and and really the 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:17.199 drugs we're talking about here are generic drugs. UM. A 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.720 lot of the brand name drugs are going to Europe 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.000 and for their active ingredients. UM. They said they have 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.480 been in talked with the VIBE administration. UM. You know, 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.880 the administration has been looking at the supply chain of 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.480 a lot of different things given just what's happened during 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.800 the pandemic, and pharmaceuticals has been one of those. So 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.760 they are in talks. UM. Under the Trump administration, there 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:43.920 was some money that went to a company UM in Richmond, 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:46.959 Virginia to get kind of started, UM, so they could 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:50.680 try to make COVID drugs domestically. I'm called slow. But 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.000 you know, that's just one company. It's not the whole solution. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.560 Bloomberg's Anna Edney and Business Week editor Joel Webber with 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.400 us there. Now, though, we turn to another owner of 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.600 healthcare that's getting a lot of interest, carell for private equity. 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.480 We're talking about bright Line. The company provides virtual behavioral 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:09.439 health services to children and their families. It's now valued 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.400 at more than seven million dollars after raising a hundred 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:15.240 and five million from investors led by KKR that was 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.120 in its most recent funding round. Tim we caught up 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.480 with bright Line co founder and CEOA and we allen 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.720 talked about a lot, including the platform. We provide a 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.400 national solution for families that's an in network benefit that 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.680 means it's covered by insurance companies and we offer it 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.400 through employers so they can provide it there employees and 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.760 the children of those employees. There are three levels of care, 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.600 so we basically we meet families where they are. Some 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.240 families made this need a bit of self guided content 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:47.679 or exercises, digital exercises, their recommendations for how to support 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:51.000 their child. Some families need things that are more skill buildings. 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:53.680 So for example, example, a family that maybe has a 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.960 child that doesn't have a clinical level of anxiety that 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:00.360 it's anxious about taking their masks off at school, or 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.360 a child that doesn't have depression that is struggling with 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.920 maintaining a proper sleep schedule. Those things can become full 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.760 on clinical anxiety or depression if left unsupported. And so 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.120 for those things that are are lower lower in terms 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.880 of clinical scale, we provide coaching, which is real scale 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:22.800 building for children, adolescents, teams and parents and caregivers. And 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.360 for things that are truly in native a clinical service 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:30.359 or a diagnosis, we have a full care team, a therapists, 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:34.520 by chiatrists, speech language pathologists, and they work through evidence 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.560 based and measured clinical protocols. What about when it comes 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:41.760 to insurance and paying for this, and and how how 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:46.040 it compares to uh comparable services that are perhaps more 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.920 traditional in the sense of in person Absolutely well, I 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.760 think first I'll say, if you are speaking pediatric mental 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.120 health services in the United States, you're ten times likelier 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:58.440 to have to go out of network for those services 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.040 than primary care. The way it would be is that 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.000 the status quo in the country where that we just 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.960 didn't have pediatricians covered by insurance. It's kind of wild 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.360 imagine that, but that is the world that we've been in. 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.880 And so bright Line is the first national provider that 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:16.679 has network relationships with local insurance companies and local blues 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.720 plans as well as national insurance companies. And so a 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.200 family that goes to bright Line through their employer would 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.160 have in some cases for some services, no out of 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.880 pocket costs at all. In some cases they would just 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.400 be paying a deductible or a co pay for services, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:35.640 so it's a radically different affordability level for families. That 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.640 was Naomi Allen, she's co founder and CEO of bright Line. 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.440 Still ahead on Bloomberg Business Week, the software that many 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:44.360 of the world's biggest tech companies rely upon for customer engagement. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.520 Tim you used it, I've used it. Probably everybody who's 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:49.720 listening has used it. You know what we're talking about. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.440 It includes some well known tech billionaires among its backers. 0:14:52.480 --> 0:15:01.800 That's coming up next. This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from the 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.720 financial capital of the world, Bloomberg eleven Frio in New 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:10.240 York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.440 O six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.640 the country Sirius XM Chado one nine team, and around 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.760 the globe the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.800 This is Bloomberg Business Week, all right. So when you 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.520 talk with CEOs. In addition to labor worries, supply chain constraints, 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:32.520 and the overall volatility in our environment, one thing that's 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.000 off on top of mine is engaging and serving their 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.680 customers and tim that's where our next guest comes in. 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.480 Karen Peacock is CEO of the customer communications platform Intercom. 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:45.560 As you'll hear in a moment, her company has backing 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:47.960 from some of Silicon Valley's top leaders. And if you 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.120 do anything online, whether you know it or not, there's 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:55.040 a good chance that you've actually used intercom software. Intercom 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.760 is fundamentally the best way for companies to talk to 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.080 their customers. And so if you're on a website and 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:03.280 you see a chat bubble in the corner, that might 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.000 be intercom. If you're reaching out to a company and 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.280 you need strong support, if you're in a product with 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.560 a company and they are are reaching out to in 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:14.280 a real time, contextual way, there's a good chance of 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:19.200 that intercom. And we think of ourselves as an engagement os, 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:24.040 really helping companies convert customers, helping them engage their customers, 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:27.520 helping those customers be successful, and helping them support their customers. 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.000 And we work with about twenty five thousand, actually more 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:35.400 than five thousand companies, including folks like Amazon and Lastian, Lift, Shopify, 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.520 and more. Yeah, a lot of them. So talked about 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:39.720 the growth in your business and your and your client acquisition. 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.800 What kind of trends have you seen. You know, we 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.240 started as a startup selling the other startups and the 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.200 problems that we solve, exactly as you highlight of helping 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.920 companies engage customers connect with our customers. What we realize 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:55.320 is every company needs to care deeply about that, and 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.160 in fact, mid market and enterprise companies have even bigger 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.800 needs there. And so we've been steadily moving up market 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:03.560 and selling more and more to the bid market and 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.439 enterprise companies. And that's how we've ended up with with 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.480 new customers like Amazon, customers like Last Sean and Lift 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:11.640 and others. And we should just to be fair, you've 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:13.560 got some backing from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.600 Jack Dorsey, certainly well known names to our audience. Karen Um, 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.080 What is the best way to grow from selling to 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.000 other startups to selling to the big players that you 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.720 mentioned like Amazon and more like how is it? Is it? 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.120 Word of mouth? How does it work? Yeah? I think 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.600 it starts by having a real focus on customers and 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:34.240 spending time understanding what are the most important problems they're 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.159 they're trying to solve and helping them do that, and 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.200 helping them do that in a way that's not ten better, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.240 but that three or four times better, ten times better 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.560 than what they've done in the past. And that really 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.160 comes down to having a great product and a great 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.320 UM customer oriented mindset to make sure that they're getting 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:54.760 all the value that they can. Well, you mentioned and 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:59.040 counting customers, and you said, you know, whether it's Amazon, Shopify, 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.080 other smaller companies, mid sized companies, bigger companies, what is 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.000 it when you talk with these customers. What's top of 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.520 mind for your customers when it comes to their needs 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.600 for serving their own customers. Great question, and what they're 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.320 really looking for is a way to build a strong 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.320 relationship with their customers, to make it not just kind 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.000 of a one time transaction, but to really build trust 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.880 and to build that ongoing relationship which makes their customers 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:27.959 want to come back and buy more with them, do 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.000 more with them, makes them want to recommend UH that 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:33.760 company to other people. And that's part of our Our 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.280 real focus at Intercom is moving from a world where 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.000 companies in the past have just sent out tons and 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.760 tons of spam email. I'm sure you both get a 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:45.080 lot of that UM spam phone calls now, a lot 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.480 of uh spam direct mail, A lot of that I 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:49.720 personally don't even bring into my house. I just go 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.439 straight to the recycling there. And what we do, and 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.920 what companies are looking to typically do, is figure out 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:58.040 a more personal relationship with customers and reach out in 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.360 ways that really are good for the customer and good 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.199 for the company. Will explain that to me, because I do. 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.639 I'm at a point where, first of all, I'm tired 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:07.720 when I buy something that I automatically get a survey 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.720 and write my service and like I'm getting overwhelmed, like 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.640 I haven't even used it yet. And then and Tim 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:15.359 and I both looked at each other. It's like, man, 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.560 some of those bots they drive us crazy. I get 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.159 on a website and and they don't find them helps. 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.080 There was a joke that went around last week. It 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.320 was like closed the pop up that comes up if 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.480 you want to say fifty no, you don't need live 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.400 help and yes except the cookies, right, all the things 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:32.400 you have to do when you go and visit a website. Now, So, 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.919 how is this tell us about how it's evolving in 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:36.879 terms of some of the offerings that you have, UM 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.920 are that your clients are using YA. So what we've 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:44.040 really as is it getting better, more friendlier to customers, 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.399 getting more personalized, and more in contact. So rather than 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.959 a world where you have to just span people, we 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.359 believe that the best time could talk to someone or 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:56.239 engage them is when they're already thinking about you, not 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.400 when it's hours later or days later and they're trying 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.120 to do something to clear out their inbox. So right 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:04.840 after you've used the product, then asking and took the 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:07.280 question about how did you like it, what's working or not. 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:10.440 When you have a problem with something like a support need, 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:12.879 don't make the customer have to like hunt down a 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:16.119 phone number and weight on hold. Enable the customer to 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.800 to actually ask you the question right then and there 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.480 and figure out a way to get those questions answered 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.639 lightning fast. That was Karen Peacocks, CEO of software maker Intercom. 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.680 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up next, we'll 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.520 rejoin our editors round table and dive into our domestic 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:33.760 cover story. We're gonna get business lessons from one of 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.480 the NBA's best players. We're talking about Chris Paul. Turns 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.400 out he's also a prolific investor with a pretty good 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:43.640 mentor behind him. I'd say it's an unbelievable mentor behind him. Yeah, 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:45.320 you've definitely heard of him. Let's just say there's a 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.600 little magic there. Stick around to find out who's helping 0:20:48.640 --> 0:21:02.040 CP three with his playbook. This is Bloomberg. You're listening 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:06.160 to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.440 Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio tell me how to get 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:12.679 back to our editors round table With a look at 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:15.560 this week's domestic cover story of Bloomberg Business Week. It's 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:18.680 all about NBA superstar Chris Paul Well. The future Hall 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:21.760 of Fame point guard, is still chasing his first championship ring. 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.800 He's already earned more than three million dollars. That's just 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.919 playing in pro basketball all well putting together a business 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.600 empire off the court. Bloomberg Business Week contributor Arian Cohen 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.399 in Business Week getittor Joe Webber taking us inside CP 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:38.600 three's financial playbook. I just find it absolutely fascinating because 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.120 we we've watched different athletes be able to to turn 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:44.679 what they do on the core or on the field 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:47.840 into something that's far bigger that than that and goes 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:50.679 beyond the sport, right And I think Chris Paul is 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.040 sort of a current embodiment of that. The Phoenix Suns, 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:57.040 which he's the point guard of UM or the top 0:21:57.080 --> 0:22:00.560 seed in the NBA playoffs, that's the playoff, the postseason 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:02.879