Markel Group Conversations "CEO Panel" from 2023 Reunion featuring Tom Gayner and Julie Laulis
What is a reunion? Each year we gather with shareholders, associates, and friends of Markel Group to network, exchange ideas,Β ...
Chairwoman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Cable One
Search every verified Julia Laulis interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Julia Laulis, Chairwoman, President and CEO of Cable One, described the company as focused on broadband and internet service under its consumer brand Sparklight, rather than as a cable company. In a podcast interview, she addressed competition, stating that fixed wireless service from other providers covers less than 35 percent of Cable One's footprint, and she expressed the view that fixed wireless is not a long-term competitive threat unless strategies change. Laulis also said that fiber overbuild competition is not new and that in some overbuilt markets the company has grown penetration and average revenue per unit. She characterized Cable One's pricing as customer-driven and value-based, noting that higher ARPU results from customers voluntarily choosing faster speeds and more data. At a Markel Group event, Laulis discussed Cable One's operating philosophy, which she described as "happy Associates ensure satisfied customers, which in turn brings about a long-term profitable business." She said the company does not issue quarterly guidance or estimates to avoid artificial pressure to prioritize short-term results. Laulis also noted that the company has terminated employees who achieved strong results but violated company values. She described Cable One as "the land of second chances" and said mistakes are necessary for taking smart risks. Laulis emphasized that growth is a byproduct of doing the right things, not an objective in itself)Skip
“I think it goes to what Tom said which is actually Cable One's very first value which is do right by those we serve and in slang we just say do the right thing. If you have set about an operating philosophy which for us is that happy Associates ensure satisfied customers, which in turn brings about a long-term profitab...”
“For us stewarding public companies we don't issue guidance or quarterly estimates or things of that nature such that we don't have that artificial pressure to do something that would make a number this quarter as opposed to the thought of what would be the best thing for the business to do over time.”
“We have something called an angel day and we do many charitable things throughout the year but each person that might be as part of a group but each person can choose something that's very personal to them and take the day off and get paid for it to go and do that. When they come back and tell you what they did at Phoe...”
“I have found especially of late that it's been a real joy to have a team that's made up of tenured Cable One people in the vein of coming from The Washington Post company and brand new people and it creates tension because the new people don't understand our history and the context and it's so important to us and so we...”
“How you do something is more important than what you do. I've absolutely terminated folks who had great results but how they achieved them was not in accordance with our values and they were probably a little shocked but look at my results but you harmed people in the process and we say that's our first value so you ca...”
“We don't issue guidance or quarterly estimates or things of that nature such that we don't have that artificial pressure to do something that would make a number this quarter as opposed to the thought of what would be the best thing for the business to do over time.”
“If this was your business and it was the only business you and your family were ever going to own, so there's no possibility of selling or quitting or whatnot but you're stuck with this, what would you do? And then I shut up and I wait for them to answer. They think about that and they typically have an answer and 99.4...”
“We don't live in a world where growth is our objective. Growth is what happens because we do the things that we're supposed to do. It's a byproduct.”
“Cable One is the land of second chances, often third chances, because people are going to make mistakes. This is a place where I think our organization could push the edges a little bit further. Mistakes are necessary; if you're not making mistakes, you're not taking enough risk. Not crazy risk, but some smart risks.”
“You do it in multiple ways. You get your Communications people involved. When you walk off the elevators at Cable One you'll see 10 foot by 4 foot signs that tell you our purpose which is to connect communities to the things that matter most and then it has our values. I do Friday videos with our people reminding them...”
“We don't even consider ourselves a cable company even though that's in our parent name; we're branded to our consumers as Sparklight because we focus on broadband, on internet service to our consumers.”
“Fixed Wireless is really targeting places where they have lots of excess spectrum, mostly rural cities, but less than 35 percent of our footprint is covered by their unlimited service, so 65 percent of our people can't even get it.”
“We have been using fixed wireless to fill in the donut holes in our coverage, investing in companies like Nextlink and Whisper, which serve rural areas with fixed wireless but build fiber once density increases.”
“Data usage has grown at a 26% CAGR over five years, with about a fifth of our customers using over a terabyte of data monthly, which fixed wireless cannot reliably support.”
“We believe fixed wireless is not a long-term play unless strategies change; some major players like AT&T have said it's not profitable and are not focusing on it.”
What is a reunion? Each year we gather with shareholders, associates, and friends of Markel Group to network, exchange ideas,Β ...
Julia Laulis, Chair of the Board, President & CEO of Cable One, Inc. (NYSE: CABO), joins Yet Another Value Podcast to discussΒ ...
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