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I don't understand the point of yesterday's PR. It was no secret they spent the entire 2023 restructuring and "streamlining". It was no secret they were laying off people back in January. Seems just when the stock was starting to move again, going from 1.50 to 2.50, they make this announcement and send the stock back down to 1.90. Well I should say, they alerted their friends and family in advance and then issued the PR after the bell. Still, the only thing this PR does is create a "restructuring" headline for the market to see. They basically addressed this restructuring during all of 2023. Add to this the fact that they have not issued a PR since mid-December. Why not just wait until earnings in March, and announce that you are 14% leaner as far as headcount. Yesterdays PR seems more like an effort to keep a lid on the share price than anything else.
"While the vision we laid out in 2023 remains, there is more work to be done to streamline our organization so Veritone can capitalize on its next phase of disruptive growth and the increased demand we are seeing.” Ryan Steelberg 02-21-24
"In summary, our efforts in 2023 have been focused on streamlining operations to build a strong foundation for Veritone's next phase of disruptive growth. "
Mike Zemetra 08-08-23
"In summary, our efforts in 2023 have been focused on streamlining operations to build a strong foundation for Veritone's next phase of disruptive growth. "
Mike Zemetra 11-08-23
RS and Veritone have been low key on aiWare ever since Ryan took over. Pando and Broadbean never mention aiWare. I think they have known that aiWare not a viable platform for quite some time, although still think they may have some capabilities that others might see value in. With Chad out of the way, maybe they can deal with partners on aiWare capabilities in return for these partners helping to get Veritone various business on a better growth trajectory.
As we saw with the bad Broadbean review, where they said the migration of Broadbean to the Veritone platform sucked, I think they may have scrapped it. Maybe they have opportunities to integrate Broadbean with other viable platforms.
I think Chad fucked everything up with his arrogance and self admiration, not listening to RS or the people around him. His tipping point comments were the last straw for Amazon and other partners. Chad saying partners like Amazon were working with Veritone to make aiWare better nearly every day, or creating a new HR tech standard with Amazon. Amazon had enough. Probably same with Microsoft.
So with these partners throwing in the towel over Chad's hubris, the Board saw that Chad had to go. So they gave him a fat consulting contract in order to step down as CEO.
Also believe there has been a major rift between CS and the rest of the Board, including RS.
A lot of cuts this year already came from aiWare division. I doubt there is a future for Veritone and its aiWare platform. But I think they saw the writing on the wall for aiWare a long time ago. Veritone is better off developing and working off someone else's platform like Google Vertex AI. Possbile that some aiWare capabilities might be desirable to companies such as Google. Don't think they would get much money for aiWare, but could strike deals that give these companies aiWare capabilities in return for them helping bring Veritone solutions to market such as HR tech.
Bottom line, aiWare has been a major expense, and just ridding themselves of aiWare alone would push the stock up. jmo
Also believe the new consulting contract for Chad was solely for the purpose of buying him off the Chairman position.
yeah, there was definitely a leak to friends and family.
You can't make this up. New CMO posts a list of free AI tools.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7166147226489061376/
Another Google post liked by Al Brown. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7163992385738252289/
If you watch the video it looks very much like what aiWare and Digital Media Hub could do.
Obviously, if Veritone is not involved here, then the competition is coming fast.
Interesting post by Head of Startup Ecosystems, Google. He and RS are connected on Linkedin, and this post was liked by Al Brown.
The future is a many model universe; the key today is to pick the right arch and ecosystem so you can move fast and stay flexible. And pick the right partner for the win
Would be absolutely huge if Veritone could latch onto a strategic partnership with one of these giants.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7163940546510569474/
Also, they spent the entire 2023 Not talking about aiWare, when it is really about the only differentiating capability that they have. They don't allow the site to be searchable.
Broadbean and Pandologic never talk about aiWare. Makes me think that whatever becomes of aiWare roadmap, it will no longer be called aiWare.
going to stretch it out as long as they can before having to report.
Yes, this investment looks to be a disaster in every respect. Would like to know what is behind the recent volume and price movement
I have used Broadbean for 12 years, I like that it integrates with our Bullhorn System
Broadbean was good until November 2023 when they migrated us over to the new Veritone system which is completely inadequate.
https://www.trustradius.com/reviews/broadbean-2023-12-12-08-00-18
Yeah, the team should be highly motivated now that they are given plaques to hang on the wall, While CS gets millions.
rest of the market getting hammered. Looks like something is creating excitement
Palantir rockets after hours. Veritone in LaLa land
Chad getting a million up front and 50K a month for what? And the only person at Veritone in charge of measuring Chad's performance is brother Ryan. Pure cringe.
Just like hapless shareholders, these analysts have no idea what is going on at Veritone. Looks like Veritone has shut them out as well.
The only thing we know is Chad Steelberg is fat and happy.
On Thursday, Veritone Inc . (NASDAQ:VERI) received an upgrade in its stock rating from Roth/MKM, moving from Sell to Neutral. The firm also adjusted the price target for Veritone, setting it at $1.85, a decrease from the previous target of $2.00.
The upgrade is based on the expectation that Veritone will begin to see a return to growth by the middle of 2024. This projection is tied to easing comparables in the fourth quarter and anticipated improvements following a period of lower hiring by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Roth/MKM notes that Veritone could start gaining traction and return to growth on a like-for-like basis by mid-2024.
Roth/MKM cited several factors contributing to the improved outlook for Veritone. These include a downsized cost structure, improved liquidity, and the potential for cross-selling opportunities. The firm believes these elements collectively suggest that the downside risk for Veritone has been mitigated, warranting the upgrade to a Neutral rating.
The analyst's commentary highlighted that while there are still challenges ahead for Veritone, the possibility of growth returning and the company's strategic adjustments provide a more stable foundation.
"Further optimism depends on enhanced revenue visibility and successful product adoption," wrote the analyst.
Veritone's future performance is now under watch, with the market anticipating the company's progress towards achieving the growth and stability outlined by Roth/MKM. The firm's revised price target and stock rating reflect a cautious but improved outlook for the artificial intelligence technology company.
They had 1.99M shares back in September, So their holdings remain the same
Seth no longer Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer.
Now Marketing and Strategy Advisor.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethgreenberg/
Why keep him around?
But then again, everything is "coming soon" with this POS.
I think that one could have been a cat fight with the new CMO. As Maria Moore stated, new marketing positions coming soon.
VP of Marketing gone.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7157751171208634368/
Those comments certainly did not age well. They shut Chad up, never to speak publicly about aiWare again.
But I have to say, no matter how much BS that was, they went the opposite extreme with Ryan. I think every CEO to some degree is the head cheerleader for a company's offerings. But Ryan never says anything about how Veritone differentiates. He is the worst CEO I have seen when it comes to evangelizing product offerings. You watch any of his interviews as CEO. He talks about AI in general. He talks more about his history leading up to Veritone more than any specifics of what Veritone has to offer. And it's all more matter of fact rather than with any degree of enthusiasm. And it's hard for me to believe that he is just too stupid to know better. Even if aiWare is a dud, he could be bragging up their HR tech. Why is it better?
I don't care how bad your company is. You can still act like a cheerleader and have enthusiasm about your products and BS about how they are great. He does none of that. He basically just will say what they are involved in generally speaking and leave it at that.
He is not evangelizing anything. Maybe he's just being honest and it's his way of saying Veritone doesn't have a pot to piss in. Hard to believe.
Also thought that maybe he is there to be some kind of interim CEO until the roadmap is complete. He just took on the Chairman role. Maybe someone else steps in as CEO here shortly.
Are you saying this quote from less than 2 years ago is BS? lol
aiWARE's impact is much bigger than my local community or personal life. It is impacting massive industries in profound ways, touching every corner of the world, and we are only getting started. aiWARE is poised to expand into every facet of our lives, both the real world and the metaverse yet to come. It's important to note, not all AI companies are equal. Some companies are delivering machine learning models and tools. Others are providing consulting and integration services, and a few are delivering point solution applications in specific industries. However, only Veritone has developed an AI operating system with all of its supporting applications and services that can power a vast array of AI applications across any industry.
The Veritone of the future will have billions of end users, millions of customers with less than 1% of the applications running on aiWARE being developed and owned by Veritone. We are building the OS of the future, and we've reached the tipping point.
You might not see it yet but trust me, it's there in the shows you watch, in the police that protect and serve you better, in the electricity that powers your electric vehicle and so much more, and it's all running on aiWARE and getting smarter every day.
Also interesting that it doesn't look like Veritone has posted even once on Linkedin about HR solutions.
Broadbean has posted maybe twice this year. Pando maybe posted once this year.
But to spend all that money on Pando and Broadbean and looks like no sense of urgency to get the message out this year.
Interesting that when Steelbergs were all crazy over the metaverse, they didn't waste any time slapping together the Veriverse website which is now disappeared. Also started the VeritoneVoice website around the same time which is still going.
But for some reason they can't start a Veritone Hire website. I would think it would be much more important than the above two websites considering all the money they've spent on HR.
have no idea what their plans are. Just know what their current strategy is.
1. Let's make sure the website remains outdated and confusing.
2. Make sure we release no information on Veritone Hire. We want our potential customers to remain confused about our HR offerings.
3. Lets keep a lid on aiWare 3.5. We want to make sure we miss the window of opportunity.
4 Lets make sure we let the public know about all the money we are funneling to Chad S. for his aiWare consulting. That way we show that the aiWare platform is not only useless, but expensive.
maybe we will see another Linkedin post on Veritone Redact again today. That could be what the market is waiting for.
Think lots of aiWare people out the door along with CS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-meinke-04342/
delete
"Knowing CS personality got to be a killer that Aiware failed big time."
Agree. Also has to be a killer knowing the stock is rallying the day after he has been stripped of any power.
CS has profited handsomely from aiWare BS, while long term investors are nearly wiped out.
sure looks that way
ok. Looks like just more bug fixes. https://docs.veritone.com/#/versions/readme
where do you see that? I just see the same aiWAre release update back from December.
Sounds to me like he's getting 1 million up front, plus 50 grand a month or 1.2M over the next two years. All for just providing "reviews and assessments". Plus, he still remains on the board.
We'll see. I think it's ready. All the recent release notes are just minor updates. And coincides with Greg Loose linkedin page indicating product roadmap completed by end of year. Today's 8K coincides with linkedin post from new CMO. Per RS, start of this year is beginning of new growth trajectory. lol
While not nearly as promising as during the "billions of end users" and "massive backlog" BS days, I think we may be pleasantly surprised this year. But I would be satisfied with 10. 5 would be disappointing but OK. Current price is horrific.
But we got Chad out of the way. Got the Ingram CFO on Board that could be influential. I think we have an aggressive CMO coming on. Still don't know their plans for Veritone Hire, and think CMO has a lot of contacts from her previous company.
Also, Saw on a Deloitte web page that was recently added, it said CortexAI coming soon. So makes me believe that CortexAI has also been trial based to date and not revenue generating. When aiWare 3.5 comes out, I guess it is possible that they could start generating revenues from the platform.
Maybe the Chad news today, is a sign that we may see a PR or marketing on aiWare 3.5 soon along with customer info.