Summary
- I recently had the opportunity to interview John Hass, CEO and Chairman of the Board of learning technology company Rosetta Stone.
- The Executive Interview series provides you with firsthand insight into the technology industry through discussions with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts themselves.
- We discussed Rosetta Stone's education business and how the company has recently shifted and adapted into the current market and technological world.
- We also discussed major trends developing in the software, education, and technology sectors and how Rosetta Stone aims to capitalize on those changes.
The Executive Interview series, as part of Tech Investment Insights, provide you with exclusive interviews with newsmakers, industry leaders, and experts in the technology industry.
Interviews do not imply endorsement of the company, its products, or any associated securities. Rather, it is meant to provide you more information for your consideration from those currently directly in the industry itself.
I recently had the opportunity to interview John Hass, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rosetta Stone (RST). Rosetta Stone is an education technology company founded in 1992 and has been a public company since April 2009.
Hass, who served for decades in various leadership roles in the global banking world, has served as CEO of Rosetta Stone since 2015 and Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2016.
While Rosetta Stone had a difficult time in the public markets during its first few years, in the middle of the Great Recession, since 2017 it has made a big resurgence and currently has a market capitalization of approximately $566 million. From January 1, 2019 to August 2, 2019, Rosetta Stone's stock was up 31.46% as compared to the S&P 500's 16.96% gain. From January 1, 2017 to August 2, 2019 Rosetta Stone's stock was up 142% as compared to the S&P 500's 30.96% gain. Clearly something was happening at the company worth noting and examining.
The company made $173 million in revenue in 2018, a decrease from $184 million in 2017. This was largely due to a decrease in product revenue while increase in subscription and service revenue as the company changed its business model to be subscription-based. The company's net loss also increased from $1.5 million to $21.4 million, better than its worst periods but also distant from its best.
The education technology sector has seen massive shifts in recent years both in terms of money as well as in its products and infrastructure. Major recent developments have included custom learning, cloud computing utilization, virtual reality usage, speech-to-text, and more. It is estimated to continue to see significant growth in the upcoming few years as new products are created and new users brought into the sector.
