I came away from today's chat with CEO Glenn Milnes feeling pretty good about the business and its opportunity. He strikes me as pretty down to earth, and even when i gave him some fat pitches, he came back with a tone of conservatism, and even highlited a range of things they could do better (unprompted).

While it is still fresh, here are some of the things that stood out:

• The fact that ikeGPS's largest investors refused to back a $1/share takeover when the stock was trading well below that is telling. Maybe they’re overly optimistic, but clearly, they see something bigger on the horizon. You tend to take what you can get when things arent looking good -- you certainly don't reject a takeover offer with a fat premium

• The opportunity in the US is massive, and ikeGPS isn’t just playing at the edges -- they’re deeply embedded with the biggest players in the industry. Glenn emphasized that the demand for infrastructure upgrades is set to explode over the next two decades. Specifically, the North American electrical grid needs to double in capacity, and utilities are under pressure to harden networks against extreme weather. Ike’s solutions are right in the middle of this shift. Growth is already materializing, with subscription revenue expected to jump 40-45% this year, and Glenn sounded confident that momentum will continue. Big investors are clearly paying attention..

• The company is in a position where they could flip to EBITDA profitability if they wanted to, but they’re choosing to keep reinvesting in product development and expanding their sales reach. With ~$10m in cash and no debt, there’s no immediate risk of a capital raise -- something Glenn made clear. Given the scale of the opportunity, it’s probably the right approach.

• They also have solid pricing power and aren’t afraid to use it. Their platform is a small fraction of their customers’ overall costs, but it delivers significant efficiency gains. Glenn explained that once customers start using ikeGPS, they don’t leave. In fact, they’ve never really lost a customer. That kind of stickiness speaks volumes.

• A key advantage is that Ike’s platform doesn’t force customers to rip out their existing systems; it integrates into their current tech stack. That removes a major friction point in the buying decision. The industry itself is dominated by natural monopolies, but rather than competing aggressively, these players are highly collaborative (this is something we also heard from Ian Olson at pointerra). That dynamic makes it easier for Ike to scale relationships and deepen its penetration into the market.

• Glenn was clear that AI is becoming a bigger part of what they do, enhancing how their systems process and analyze infrastructure data. But he was also very much avoiding the hype. The key thing for me is that ike has a huge training library of images, which could be a decent comnpetitive edge in regard to AI.

• Importantly, Glenn seemed laser-focused on the customer experience. Everyone says that, but not many companies actually give that the attention it deserves.

• In terms of areas of improvement, Glenn acknowledged they need to simplify how they communicate their industry and technology to investors. Their work is complex, and clearer messaging would help investors and customers grasp its impact. He also sees room to enhance customer support, even with a dedicated team in place. He also noted pricing strategy as a key lever they could optimize further.

• In response to @mikebrisy questions and previously raised concerns over transaction revenue, Glenn explained that the recent spike was largely driven by two major national fiber businesses that utilized Ike’s transaction service intensively over a 12 to 18-month period. This resulted in an outsized jump in revenue during that timeframe. However, he acknowledged that while the broader business continues to grow steadily, that specific surge may not be sustained at the same level moving forward. He clarified that it’s not a case of losing those customers (they’re still using Ike’s platform) but rather that their rate of activity fluctuates. Essentially, this part of Ike’s revenue stream is influenced by the pace at which these large infrastructure companies deploy their networks, which can ebb and flow over time.

All told, I'm rather interested. It's clear they have good sales traction in a massive industry with strong tailwinds. They are operating at a small loss, by only because of the focus on growth, and with a rather healthy balance sheet. The have a lot of room to expand even with existing customers, and I love the focus on customer experience, as well as the super sticky nature of the product, and the pricing power that comes with it. It's also nice that their customers are somewhat resilient to economic headwinds.

Still, the industry has very long sales cycles, transaction revenue (as we have seen) can move around a lot, and shares are still on something like 4-5x sales.

Not cheap by traditional standards, but perhaps not so when viewed in the context of expected growth and potential for very attractive operating leverage..

What do others think?