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Research Notes: Cardlytics $CDLX (Qualitative #2)
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Research Notes: Cardlytics $CDLX (Qualitative #2)

Qualitative notes from researching, investigating, and thinking through Cardlytics.

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Austin Swanson
Jul 20, 2022
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Swanson Investment Research
Swanson Investment Research
Research Notes: Cardlytics $CDLX (Qualitative #2)
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If you are coming from a direct link for a given update (such as from Twitter), and if you have access to the notes, it will take you directly to the corresponding section with the update. (If mobile, open in the browser not within the Twitter app, but instead where you are logged in to Substack).

If you do not have access yet, upgrade to a paid subscription here:

Cardlytics CDLX Qualitative Research Notes Swany407 Research Notes Austin Swanson, Competitive Advantages, Dosh, Bridg, product-level offers, new ad server, attribution, conference, presentation, partners, affirm, apple pay, google pay, POS Systems, API, insights, google, facebook, visa, mastercard, concentration, advertisers, risks, BofA renewal, self-service, short thesis, differentiation, execution risk, engagement, insider selling, glassdoor reviews, purchase data, twitter, additional resources, earnings, market price, sentiment, valuation, intrinsic value, measurement, incrementality, multi-touch attribution, marketing mix modeling, total marketing modeling, iOS14.5, IDFA, growth, massive scale, loyalty programs, 100 bagger, charlie munger, LTV/CAC, ROAS, total addressable market, TAM, $CDLX

These are the CDLX Qualitative Research Notes #2. Use the following link to access the:

  • CDLX Qualitative Research Notes: #1, #2, #3

  • CDLX Quantitative Research Notes: #1, #2, #3

I frequently send out emails that contain the most recent updates to these notes:

  • List of the the most recent updates in the CDLX Research Notes

What Are Research Notes?

Research Notes contain information I have collected while researching, investigating, analyzing, and thinking through the business.

This is where I continue to add additional notes, observations, and thoughts.

Some of the notes have never been made, nor will be made, into official posts that are public to read.

Notes are split into Qualitative and Quantitative Research Notes, given I have hit the limit of content that will save in Substack (despite Substack saying there is no limit, which likely reflects the amount of notes stored here). I even hit the limit within each of those notes, which is why I’m splitting them again, with a second set of notes called Qualitative and Quantitative Research Notes #2.

For more general information on Research Notes, see here.

Research Notes: Cardlytics $CDLX (Qualitative #2)

Subject

  • Cardlytics ($CDLX)

  • Qualitative Research Notes #2

    • I once again hit the Substack limit in #1 given the size of the notes, so I started a new page to have more room

Last Updated

  • Updated as of 3.23.2023

Best Way to Use and Read

  • I include a table of contents below. Next to each section is a superscript / footnote number. Click the footnote number, and it will take you to the relevant section.

  • If there are specific items you wish to read about, I suggest Ctrl+F

How to Know When There are New Notes to Read
  • When I make an update to the Research Notes, I add the date of the change and the name of the section to the “Update Log” below the Table of Contents.

  • I also started sending out emails that contain the most recent updates to these notes.

    • List of the the most recent updates in the CDLX Research Notes

  • Additionally, I tweet out the update on my Twitter.

    • You will see the latest additions to the thread on your Twitter feed or when you check out my Twitter profile.

    • Important Twitter Note: The link in the tweet will take you directly to the section with the new update as long as you open the link in a browser where you are logged into Substack (therefore it will not work if you open it within the Twitter mobile app until you open it in the your main browser on mobile. On iOS, you simply need to click out using the Safari button in the bottom right.)

Table of Contents for Notes #2

These are the notes on this page (for the remained of the notes, see Qualitative Research Notes #1 and #3).

  1. Leadership / Management / Board

    1. CEO: Karim Temsamani1

      1. Building Products / Businesses

        Restructuring for Profitability

        Scaling, Hiring, His Leadership Philosophy, and Execution

      2. Example of Past Success with Executing and Scaling (with Revenue and Timeline)

      3. Mistakes as a Leader

        Businesses Changing Course

        Not Compromising on the Quality Hires

        Very Large Ambitious Goals

        Transparency

      4. Systems and Tools for Advertisers and Publishers

        Data

      5. Overall First Thoughts on the Change in CEO

        Thoughts on the Timing of the Change

    2. Other Changes in Senior Leadership / Board2

      1. Resignation of Andy Christiansen, CFO

      2. Confirmation of Amit Jain News (3.8.2023)

      3. Appointment of Amit Gupta as Chief Operating Officer

      4. Resignations of Scott Grimes and Lynne Laube

      5. Potential Loss of Two Executives

  2. Open Banking3

    1. “Doesn’t this weaken CDLX’s moat? Isn’t Open Banking bad for CDLX?”

    2. What is Open Banking and Why It’s Important to Cardlytics

    3. Nectar Connect

    4. Misc Notes and Thoughts

  3. Advertisers4

    • Concentration of Advertisers

    • Advertisers Over Time

  4. How CDLX Banks will Differentiate5

    1. Different User Experiences / UI

    2. Bank Self-Service

  5. Most Frequently Asked Questions6

    1. How will CDLX banks differentiate amongst themselves?

    2. What about management execution risk?

    3. Isn’t the self-service not fully self-service?

    4. Is Cardlytics impacted by IDFA?

    5. Isn’t engagement low?

    6. How much time do people spend in their mobile apps anyways?

    7. Why can’t banks do this themselves?

    8. Should we be worried about insider selling?

    9. What is the culture like, given Glassdoor reviews?

    10. Is there a risk from concentration of advertisers?

  6. Other Frequently Asked Questions (More General)7

    1. What does Cardlytics do?

    2. How does Cardlytics work?

    3. What type of purchase data does Cardlytics see?

    4. Does Cardlytics use personally identifiable information (PII) to target ads?

  7. Best Twitter Accounts to Follow for Cardlytics8

    1. List and Links

  8. Best Additional Resources Related to Cardlytics (Podcasts, Letters, Write-ups, and More)9

    1. List and Links

Update Log For Notes #2

  • 3.22.2023, 3.23.2023

    • Leadership / Management / Board: Other Changes in Senior Leadership / Board: Resignation of Andy Christiansen, CFO

  • 3.8.2023

    • Leadership / Management / Board: Other Changes in Senior Leadership / Board: Confirmation of Amit Jain News

  • 1.23.2023

    • Leadership / Management / Board: Other Changes in Senior Leadership / Board: Appointment of Amit Gupta as Chief Operating Officer

  • 11.16.2022

    • Leadership / Management / Board: Other Changes in Senior Leadership / Board: Resignations of Scott Grimes and Lynne Laube

  • 9.1.2022

    • Leadership / Management / Board: Other Changes in Senior Leadership / Board

  • 7.21.2022

    • Leadership / Management / Board: CEO Karim Temsamani

  • 7.20.2022

    • Leadership / Management / Board: CEO Karim Temsamani

  • 6.9.2022

    • Open Banking: “Doesn’t this weaken CDLX’s moat? Isn’t Open Banking bad for CDLX?”

  • 4.7.2022

    • Open Banking

  • 3.8.2022

    • How CDLX Banks with Differentiate: Bank Self-Service

  • 3.2.2022

    • Open Banking

  • 3.1.2022

    • How CDLX Banks with Differentiate: Bank Self-Service

  • 2.26.2022

    • How CDLX Banks with Differentiate: Bank Self-Service

  • 2.25.2022

    • How CDLX Banks with Differentiate: Bank Self-Service

  • 2.9.2022:

    • How CDLX Banks with Differentiate

      • Bank Self-Service

      • Different User Experiences / UI

  • 2.1.2022

    • Advertisers Over Time

  • 9.3.2021

    • Open Banking

  • 5.4.2021

    • Advertisers Over Time

  • 5.3.2021

    • Advertisers Over Time

  • 1.24.2021

    • Advertisers Over Time

**Please Do Not Copy or Share to Non-Paid Subscribers**

I have worked hard to research, analyze, think through, collect, and organize all of these notes. Therefore, please do not copy or share the notes contained in these Research Notes to non-paid subscribers.

If you know someone interested, feel free to add them to a group subscription, gift a subscription, or share directly from this post to give them the option to become a paid subscriber to gain access to these notes.

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