The TL Podcast with Check Point’s Gil Shwed: Faster growth is our biggest challenge
Gil Shwed co-founded Check Point Software Technologies thirty-one years ago based on his unique understanding of how to engineer the technology of firewalls as a robust defense in a networked age. As he turns over the baton in December to NadavZafrir, a career venture capitalist, entrepreneur and manager, Shwed plans to return to his roots, reflecting deeply on today’s landscape of threats to develop the next technologies that are needed.
In a wide-ranging video edition of the podcast, Shwed reflects on how he will spend his time as Check Point’s executive chairman, the challenges to Check Point’s growth, the role of artificial intelligence in cyber-security, and the continued waves of consolidation in the industry. Below is the full transcript of the podcast.
Pure Storage CEO: More and more, a software company
“We have been told by Adobe and other companies that have gone through this that fifty percent is roughly the turning point […] That’s when investors start paying attention.”
Zscaler CEO Chaudhry: disrupting the old guard is a mega-opportunity
“We said, don't do network security, instead, simply build a smart switchboard that connects party party A to party B securely, and that's what has created a big opportunity.”
Some software stocks have gotten even cheaper
Despite an average rise of eight percent since the start of the year, many software company stocks are cheaper now than six months ago and one year ago, based on a group of one hundred and sixty-one software stocks out of a total universe of about five hundred and fifty U.S.-listed tech stocks.
The table below plots the change in one key measure for software stocks, their enterprise value divided by the next twelve months’ projected revenue according to FactSet consensus. Enterprise value is the total value of the company when you add up the shares outstanding and then subtract net cash, meaning, cash and equivalents and long-term investments, less long-term debt.