Dax Dasilva wants his bonus

Lightspeed Commerce founder and CEO Dax Dasilva
Lightspeed Commerce founder and CEO Dax Dasilva.
Plus: More money on the table for diverse founders.

Lightspeed’s Dax Dasilva’s big plans to reach profitability and $1 billion USD in ARR requires getting customers to adopt product subscriptions after spending the last year getting them onto the company’s payment offerings.

I spoke with the newly renamed CEO following the company’s first-quarter earnings, and he seemed highly motivated, noting the company launched more than a hundred new features this year. That his bonus, alongside other leadership executives, is partially tied to getting the company to cash flow break even might be a factor.

“When we started this journey, there was a lot of skepticism about how well we would do,” he told me. “I’m really proud to say that when Lightspeed focuses, we win.”

Dasilva is getting closer to his goals, with the last four quarters posting positive adjusted EBITDA and the company targeting 10 to 15 percent growth in subscriptions for the fiscal year. But investors themselves don’t seem as hyped, despite Dasilva’s efforts to be more public-facing in communicating his strategy. The share price saw a small bump during trading Thursday, but all those gains were lost by week’s end. Lightspeed stock is down nearly 90 percent since its highs in September 2021, and hasn’t been able to drum up investor confidence amid the ongoing downturn of tech stocks.

Maybe the company’s host of AI features, meant to make mundane tasks in the retail space a breeze, will shore up investor sentiment. Maybe investors will be pleased if they see Lightspeed continue to add verticals outside of the restaurant and hospitality sector.

But what do they want to see most of all? Profit.

Thanks for reading on and ’til next week, 

Bianca Bharti

Newsletter editor


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Feature image courtesy Lightspeed Commerce.

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