Business Breakdowns
Episode 111 FICO: A High Score Business
Business Breakdowns

Episode 111: FICO: A High Score Business

Business Breakdowns

Episode 111

FICO: A High Score Business

Dev Kantesaria is the managing partner at Valley Forge Capital Management. We cover the moat FICO has built with its Scores business, why software margins should improve, and the biggest lessons from its capital-light, high-margin model.

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(00:02:40) - (First question) - What attracted him to FICO as a business

(00:03:31) - An overview of their key products and the value they provide

(00:06:01) - How FICO collaborates and competes with credit bureaus

(00:11:23) - Their ability to sustain steady growth in a cyclical environment

(00:12:48) - How FICO's software offerings complement their credit score business

(00:14:13) - Who their competitors are

(00:23:16) - The potential competitive risks of emerging A.I. technology

(00:25:57) - Why the push for VantageScore in the mortgage industry created more competition for credit bureaus 

(00:27:58) - The differences between their B2C and scores businesses 

(00:30:38) - A breakdown of the software side of the business and its significance

(00:34:26) - All about FICO’s  Falcon Fraud Manager and Triad Customer Manager 

(00:39:20) - FICO’s capital-light business model in detail

(00:41:59) - The aspects of the business that investors often overlook or underestimate

(00:45:18) - Lessons learned from studying FICO 

FICO: A High Score Business

Introduction

Zack
This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital. And today, we're breaking down Fair Isaac Corporation or commonly known as FICO. FICO is best known for its consumer credit scores product, which has become a common language across the world of consumer loans and banking. Less well known, but a major piece of the business is FICO software offering that helps financial businesses with fraud detection, customer relationship management and loan origination.

Between these two offerings, scores and software, FICO earned $1.3 billion last year. To break down the business, I'm joined by Dev Kantesaria, Managing Partner at Valley Forge Capital Management. In going through the business' history and business units, Dev explains why it would be tough to design a better business than FICO on paper. Please enjoy this breakdown of FICO.

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