Patrick OShaughnessy(@patrick_oshag):Christina Cacioppo on high growth v. high margins: "I think in the fullness of time, an 80% growth business with 80% margins will actually be better than a 160% growth business with 30% margins. One of these will return more cash in the fullness of time. But today the latter is valued at 10x the multiple of the former. And so there's a part where everyone's being irrational here. And then there's a very clear game-on-the-field piece. If you need to be financed, you're looking at investors today, many of whom are AI maximalists, that are like, 'We'll invest in the labs and we'll invest in tractors in Iowa. Nothing in between.'"

2026.10.21 18:51

Christina Cacioppo on high growth v. high margins: "I think in the fullness of time, an 80% growth business with 80% margins will actually be better than a 160% growth business with 30% margins. One of these will return more cash in the fullness of time. But today the latter is valued at 10x the multiple of the former. And so there's a part where everyone's being irrational here. And then there's a very clear game-on-the-field piece. If you need to be financed, you're looking at investors today, many of whom are AI maximalists, that are like, 'We'll invest in the labs and we'll invest in tractors in Iowa. Nothing in between.'"

Patrick OShaughnessy@patrick_oshag

2026.10.20 12:00

My second conversation with Christina Cacioppo (@christinacaci), Vanta's cofounder and CEO. Charlie Songhurst says the best returns come from companies that are highly boring and highly complex, because fewer founders want to build them. Vanta is one of those companies. When we first talked five years ago, Christina told me about building the first version of Vanta in Excel. Since then she has turned it into the category leader in security compliance. Now she is rebuilding it around AI. We discuss: - Why great software businesses got cheap - Why Vanta eats the cost of AI instead of marking it up - Why comp for top people is up 10X in five years - What is over/under hyped in AI - How AI attackers are changing security - Vanta marketing + billboards - Building trust in an era of low trust Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 4:17 Surviving the SaaSpocalypse 9:40 The AI Pricing Trap 16:17 Rebuilding Software for AI 22:43 Silicon Valley's Talent Wars 31:57 What's Overhyped in AI 38:39 Security at Machine Speed 47:16 Reinventing Software 55:37 The Billboard War 60:38 Rebuilding Trust in Technology