Starry’s Path Forward: A Q&A with Starry’s CEO and COO on What’s Next

星空正在为未来进行重组，在未来的许多年里传播#快乐极速赛车正规官网开奖网址#.

During the past year, in a difficult economic climate, 星空积极寻求额外的资金来源，以确保公司的财务稳定. Additionally, Starry took measures to reduce costs, conserve available cash and streamline its operations. Today, 星空公司宣布有意通过自愿申请预先安排的第11章重组来重组和加强业务, with the support of its lenders.

Starry的博客团队再次与首席执行官Chet Kanojia和首席运营官Alex Moulle-Berteaux坐下来讨论公司的未来，以及这一系列决定如何帮助公司实现长期增长和成功.

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Can you explain in simple terms, what exactly did Starry announce today?

CK: Sure, but a little background first. As everyone knows, Starry went public in March 2022 through a business combination (SPAC) transaction. Since that time, 我们一直很坦率地承认，我们需要筹集更多资金，以支持我们的扩张. 过去一年，资本市场有了不同的想法，实现高增长非常困难, negative cash flow companies like ours, and frankly, many others across industries, to raise capital. And unfortunately, 在实现盈利之前，我们没能最后一次扭转局面.

Last year, 我们聘请投资银行家为公司和董事会提供并购方面的建议, capital raising, and potential balance sheet solutions. At the same time, 我们做了一系列的决定来减少开支和节约资本，以度过这个过程. That included our really tough decision to leave Columbus.

And now, due to continuing macroeconomic headwinds, 我们将采取下一步措施，自愿申请破产保护，并启动业务重组，以稳定和加强公司的资产负债表. 我们已经与我们的贷款机构签订了一项“重组支持协议”，这将为我们提供继续正常运营所需的资金, through this restructuring process and beyond, and a clear pathway to getting the business out the other side of that process.

您可能会看到我们的重组被称为“预先安排的”，并想知道这是什么意思. Generally when a company files for Chapter 11 protection, 这样做的目的是与贷方和其他利益相关者一起应对财务挑战，并在“重组计划”中概述这些挑战,这可以作为公司如何在另一边变得更健康的路线图. 我们的案例是“预先安排的”，这意味着我们已经有了计划，并与同意支持该计划的贷款人进行了审查. This makes the process quicker and more efficient.

Taking this path allows us to continue operating uninterrupted, 因为我们正在努力减少公司的债务并优化其资本结构——所有这些都为我们的长期成功奠定了更好的基础. When we emerge from this process, which should take a few short months, we will again be a privately-held company positioned for success and growth.

OK, so Starry is not going out of business, right? If I’m a customer, should I be concerned?

CK: No, absolutely not. We’re not going out of business. I cannot stress enough: it is business as usual for Starry and our customers.

AMB从顾客的角度来看，你们的服务体验应该没有什么不同. 星空公司的团队在社区中签约，安装新客户，部署我们的网络. We’re operating as normal across our five core markets.

For employees, how does this change their roles, if at all?

CK在过去的几个月里，我们做出了一些艰难的商业决定，以减少开支和节约资本，其中包括大幅裁员. Layoffs of any size are difficult on teams, especially when you have to part ways with very talented and dedicated colleagues. And we’re cognizant that as we move ahead, it’s important that our leadership team is ultra clear about our business goals, the path forward, and what success looks like 6 months, 18 months, and five years from now. Our employees’ roles haven’t changed, per se, 但是，作为领导人，我们继续频繁和公开地沟通的责任变得更加重要.

AMB: I couldn’t agree more. Moving forward, 我们的工作是确保每个员工都相信我们为公司设定的目标和道路. That requires a reset on how we communicate and how often. 然而，由于种种原因，进入公司的下一个篇章是非常具有挑战性的, 这也给了我们一个机会，把我们在业务发展过程中所学到的经验教训付诸实践. And that will make us more efficient, and ultimately, a better company – and when we work better, that benefits all of our employees.

From an operational standpoint, what is the business focus today?

AMB: We’re focused, as always, 为我们的客户和合作伙伴提供最好的极速赛车正规官网开奖网址服务体验. That hasn’t changed. Our focus, however, is more narrow for the time being, 随着我们将运营精力集中在现有的五个核心市场，并在那里扩大我们的足迹和客户群.

唯一的大变化——而且是暂时的——是我们没有积极地向新城市扩张. 我们仍然专注于创新产品和服务，以增强客户体验，我们将在未来几个月推出新的举措. 我们的重点是尽可能高效地发展业务，并继续提供令人愉悦的客户体验. 如果我们把这两件事做好，我们就走上了成功和未来成长的道路.

CK: I think it’s also important to note that our focus on mission is still intact. We still deeply believe that competition is absolutely necessary in this industry. It’s important for the consumer experience, but it’s also important to innovation. 我们也不会放弃为历史上服务不足的社区提供服务的承诺, namely families living in public and affordable housing. There is still such a deep need for high-quality, 在这些社区提供真正负担得起的服务，而星空正在实现这一利基，并继续对我们所服务的社区产生有意义的影响.

我知道很难预测未来，但你对公司未来的发展有什么看法? In the next five years?

CK显然，我没有水晶球，但我对星空的未来充满信心. 我们已经采取了所有必要的措施来引导公司度过这段困难时期，并做出了艰难的决定, so that the company can emerge stronger. And I think that’s what will happen.

AMB: That’s exactly right. This has been, no question, a challenging period for the company.  But, 另一方面，我们的足迹将扩大到更多的城市和更多的家庭. When we set out to build this business, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But, 我们会长期参与其中，因为我们相信我们技术的基础, our team’s ability to execute and the market opportunity to provide a competitive, high-quality broadband option to consumers. 对更好带宽的需求只会增加，而在未来的许多年里，星空将在向消费者提供更好带宽方面发挥关键作用.