AOL CEO Tim Armstrong: 'We haven't won yet'
Winning is consistent user growth, the AOL CEO says at TechCrunch Disrupt, even as the oft-troubled company has seen its stock price triple in the last year.
SAN FRANCISCO--AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said he's happy with his oft-troubled company's progress -- including a tripling of its stock over the last year -- but said there's much more to do. "We haven't won yet," Armstrong said.
Speaking on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt not long after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave his first live interview since the social networking giant's May IPO -- an event owned by AOL -- Armstrong told interviewer Michael Arrington that the company's comeback has been fueled by three main things: better internal operations; a focus on product, including both traditional AOL businesses and other things, such as conferences like Disrupt; and financial engineering that included buying back a big piece of the company.
Armstrong added that the company worries about four things -- which it calls "CAPS" -- consumers, advertisers, publishers, and subscribers.
Referring to AOL's blossoming stock price and a perception that it has come back from the brink of failure, Arrington asked what it was like to win. But Armstrong didn't bite. Responding that victory will come when the company sees consistent user growth, the CEO said "I'm happy things are better, but I see (more) for the company."