Interim CEO Dax Dasilva is considering subleasing part of Lightspeed’s Montreal headquarters, as the point-of-sale software company works on a broader cost-cutting effort and seeks to turn its lacklustre stock price around. 

In an interview with The Logic before appearing onstage at the CIX Summit, a startup-focused conference in Toronto, Lightspeed’s founder and newly reappointed CEO talked about saving money, keeping shareholders happy and being open to a go-private transaction.

Dasilva’s challenge: Dasilva returned to the top job at Lightspeed in mid-February, replacing Jean Paul Chauvet after a two-year hiatus. Chauvet’s acquisitions strategy had failed to turn the company’s long-term share price struggles around. The week before Dasilva’s reappointment, Lightspeed’s stock dropped 24 per cent the day it released third-quarter earnings that beat revenue and loss-reduction forecasts, but still disappointed investors.

On the chopping block: Lightspeed is reviewing its need for office space and taking a close look at leases that are expiring at its 17 locations around the world, Dasilva said. He said the company’s 90,000-square-foot Montreal office is “an important headquarters for us” and has “great attendance,” but it might have more space than Lightspeed needs. “I think there are some floors we could definitely sublease,” he said. Dasilva said he’s reduced the number of required in-office days to three for all employees—which in turn could decrease the cost of food Lightspeed provides, an employee perk on some days, Dasilva said.

Costs under the microscope: In both The Logic’s interview and onstage at CIX, Dasilva returned to cost cutting multiple times, saying it’s one of the main topics of conversations he’s having with shareholders. He said there’s no plan to reduce the workforce yet, but more details on the company’s strategy are coming in the fall. By then, he said he hopes to present a “simpler business model” that will involve shuttering some products and reducing costs from the company’s past acquisitions.

A private affair: Dasilva reiterated comments he made earlier this week on a potential go-private transaction, saying Lightspeed’s open to the idea and is “passively receiving recommendations.” The company has talked to some bankers, but has not formally retained any or launched a strategic review, he said. Dasilva said his mandate as interim CEO is about growing the company, not finding a buyer: “The focus is on how Lightspeed is going to be wildly successful at this profitable growth phase.”