Claim OwnershipFounder Notes with Nelson Chu
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© Nelson Chu
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An unfiltered look at private credit, fintech, and the realities of building a disruptive platform. Join Nelson bi-weekly for intimate, voice-note style episodes as he shares insights, challenges, and wins from his entrepreneurial journey, bridging the gap between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Whether you're an accredited investor, a fellow founder, or just curious about the future of finance, tune in for raw, honest, and thought-provoking content delivered straight from the founder's perspective.
19 Episodes
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In this episode, I sit down with Bryan Pham, our Head of Institutional Sales, to talk about the launch of our Separately Managed Accounts and why we built them. Bryan came from the other side of the table—JP Morgan, family offices—and he’s lived the exact frustrations we’re now solving. We dig into why institutional money moves differently than retail, the phone calls that made us realize Blended Notes weren’t enough, and how we’re making SMAs accessible at $100K instead of the typical $500K+. If you’re trying to understand how to scale upmarket in fintech, this is worth a listen.
We built a durable marketplace. Now the industry needs infrastructure, and that starts with me returning to square one. It won’t be forever, but six to twelve months of trench time will compound for years.
I sit down with Marc Andrew, who's become a leading voice in private markets by putting the right people in the right room together. We cover the slow decline of public listings, why firms can’t run on Excel anymore, and how AI, cloud, and interoperable data are opening real build zones. It’s a deep dive into the unsexy but essential plumbing for the future of finance.
Private credit funds often use “volatility laundering” to make returns look smoother than they are. In this episode, I talk about why Percent decided to do things differently, what radical transparency looks like in practice, and how sharing the full story with investors has helped us build lasting trust and a stronger business.
What happens when a capital markets pro pivots to product? In this episode, Kiley Lubeck and I discuss her journey from manually confirming allocations on a broken CMS to building tech that processes billions. We cover the brutal art of roadmap prioritization, why fintech PMs think like compliance officers, and how our biggest product wins came from solving our own worst pain points.
I break down the absurdity of today’s private credit markets: no liquidity, no standards, no real price discovery. But I also talk about what comes next—and how real infrastructure could double the market and unlock access for 199,000 underserved companies.
In this episode, I sit down with Paola Rios, our VP of Investor Relations & Syndication and employee #7, who's been with us since the early days when syndication was just "scramble." We dive into the art of matchmaking between borrowers who want cheap money and investors who want high returns, the plot twists that make her wish for a punching bag, and why herd mentality drives more investment decisions than you'd think. If you’ve ever invested in a deal on Percent, Paola probably had something to do with it.
In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on Percent’s chaotic origin story—from having investors lined up with zero borrowers to closing our first deal for a few hundred thousand dollars we now laugh about. I share the unglamorous truth about playing the two-sided confidence game every marketplace founder knows, why we chose to be exponentially better rather than revolutionary, and the critical lessons about flexibility that saved our company. This is the real story of how we built Percent, scramble and all.
What does it take to be approved for a deal on Percent? This week, I chat with Bina Shetty, who leads our originations team and brings decades of investment banking experience to the table. We cover how we underwrite non-bank lenders, why Latin America is a breakout region for private credit, and why the best founders keep things simple and scrappy. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how our marketplace works—and what we look for in every borrower.
The traditional startup playbook—raise big, spend fast, swing for the fences—is fading. In this episode, I unpack why the VC model is under pressure, how AI is fueling a new era of smaller, faster, more profitable startups, and why debt might beat equity for founders who want to scale on their own terms. If you’re still raising like it’s 2013, this one’s for you.
This week, I sat down with Sean Smith, co-founder of SMB Investor Network, to talk about a very different slice of the private markets—entrepreneurship through acquisition. We cover everything from his leveraged finance days at CIBC to why he's now focused on buying HVAC companies and plumbing businesses. Plus, we discuss how private credit and SMB equity are surprisingly complementary when it comes to building a resilient, income-generating portfolio.
With new tariffs already taking effect—and more on the way—I wanted to unpack how this shift is affecting small businesses, capital flows, and ultimately, how we're adapting our lending strategy at Percent to navigate these changes. From forced supply chain changes to increased capital needs, these policy moves are reshaping the economic landscape. I also share listener questions on team dynamics, hard deals, and leadership under pressure.
In this episode, I’m joined by Lucas Keefer, VP of Originations and one of the earliest team members at Percent. We talk about what it really takes to build a company from the ground up — wearing multiple hats, embracing uncertainty, and learning by doing. Lucas shares his journey from JPMorgan to Percent and how “filling the gaps” helped shape both his career and our company. If you’ve ever wondered how startups actually scale, this one’s for you.
In this episode, I share the four core mantras that have guided me through building Percent from the ground up. From embracing market feedback over rigid vision to recognizing how small mistakes compound, I dive into the principles that have helped me navigate the unpredictable terrain of fintech entrepreneurship. Whether you're just starting out or scaling a venture, these battle-tested principles offer a framework for making clearer decisions and building with intention in today's rapidly evolving market.
In this candid conversation, I sit down with Charlie Lienau, Percent's Head of Operations, to explore the art of building for longevity in fintech. From his early days in Argentine investment banking to scaling our global team, Charlie shares insights on measured growth, data-driven decision making, and why focus beats speed when scaling a fintech. We dive deep into lessons learned from five years of evolution at Percent and why sometimes the riskiest decisions lead to the greatest rewards.
In this special episode, I sit down for a candid conversation with Prath Reddy, Percent's President and our first hire, to discuss how we've navigated major market shifts since founding the company. From COVID-19 to rapid Fed rate hikes, we explore how being nimble helped us turn crisis into opportunity, share an inside look at building a private credit platform, and discuss what excites us about the future of embedded finance.
In this candid episode, I share insights on a crucial yet often overlooked part of building a company: choosing and nurturing your board of directors. Fresh from a year-end strategy session, I discuss selecting the right board members, structuring effective meetings, and building personal relationships beyond the boardroom. Whether you’re a founder or investor, gain practical wisdom on governance and scaling from six years of building Percent.
In this episode, I’m diving into how Percent helped one of our borrowers reduce their cost of capital by over 400 basis points while accessing $7 million in debt financing. I’ll walk you through how our platform empowered this borrower to grow, how we brought retail investors alongside institutions in this deal, and why this success story matters for the future of private credit. Tune in to get an inside look at how we’re leveling the playing field for investors and borrowers alike.
In this debut episode of Founder Notes, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my journey to build Percent. I was tens of thousands in credit card debt when I decided to take the leap and create something new in the private credit space. In this episode, I talk about the lessons learned from that experience, my family’s influence on my entrepreneurial mindset, and why I believe in building in public. Get a first-hand look at the raw realities of founding a disruptive fintech platform.
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