Kristian Marquez is the founder and CEO of FinStrat Management. In our chat, Kristian shares lessons learned on his journey from starting a telemedicine startup, experiencing startup failure and an IPO, to founding FinStrat. He discusses the importance of validating your idea with customers through market feedback before building a product. He dives more into FinStrat’s unique approach, and also offers practical guidance into fundraising challenges, highlighting the need for accurate financia...
Shaily Baranwal is the Founder and CEO of Elevate K-12. She’s an incredible entrepreneur and CEO, and I can attest to her ability to rapidly scale a company. Elevate K-12 provides engaging virtual classroom instruction from certified live teachers to ensure every student receives a high-quality education regardless of zip code. In the episode, Shaily shares the inspiring journey from her childhood in India as a special education student, to becoming a classroom teacher. She discusses founding...
Marshall Lebovits is an advisor at Asset Based Funding Solutions with almost 35 years of experience in the secured financing and alternative capital industry. In the episode, Marshall shares more about his passion for helping grow companies that typically lack access to capital with non-dilutive asset-backed financing solutions. Marshall discusses how he built a network of connections around the world, the importance of carefully evaluating your lending partners to make informed decisions, an...
This week features Brendan Cosgrove, Co-Founder and Director of Catalyze, a unique national nonprofit dedicated to democratizing access to LP and institutional capital networks and resources for underserved investors and GPs. With his extensive experience guiding LPs at Cambridge Associates, and as Investment Director at the Kauffman Foundation's Capital Access Lab, Brendan brings a unique perspective to the table. In our conversation, Brendan shares insights into the challenges of intr...
It’s a fun conversation this week with Justin Renfro, Director of Revenue-Based Financing at Wefunder. Justin shares his journey from a boat mogul with his company Chill Charters to working with thousands of entrepreneurs at Wefunder. Justin discusses his passion for building a diverse range of mission-driven companies, Wefunder’s community-based approach to drive value for founders and capital into businesses, and iterating the platform experience. He shares optimism for the next generation ...
Our guest this week brings enthusiasm and excitement to RBF which sets the stage for a great conversation. We welcome Manolo Atala, Co-Founder and CEO of Fairplay, a LatAm-focused revenue-based financing platform headquartered in Mexico. Since launching in 2019, Fairplay has originated $220M in revenue-based loans, built a team of 127 people, and made a huge impact in Latin America. Manolo shares how they’ve done that, and covers his diverse career journey before Fairplay, spanning advertisin...
This week, we welcome Elliot Begoun, a 30-year industry veteran, author, podcast host, and founder of TIG brands, and developer of the CARE funding structure. Elliot focuses on empowering entrepreneurs to be nimble and capital-efficient change-makers throughout their journey. He shares insights on building tardigrades, not unicorns (and why that’s a thing), and lessons from developing and deploying alternative funding structures that support tardigrades. We talk about why investors can be slo...
We welcome the dynamic Melissa Withers, Founder and Managing Partner of RevUp, an early mover and innovator in the RBF market. Melissa shares her unconventional journey into professional investing, emphasizing her commitment to remaining founder-aligned throughout. She sheds light on RevUp's founder-focused and non-dilutive model, empowering founders to have more control over their destinies. In the conversation, Melissa reflects on her early foray into entrepreneurship, embodying a "if you w...
In this episode, we're joined by Nick Mathews, the founder and CEO of Mainvest, where to date he has funded 400+ small businesses around the country. Nick is a visionary leader dedicated to rebuilding the American dream by empowering communities and small businesses with the capital they need to thrive. Nick talks about how his pivotal role in launching Uber in Boston helped him gain first hand insights into the economic challenges faced by local communities. He founded Mainvest to address th...
This episode features Chris Atkins, President of C2FO’s lending business, also called Capital Finance. Chris joined C2FO in 2018, taking on a pivotal role in spearheading a data-driven lending function. He successfully launched C2FO's working capital lending solutions for the company's extensive network of suppliers. Prior to his tenure at C2FO, Chris spent 12 years in the finance and private equity sectors, primarily focusing on smaller, lower-middle-market, and middle-market enterprises. No...
We’re taking a deep breath this week, as we dive into a conversation with Tyler Tringas, General Partner and Founder of the Calm Company Fund. In this episode, Tyler shares with us two very important experiences: raising capital for the GP to prepare for scale; and going to institutional allocators to raise larger funds. Importantly, these experiences taught him critical lessons that any investor should pay attention to. Tyler also talks about the rebrand of Earnest Capital to Calm Fund, how ...
On today's show, we're joined by Jonathan Bragdon, the CEO of Capacity Capital. With a remarkable track record, Jonathan has started eight companies, invested in over 30 businesses, and been featured in CNN, TechCrunch, BusinessWeek, and Inc.com. He's also a driving force in the Southeast startup community and has founded Capacity, a strategic advisory firm, as well as Capacity Capital, an innovative investment fund supporting over 80% women, minority, or veteran-led founders. In the episode,...
We make credit sexy(ish) this week with Mike Luebbers, the Chief Credit Officer of Novel Capital. We brought Mike onto the team at Novel after we worked closely with him as he led the underwriting on the credit facility we raised. We learned so much in that process that he was our first call when we decided it was time to hire a Chief Credit Officer. Mike is a world class credit investor, having been Chief Credit Officer at both Bridge Bank and Lighter Capital. In this conversation, which I p...
BJ Lackland brings 25 years of expertise in startup funding, with roles spanning CEO of Lighter Capital, Co-Founder of the Israeli RBF fund IBI Spikes Fund, and as a VC. A pioneer in RBF, BJ has funded over 350 companies since diving into the space in 2012. During his Lighter Capital tenure, he transformed the company from zero revenue to funding over 650 deals. Following his time at Lighter Capital, BJ provided advisory services to RBF providers and initiated two new funds. The first, IBI Sp...
Dive into this week's episode with Jonny Price, Wefunder's VP of Fundraising. A pioneering platform facilitating capital from both customers and investors, Wefunder's impact extends to over 1000 founders, including household names like Mercury Bank and Substack, boasting an impressive half a billion dollars raised from a community of over 300,000 investors. We cover lots of ground including Jonny's vision for an inclusive investment landscape that embraces not only VCs, but also retail invest...
In this episode, I'm thrilled to introduce Ruben Alonso, CEO of AltCap, a mission-driven community development financial institution (CDFI) operating across multiple states and based in Kansas City. Ruben has propelled AltCap's growth for 15 years, channeling over $300 million in alternative financing towards underserved communities and often-overlooked entrepreneurs. Noteworthy is Ruben's recent launch of AltCap's RBF loan product, opening new avenues for entrepreneurs. Ruben's unwavering de...
I am proud to welcome my friend and one of my favorite people in this community, Kim Folsom, a serial entrepreneur who has founded and grown seven companies and achieved multiple successful exits. Kim is the CEO and founder of Founders First Capital Partners, a revenue-based investment platform focused on empowering diverse-led small businesses with flexible funding for exponential growth. Additionally, Kim established Founders First CDC, a non-profit accelerator dedicated to helping small bu...
I’m pleased to welcome back Will Stringer, the Founder and CEO of Chisos Capital. Will invests in people — entrepreneurs, creators, athletes - using an Income Share Agreement at the earliest stages of business ideation and formation. Join me as I explore Will's journey, from his experience in the investment space to his innovative work at Chisos, supporting entrepreneurs and revolutionizing the investment landscape. Along the way, Will talks about Chisos' unique investment model, the transfor...
This week I sit down with Brian Parks, co-founder and CEO of Bigfoot Capital, a leading lender for established B2B software companies. With 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur in early-stage software companies and a background as an investment banker, Brian founded Bigfoot in 2017. He has successfully raised capital from various sources, including angels, VCs, and credit funds, and has deployed capital both as a banker and a non-bank lender. Hear Brian's unique journey, why he decided t...
Today, we have a special guest who I believe is on the front edge of a revolution in the Alternative Capital space: David Silverstein, CEO and founder of Ned, a software platform that enables online loan origination and management for RBF and other lenders. With Ned’s revenue-based approach, lenders can scale their operations and more quickly deploy new financial products.Key Takeaways[3:00] Dave’s path from politics and tech to alternative finance.[10:54] How Ned allows lenders to deploy mor...