RBFN Podcast

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, and the importance of accuracy in financial reporting.

Key Takeaways

[3:05] Marshall’s career background.

[[9:51] Asset-Based Funding.

[10:07] Sourcing deals.

[14:25] Case Study: A healthcare staffing company Marshall helped during the pandemic.

[22:15] Investing in the right types of relationships.

[29:35] Case Study: A protein drink client that stood out in the Better for You CPG space.

[34:58] What Marshall is both advising entrepreneurs on and warning them to be vigilant about. 

[38:13] The importance of accurate financial reporting.

[47:21] Building Asset-Based Funding Solutions.

[47:38] Relationships matter. Make sure you trust who you work with.

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter
Keith’s Linkedin

 Marshall: LinkedIn | X  

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 introducing innovative funding methods like RBF and the importance of supporting diverse fund managers. He talks about Catalyze's Fund Fellowship program, aimed at empowering capital entrepreneurs to build investment solutions for underserved businesses. Brendan also sheds light on the long-term commitment needed to build institutional-quality investment firms and provides valuable insights into funding vehicles for impact investors. He also demystifies MRI vs PRI for foundation investors.

Key Takeaways

[3:13] What led Brendan to Catalyze.

[7:15] Brendan’s interest in alternative capital.

[13:43] The importance of underwritable track records and the ability to benchmark.

[17:33] Getting more institutional LPs to write those anchor checks.

[20:45] The opportunity for big foundations to step into alternative capital.

[25:00] Capital Access Lab.

[27:12] Catalyze’s approach of being an anchor for underrepresented founders.

[30:25] MRI vs. PRI.

[33:22] How Catalyze helps capital entrepreneurs.

[35:46] Catalyze’s Fund Fellowship Program.

[37:46] GP Runway fund.

[39:34] What managers learn at the Fellowship Program.

[53:09] What Brendan sees in the emerging space.

[55:09] Embracing the learning curve with innovative models.

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin

Brendan: Catalyze | LinkedIn | Blueprint Local | Capital Access Lab

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 of impact investors and also touches upon the challenges of educating founders about alternative financing.

Key Takeaways

[2:29] Justin’s trajectory

[6:15] Wefunder overview and Justin’s role.

[12:10] Wefunder’s guidance to entrepreneurs.

[15:23] The challenge of explaining alternative finance to founders.

[18:17] The Wefunder founder experience.

[28:12] Overcoming educational challenges in alternative financing.

[33:20] The importance of patience and consistency.

[41:24] Mission-focused investing.

[44:11] Justin’s biggest takeaways from Wefunder.

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter
Keith’s Linkedin

Justin: Wefunder | LinkedIn | Chill Carters

Other links: Elephants, Not Unicorns | Peter Harris

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 advertising, entertainment, and the successful establishment of high-impact companies. He explains Fairplay's spin-out of Nazca Ventures and the company’s impact on financing and funding in Latin America. Manolo and I discuss balancing growth with responsible underwriting, and the beauty of transparency in strategic partnerships, and Manolo shares his vision of building Fairplay into a $1 billion company to improve access to capital in Latin America.

Key Takeaways

[1:45] Manolo’s path to entrepreneurship.

[5:38] Being a musician.

[10:19] Launching Fairplay in 2019 and expanding geographically.

[11:12] What happened to Clearco?

[13:21] Lending is hard to do well and easy to screw up.

[18:02] The embedded lending space.

[19:02] What we can learn from Metallica.

[24:14] The importance of straightforward dialog with investors.

[32:46] How not to pitch equity investors.

[40:15] Automating underwriting.

[47:05] Originating more than $220 million.

[48:54] The future of Fairplay.

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin

Manolo:  Fairplay | X | LinkedIn | 

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 slow to adopt new funding structures asd well. Elliot also shares more about TIG's commitment to fostering a supportive community for entrepreneurs through a holistic approach and a constellation of services.

Key Takeaways

[1:45] Elliot’s background. 

[2:13] Why Elliot started TIG Brands.

[3:49] How TIG developed its capital structures.

[6:39] Definition of a tardigrade and how it represents the brands TIG works with.

[8:37] Building a holistic ecosystem for entrepreneurs.

[10:53] Giving entrepreneurs optionality.

[13:29] The different funding structures TIG experimented with.

[21:38] The CARE agreement.

[22:44] Variable based redeemable equity.

[28:29] Alignment funding.

[33:59] Starting a rolling fund and TIG’s mindset of being a venture community.

[41:25] What has surprised Elliot throughout the journey.

[47:05] The future: building allyship.

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin
Speaker Series

Elliot: Tig Brands | LinkedIn | X | Tig Talks Podcast | Documents

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 want it, build it yourself" ethos from a young age. She talks about her desire to provide entrepreneurs with the transparency and tools they need to build the businesses they envision. 

At the end of the chat, Melissa shares a few of her favorite lessons from taking up boxing, revealing how it has aided her both inside and outside the ring.

Key Takeaways

[2:35] Melissa’s background

[3:58] What led Melissa to create RevUp.

[4:45] RevUp’s progress and journey.

[5:49] Melissa’s early background working in Cambridge during the dawn of biotech.

[9:38] Melissa’s Northstar.

[10:27] The opportunity to innovate the capital toolkit.

[11:37] Is capital innovation slow?

[20:20] How building RevUp has been similar to Melissa’s founder journey.

[24:16] An honest dialogue about what equity ownership really means.

[30:29] At RevUp, 60% of the portfolio is female-led companies and 30% are led by black or brown founders.

[39:43] How RevUp helps its portfolio companies.

[42:09] Melissa’s history in entrepreneurship.

[48:06] What taking up boxing has done for Melissa.

[52:40] The pros of Melissa’s unconventional path.

[55:24] Why RevUp would not exist if they tried to start it today.

[57:40] What’s next for Melissa and RevUp?

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin
Speaker Series

Guest: LinkedIn | RevUp Capital | | X | (Un)Founded podcast 

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 these issues, with a commitment to a community-driven approach funding small businesses across the U.S.. Nick discusses the concept of locality and how to scale, how companies go through the underwriting process, and what’s got him excited for the world of alternative capital in the future. 

Key Takeaways

[2:56] Nick’s former career as one of the early employees at Uber and launching the Boston market. 

[3:02] What seeing how Uber could work outside of major metropolitan areas meant to Nick. 

[5:33] How new regulations and frameworks coming from The Jobs Act and crowdfunding enabled Nick to launch Mainvest

[8:26] Fun fact: Nick was planning on being a rockstar and went on a few mini tours, with almost all his bandmates eventually going into tech. 

[10:21] Lessons Nick took from Uber to Mainvest. 

[11:03] The concept of locality. 

[13:03] Underwriting and the vetting process.

[24:50] Why local investors are open to funding local businesses, such as breweries and bakeries.

[28:22] Portfolio performance. 

[30:12] Mainvest’s 400+ deals they have funded and why the model unlocks interest in more businesses that need capital. 

[32:09] Customer acquisition strategy. 

[32:10] Mainvests’ capital strategy and revenue share model. 

[40:39] Building a bespoke financing platform. 

[42:40] Geographic hot spots for SMB financing. 

[47:31] What Nick saw at Uber that wouldn’t fly today. 

[54:57] What fundamental truths have changed for Nick since starting Mainvest? 

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin

Guest: Nick - Mainvest | X | LinkedIn 

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. Notably, he worked with Main Street Capital Corporation in Houston.

In our conversation, Chris provides insights into C2FO's remarkable journey, transforming from a startup based in Kansas City into a financial powerhouse that has raised over $400 million and accelerated invoices totaling $300 billion. Chris delves into C2FO's innovative approach and  significant impact on a diverse array of businesses, from independent  lawn mowing ventures to Fortune 10 corporations. Chris highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with adapting to the demands in the financial industry and how he thinks about automation and AI. He also emphasizes the the importance  of teasing out the various threads of one's career over time, and how they can unexpectedly converge to create a unique and fulfilling professional journey.

Key Takeaways

[3:00] Chris’s start as a commercial banker in downtown Denver, and later pursued an MBA to get into private equity and private credit investing. 

[5:28] The common thread of helping people and looking back to see how your past has impacted many different people and facets of life. 

[7:40] What Chris learned helping the FDIC examine and close banks during the great recession. 

[10:14] C2FO just crossed $300 billion in invoices and has raised $400-$500 hundred million. 

[10:58] The two key ways in which C2FO finances businesses. 

[14:18] The CapFin side of C2FO.  

[17:25] Why the first iteration of the lending business didn’t achieve scale and how they fixed it.. 

[22:04] C2FO’s substantial impact on underfunded, minority owned businesses. 

[23:53] First deal to a 72 year old who banks wouldn’t fund. 

[25:02] The Schultz Family Foundation investing. 

[27:18] Why CIM has been successful. 

[40:40] Chris warns of predatory lending and the importance of understanding terms. 

[41:49] The advance to being in the C2FO network. 

[42:48] The dangers of innovating on credit.

[43:53] The original vision of C2FO founder and CEO Sandy Kemper. 

[47:19] The role of AI in lending. 

[48:14] AI will only take the jobs we hate.

[49:34] Chris aims  to do more RBF. 

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin

CIM

Guest: Chris -  C2FO   | LinkedIn | Twitter 

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 Calm makes sure that the interests are aligned between funder and founder, the challenges Calm has overcome while scaling, and their steady, patient approach to growth.

Key Takeaways

[2:21] Rebranding Earnest Capital to the Calm Company Fund. 

[3:08] Calm has invested in about 80 companies, but Tyler aims for thousands. 

[3:45] The typical check size and use of funds. 

[7:13] Tyler shares two examples where he wished he had the Calm fund in his own career. 

[10:20] What’s more challenging - being an entrepreneur or a fund manager? 

[13:30] Creating the shared earnings structure.

[14:06] How often do Calm’s portfolio companies go out and raise a subsequent round of capital? 

[18:53] Building in public. 

[21:09] Why Tyler still feels like an entrepreneur. 

[22:02] Calm’s 80 companies and 200 mentors provide the opportunity for strong networking and connectivity. 

[23:51] Tyler’s experience shifting into the institutional allocator market. 

[24:46] Raising from large institutional allocators. 

[25:08] Investing out of their fourth fund and keeping it small and fast on purpose. 

[26:53] Shifting their approach away from the “interestingness”. 

[32:33] How Tyler thought about the infrastructure he was building and how he approached it. 

[33:17] Overcoming budget constraints. 

[37:37] Raising capital for the GP,  ad hiring the team, and building the technology. 

[42:17] Making the tough choice to downsize and prioritizing patience over scaling and fund size. 

[45:35] How they landed on the name Calm. 

[46:12] Tyler’s predictions for the future. 

[51:40] What has surprised Tyler the most is Calm’s growth, and how things are going better than expected. 

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin

Calm Fund 

Tyler’s Speaker Series 

Chisos Capital
Backstage Capital

Guest: Tyler - Website | X 

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, Jonathan shares his entrepreneurial journey and insights into empowering underestimated founders with a unique approach to funding and strategic advice. He talks about the flaws in most funding approaches that he’s noticed along the way, how Capacity’s structure is different from a typical investment, and tips for building and harnessing a helpful network. 

Key Takeaways

[3:34] How Jonathan got intertwined with the British Parliament and the Prince of Denmark. 

[4:52] What led him to Capacity Capital. 

[9:16] VC is a numbers game. 

[10:20] How the redeemable equity structure works. 

[14:22] Getting entrepreneurs up to speed on Capacity’s structure. 

[16:50] Jonathan’s fundamental belief that different companies need different financing options to grow. 

[17:14] A flaw in most funding companies.

[19:10] Who Capacity’s structure works well for, and who it doesn’t. 

[21:07] How Jonathan thinks about return targets by deal and portfolio.

[22:44] Jonathan’s fundraising journey to build eight companies.

[25:50] Advice for emerging managers. 

[30:44] Raising capital from the Capital Access Lab. 

[31:28] The lack of a supportive network in the finance space. 

[32:49] Jonathan’s predictions for RBF and alternative capital in the future. 

[36:38] Building growth tools. 
[39:30] There are no evil financial tools

[39:53] Focusing on the founder and the tools they need. 

[41:03] Advice for investors that are aspiring fund managers. 

[43:04] Jonathan’s surprise at the lack of recommendations and introductions at the investor level. 

[44:55] Innovative finance project with Blueprint Local and Metro Finance Lab. 

Resources:
RBF Network
Keith’s Twitter

Keith’s Linkedin

Blueprint Local
Founderpath 

Tyler Tringas

Capacity Capital
Capital Access Lab

Builders + Backers

Guest: Jonathan: LinkedIn | Twitter