Archive for 2019
Lyft IPO Follows a Foray into Finance Business
March 29, 2019Lyft had its IPO today in the same week it announced that it was offering a debit card to its drivers. The company announced the launch of “Lyft Driver Services,” a suite of services for Lyft drivers including Lyft Direct, a no-fee bank account and debit card. The Lyft Direct debit card will allow drivers to […] |
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Online Lender Offering “Incredible” Returns to Investors is Recording Massive Losses
March 29, 2019StreetShares continues to rack up astronomical losses, according to the company’s recently filed unaudited financial statements. The company recorded a $6.4 million loss for the second half of 2018 on only $1.88 million in operating revenue. As in previous periods, payroll continues to be the largest expense. StreetShares’ funding comes in part from mom & […] |
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Tiny Small Businesses Struggle More Than the Rest
March 28, 2019The average credit score of the owner of a “mom and pop” shop (a business with four or fewer employees) is 30 points lower than the owner of a larger business, according to a recent study conducted by Lendio. (Lendio defined a “mom and pop” business and having four or fewer employees). Furthermore, the study […] |
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What Did Direct Lending Investments Invest In?
March 27, 2019When Bloomberg News reported that Direct Lending Investments (DLI) had lost approximately 25% of its portfolio value from a deal gone bad, some were surprised to learn that it had nothing to do with its core competency of online lending. VOIP Guardian Partners I, which stuck DLI with more than $190 million in unpaid loans, […] |
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Yalber Announces $20 Million Credit Facility
March 26, 2019
Amir Landsman, CEO, Yalber Yalber announced today that they have obtained a new $20 million credit facility from Park Cities Asset Management. Brean Capital served as exclusive financial advisor to Yalber on the transaction. This follows an earlier $20 million credit facility in December 2018 from a different investment fund. “The small business funding […]
Direct Lending Investments Charged With Fraud by the SEC
March 25, 2019
Update: DLI has agreed to the appointment of a receiver to marshal and preserve the assets of Direct Lending and the funds. The SEC has also published a press release on the matter. One of the biggest online lending hedge funds has been accused of fraud by the SEC. On Friday, the SEC sued Direct […]
Two Cultures Collided, Gently
March 25, 2019
Daniel Davis, CEO, Axiom Bank Banks are heavily regulated. Factoring companies are not. The two don’t always mix. So it was interesting last July when Axiom Bank, a regional bank in Florida, acquired Allied Affiliated Funding, a factoring company based in Texas. Fast forward nine months and the merger of the two companies has been […]
Undercover in the Underwriting Room
March 22, 2019
Think of the stereotype of a high energy, high testosterone sales floor of men practically shouting on the phone. And then scale it down to a level of about 2 out of 10. That was the environment I stepped into on a recent visit to a room of small business finance underwriters. They let me […]
New Jersey Bill Seeks to Eliminate Quick Easy Access to Small Business Loans
March 21, 2019
The speed at which a small business owner can access capital to grow and create jobs in New Jersey is too dangerous and must be stopped. This is the takeaway from a bill (S3617) proposed by New Jersey State Senator Nellie Pou that calls for a minimum 3-day waiting period between when contract terms are […]
WeWork, The Home Office of Small Business Finance Startups
March 20, 2019
Kunal Bhasin, owner of brokerage 1 West Finance, funded three A paper deals for companies that all happened to work out of the same Manhattan office building on the corner of 42nd Street and Third Avenue. It’s actually not as big a coincidence as it sounds because it’s the same building where 1 West Finance […]
Direct Lending Fund CEO Resigns, Investigation
March 20, 2019
In this dark blurry photo, Ross moderates an online lending panel in 2014 Direct Lending Fund CEO Brendan Ross, has resigned, according to Bloomberg News and numerous individuals identifying themselves as investors on an industry blog. The fund not only lost nearly 25% of its portfolio in a single sour investment, but it’s reported that […]
How to Turn Your Client List Into a Business Referral Network
March 19, 2019
Left: Chad Otar, Excel Capital. Right: Lori Miller, LGC Interior Design Excel Capital CEO Chad Otar was so impressed by a marketing company he helped obtain funding for that he turned around and emailed his other clients about the potential benefits of their service. As a result Otar said that about five of his clients […]
Can a Merchant’s FICO Score Increase By the End of the Day?
March 16, 2019
Earlier this week, Alan Hayon had a challenge – to get a merchant above a 500 FICO score in order to make them eligible for small business funding. Within 30 minutes, Hayon increased the merchant’s personal FICO score by 59 points, getting them above 500. And the deal funded the following day. Hayon is the […]
Business Loan Brokers Indicted
March 16, 2019
Five business loan brokers were named in a federal indictment in Ohio for defrauding a 69-year-old business owner out of his money and cars. In addition to being asked for hundreds of thousands of dollars in upfront fees to apply for the loan, the victim signed over the title of 55 vehicles to a broker […]
LinkedIn Posts Are Turning Into Deals & Dollars
March 14, 2019
On average, I sign up one ISO every time I post a message on LinkedIn, says Jennie Villano, VP of Business Development at Kalamata Capital Group. They don’t all end up submitting business, she adds, but overall it works. It costs her nothing more than her time and it produces results. Villano is among the […]
Competition Steps Up in Canadian Small Business Lending Market
March 11, 2019
Last week’s announcement by Funding Circle that it will establish an operation in Canada later this year is part of a trend of large non-Canadian funders entering or expanding into the Canadian market, according to Adam Benaroch, President of CanaCap, a small business funder based in Montreal. Funding Circle started in the UK and expanded […]
Common Mistakes Commercial Tenants Make
March 8, 2019
deBanked recently heard a live presentation given by Dale Willerton, “The Lease Coach.” Willerton is an expert in helping commercial retail tenants to find and negationate spaces. But much of his advice applies to commercial office tenants as well. Below are some common mistakes he urges tenants to avoid: Not Looking at Multiple Spaces Simultaneously […]
Storytelling Sales Expert Kindra Hall to Keynote Broker Fair 2019
March 7, 2019
Sales expert Kindra Hall will present at Broker Fair 2019 to teach attendees about the irresistible power of strategic storytelling. If you want to learn to sell differently and use the power of storytelling, her keynote is something you won’t want to miss! According to Hall, the shift from a transactional economy to a connected […]
Acquisition Costs Compared for GreenSky, Square, PayPal, OnDeck, Lending Club, and Prosper
March 5, 2019
Greensky, a consumer lending company, wants investors to know how low its acquisition costs are relative to the competition. The chart above, which appeared in their year-end earnings report, showed how much lower their sales & marketing expense ratio is versus Square and PayPal. deBanked examined three additional fintech lending companies and ranked them as […]
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March 4, 2019
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