Archive for 2023

Small Business Funding Companies Showcase Phenomenal Growth

The annual Inc 5000 list is out again and with it some big reveals about who in the industry is taking off like a rocket. We’ve pulled out some of the relevant names for you below!

#30 – B2 Capital Solution Provider – Miami, FL – 10,446% growth over 3 years

#38 – Novo – Miami, FL – 9,906%

#76 – Byzfunder – New York, NY – 6,228%

#89 – Valiant Capital – Houston, TX – 5,223%

#157 – Ampla – New York, NY – 3,404%

#180 – LeasePoint Funding Group – Austin, TX – 2920%

#192 – Backd – Austin, TX – 2,819%

#269 – Percent – New York, NY – 2,087%

#1383 – eCapital – Aventura, FL – 422%

#1617 – North Mill Equipment Finance – Norwalk, CT- 354%

#1622 – Oakmont Capital Services – Westchester, PA – 346%

#1837 – Nav Technologies – Draper, UT – 305%

#1942 – Crestmont Capital – Irvine, CA – 289%

#2026 – 7 Figures Funding – American Fork, UT – 277%

#2593 – SBG Funding – New York, NY – 210%

#2929 – 1West – New York, NY – 179%

#2947 – ApplePie Capital – San Francisco, CA – 178%

#3145 – Channel – Minnetonka, MN – 164%

#3737 – Direct Funding Now, Irvine, CA – 128%

#4085 – Smarter Equipment Finance – Las Vegas, NV – 111%

#4094 – iAdvance Now. – Uniondale, NY – 111%

#4651 – Expansion Capital Group – Sioux Falls, SD – 87%

If we missed you, let us know, email info@debanked.com.

My Unique Experience Running a Print Magazine

Two and a half years ago, the last ever physical version of deBanked Magazine rolled off the printer (Nov/Dec 2020). Some were shocked that we stopped it while those who knew the print business wondered how it had ever gone on for so long. It was a nice addition to our website, placing content in hard copy format and shipping it out to thousands of offices across the industry for a total of six times per year, every year. Covid disrupting the traditional office work arrangement made it impossible to keep a magazine going that had such a large percentage of office distribution. I wasn’t sad when I made the decision to cut the cord, more like relieved, for it was an extraordinarily tough product to consistently produce for very little return in exchange.

And that’s where my unique story begins. With an average print run of 3,000 – 4,000 per issue and distributed for free, our little b2b magazine left a big impression on many who received it. So much so that some subscribers began to wonder if the real lucrative business of this era weren’t all the financial products covered in the magazine but perhaps the magazine business itself! LOL. But on this I am not joking. Rumors spread and I found myself on the receiving end of both admiration and condemnation about how much profit people thought the magazine was probably making deBanked. The most common estimate I heard? That the magazine was guaranteed to be yielding at least $1 million per year just to myself personally after all the expenses. Which, man, would’ve been pretty awesome! Some threw out ballpark valuations for our magazine of $10 million (or even $100 million!!!!!) based upon assumptions that it made multiple millions a year in profit. Not the investment bankers of course, who knew better.

These numbers blew my mind, especially since I knew that they were very much rooted in complete delusional fantasy. If you want to know the truth, my internal personal valuation for our magazine had consistently been $0. This wasn’t some secret that I didn’t want anyone to know. I had just assumed it was obvious to all. I mean we were printing and mailing a free b2b magazine in the internet era. A magazine. A magazine…

In a good year, deBanked Magazine (when examined as a standalone) generated somewhere between $5,000 – $9,000 in total profit. That was with no salaries because it couldn’t afford even one full time employee dedicated to working on it. Not even myself got paid from it. The personal financial benefit to me throughout was a whopping $0. Thus with its extremely tight budget I played the role that a normal publication might have five people for in addition to working with a small number of freelancers for help in order to do the parts I couldn’t. I spent nights proofreading with a highlighter and days trying to figure out how we were going to fill up 30+ pages in a single issue. It was an incredible amount of work and truthfully, I really enjoyed it, which was the entire reason it existed in the first place. I thought it was a cool way to reach people that maybe weren’t reading our website and it provided us with a channel to create some long form stories we otherwise wouldn’t have created. I did not have one ounce of regret throughout that it was not a great financial business to be in and I promised myself I would just do it until I didn’t want to do it anymore or it started to generate a standalone loss.

But I admit the experience was slightly marred by the perception of how much some believed we were making from it. Everybody seemed to know somebody who had been in the magazine business and had apparently become a billionaire from it. They supposedly knew all the numbers, assumed our numbers, and as a result it made any humility I exhibited about it come off as disingenuous. I actually ended up becoming the target of some unusual hostility that I could not seem to shake about its “success,” no matter how obvious on its face that it wasn’t what they thought. There are those that will apparently take what they see and invent numbers off of how something looks and then tell others that those are the real numbers. I guess you live and learn.

And so when my wife questioned why she sometimes found me sitting at the dining room table at 2am hunched over a stack of crumpled printer paper with yellow markers on one side and a cup of coffee on the other, I made sure to tell her that what she was seeing was a billion dollars in wealth creation. My big find of the night might be that a product that wasn’t a loan had been characterized erroneously with loan-like language.

“Page 27, left column, 4th paragraph down, 3rd sentence, it says ‘repay,'” I’d write off to the printing press who was under the assumption that it was otherwise all ready to be scheduled for a job. “It shouldn’t say repay, it should say….”

Which was then replaced by something too long or too short that threw off the page count of the book and I’d wake up 3 hours later to be told that they’d need me to draw a chart, create a half page article, or maybe curate some photos to take up some space. “Also, there’s something wrong with the bleed on page 4 and these other photos you sent are RGB not CMYK,” I’d be told. “This needs to be fixed right now to meet the new deadline because you already missed the last deadline.”

Such is the mystical story of it all, the coming together of words on paper that then got sent in the mail. A good number of people enjoyed them. That was the reward. When it could no longer break even despite having no employees, I made the call to cut it. It was a lot of fun to be in print while it lasted. Also a heck of a lot of work. We tried a digital only version for a while thereafter but it just wasn’t the same.

I have a tendency to sell things at just about our cost of doing them because I know other companies have tight budgets. The hope is that people will like what we’re doing, it’ll have a positive impact, and they’ll want more of it. That’s pretty much what makes me tick. Had I another motive and the temperament for it, I’d be out there doing all the stuff that the people I write about are doing. It does look fun, but it also looks like a lot of hard work!

I don’t believe the magazine will ever come back, but I’ll never forget the experience of doing it.

After Comeback WBL Hits The “Express” Lane

When World Business Lenders (WBL) resumed funding in April, they made it a point to announce that it wasn’t just going to be some regular old reboot with fresh capital. The company was going digital. At the helm of the changes taking place is a new face, John Milligan, who has more than 25 years of experience in maximizing profitability and long-term growth for lending companies. He’s now not only the company’s Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer but he’s also spearheading loan production. And one of the first initiatives he touted was a more streamlined process for ISO partners.

The company’s ambitions first had to contend with any fallout of having paused lending in the first place, which started on December 9, 2022. At the time, WBL CEO Doug Naidus Cited “unplanned growth given market conditions” as the cause and loan applications in the pipeline that were caught off guard by the unexpected news entered a sort of suspended animation. WBL later secured financing in April that not only enabled the company to resume originating and funding loans “but afforded access to more lending capacity than ever before.”

The resumption spurred a race to revisit those pending deals from five months earlier to see what, if anything, might still be willing and eligible to move forward.

“The merchants in our active pipeline were our first priority,” Milligan said, “and we are pleased that many of them were able to complete their loan once we relaunched.”

That they waited the whole time was a big sign of confidence for WBL. The company’s unique product offering might have played a role in why the borrowers and their ISOs were so patient, however. WBL offers real-estate backed commercial loans in a field of competitors that are mostly pre-occupied with unsecured working capital financing, for example. Although it stands apart, the pace of funding and potential unfamiliarity with the process could be a drawback for ISOs not used to it. That was part of the inspiration for WBL’s “ISO Express.”

“First, ISO Express was conceived based upon feedback from ISOs that a faster, more streamlined program would be beneficial,” Milligan said. “Second, there are many ISOs which are unfamiliar with our real estate collateralized commercial loan products and ISO Express is a perfect introduction for them.”

The ISO Express program consists of 1-2 hour pre-qualifications after submission and 10-day closing guarantees for loans collateralized by residential properties. They accept pledges of second homes, investment properties and primary residences (in most states) as collateral; and say that being in a junior lien position is acceptable. Loans that are to be collateralized by commercial properties can also be submitted through ISO Express but Milligan says those are better suited for their Account Executive channel where ISOs can still engage with a traditional rep.

WBL also simplified their product to a standard interest rate and term, which they feel will make the total loan process faster and easier to understand. Overall, their return to the industry and these changes have led to an outcome that they’re happy with so far.

“In fact, since we relaunched, we have seen an increase in the total of number ISOs registered with WBL,” said Milligan, “driven by a combination of our new ISO Express program, an increased demand by small businesses for capital, and general tightening of credit guidelines throughout the market.”

What’s In Your Cup?

“I like cold brew coffee with an extra 3 shots of espresso and 2 packets of stevia to get the day started,” said Brin Richardson, Sales Development Team Lead at Banana Exchange.

Everyone has their own unique routine that helps them power through the workday. For some, it might be caffeine.

“I think coffee, for me personally, it definitely gives me the energy I need in the morning,” said Nicolette DiAntonio, Head of ISO Relations at Lexington Capital Holdings. “First thing when I wake up I put the pot of coffee on at home. I get to work I make my second cup…”

From there it’s another 1-2 cups throughout the day for her, which she said is still less than what the company CEO drinks. “It boosts my energy, my productivity and everything like that,” she said.

“I’m like an every hour on the hour type of guy,” said Frankie DiAntonio, the CEO at Lexington Capital Holdings. “Typically, like 6,7,8,9 o’clock and then I’m going for the rest of the day. And then I might have one more in the afternoon to get me through the rest.”

That’s about 5 cups a day for him on average. “Moral of the story, we love it over here,” Frankie said. “Lexington runs on coffee.”

Brandon Schadek, Director of Sales at Leads to Business said he’s definitely more productive when he has caffeine in him. “I just tend to be more alert and more on top of things but when I don’t have it, I feel like I’m lacking that extra energy.”

Unsurprisingly, coffee is his beverage of choice for that. “First thing in the morning, I have a Keurig and I use French Roast from Starbucks,” said Schadek. “That’s what I use for the coffee and then I definitely have I would say about two teaspoons of creamer, it’s caramel macchiato. […] And I have that every day to start my day.”

But caffeine isn’t for everyone. Ryan Metcalf, Head of Public Affairs for Funding Circle US, told deBanked that he really enjoys drinking Diet Coke, though not for the caffeine content of it.

“I love the taste of it. I like the coldness of it,” Metcalf said. Although Diet Coke has more caffeine than regular Coke, he feels that too much caffeine on a whole can actually impede one’s productivity rather than increase it. As such, he limits himself to two Diet Cokes per day and only enjoys them between the hours of noon and five pm.

“The king of all Diet Cokes is a fountain Diet Coke from McDonald’s,” Metcalf said. “There is nothing better.”