1 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:04.710 Johny Fernandez: And welcome back. I'm Johny Fernandez with 2 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:08.790 deBanked. TV. And we're here at the 20th annual SEAA conference. 3 00:00:08.790 --> 00:00:13.200 And right now I am with Ken Peng with Elevate Funding, Ken thanks 4 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:14.130 so much for coming here. 5 00:00:14.130 --> 00:00:14.520 Ken Peng: Absolutely. 6 00:00:14.630 --> 00:00:16.610 Johny Fernandez: So Ken, let's talk a little bit about, you 7 00:00:16.610 --> 00:00:19.280 know, just your experience so far here. How has it been, what 8 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.310 have you seen? And this is one of the first events in person 9 00:00:22.310 --> 00:00:25.010 that we are in. So how does that feel after a hectic year? 10 00:00:25.050 --> 00:00:28.530 Ken Peng: It's amazing to be back in person seeing people's 11 00:00:28.530 --> 00:00:32.820 smiling faces. I've missed that. And it's been awesome, because I 12 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:35.520 think the last thing I was at was deBanked Miami in 20 to 13 00:00:35.550 --> 00:00:36.720 January 2020. 14 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:37.080 Johny Fernandez: Okay. 15 00:00:37.110 --> 00:00:38.070 Ken Peng: So it's been some time. 16 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:38.370 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 17 00:00:38.400 --> 00:00:40.260 Ken Peng: It took me a minute to get back into the rhythm, but 18 00:00:40.260 --> 00:00:40.620 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 19 00:00:40.650 --> 00:00:41.250 Ken Peng: I'm good now. 20 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.260 Johny Fernandez: That's awesome. So let's talk about Elevate 21 00:00:43.260 --> 00:00:43.680 Funding. 22 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:43.830 Ken Peng: Sure. 23 00:00:43.830 --> 00:00:46.620 Johny Fernandez: Elevate Funding, you know, exactly, why 24 00:00:46.620 --> 00:00:49.470 is a company like, Elevate here at a payment show? 25 00:00:49.950 --> 00:00:52.770 Ken Peng: So we are primarily partner driven, right? We're a 26 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:55.860 true direct funder in the MCA space. I know a lot of folks say 27 00:00:55.860 --> 00:00:58.980 that, but we really are, and we are almost entirely partner 28 00:00:58.980 --> 00:01:02.100 driven. And so we like to work with ISOs, brokers and things 29 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:04.440 like that. So we're out here meeting all kinds of awesome 30 00:01:04.470 --> 00:01:06.120 ISOs and all kinds of awesome brokers. 31 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:08.730 Johny Fernandez: So within the last year, and compared to the 32 00:01:08.730 --> 00:01:11.370 people that you've been talking to, what have ISOs, and brokers 33 00:01:11.370 --> 00:01:14.070 told you directly, regarding, you know, partnerships, and then 34 00:01:14.070 --> 00:01:17.280 also just with the crazy last year that they've had, let's 35 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.350 talk about that. What have you been hearing? What have you 36 00:01:19.350 --> 00:01:22.410 been, you know, seeing in regards to ISOs and brokers? 37 00:01:22.410 --> 00:01:24.090 Ken Peng: Yeah, so I mean, obviously, with COVID, 38 00:01:24.090 --> 00:01:27.930 everything happening, a lot of funders fell off the map. And I 39 00:01:27.930 --> 00:01:30.210 think what we're starting to see right now is a lot of ISOs, that 40 00:01:30.210 --> 00:01:33.540 are trying to readjust and look for new partners to work with, 41 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:36.060 because maybe whatever partner they were sending that deal to 42 00:01:36.060 --> 00:01:40.170 in the past, has dropped off. So it's been a whole lot of well, 43 00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:42.870 tell me about you, like, you know, who do you compare to? And 44 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:46.170 like, how can I fill my, my, my slots right now, with with your 45 00:01:46.170 --> 00:01:48.210 products? So it's been a lot of that so far. 46 00:01:48.300 --> 00:01:50.550 Johny Fernandez: So I know, Sean and I, we've talked a lot about 47 00:01:50.580 --> 00:01:55.290 the specifics of doing meetings and interviews, etc, via zoom 48 00:01:55.290 --> 00:01:57.720 and a phone call versus being here in person. 49 00:01:57.720 --> 00:01:57.930 Ken Peng: Yeah. 50 00:01:57.960 --> 00:01:59.430 Johny Fernandez: Do you think that makes a difference? 51 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.670 Ken Peng: All of the difference? You know, I've done a couple of 52 00:02:02.670 --> 00:02:06.210 the virtual conferences over the last year. And it's just not the 53 00:02:06.210 --> 00:02:08.610 same. There's no substitute for face to face interaction, you 54 00:02:08.610 --> 00:02:10.890 know, you kind of like building that rapport with that person, 55 00:02:10.890 --> 00:02:13.260 because it's all about building relationships. And it's hard to 56 00:02:13.260 --> 00:02:15.720 build relationships over the internet, over a chat. 57 00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:16.050 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 58 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:18.450 Ken Peng: And so there's, I mean, for me, this is wonderful. 59 00:02:18.450 --> 00:02:21.060 This is actually back to normal, and, you know, doing things that 60 00:02:21.750 --> 00:02:22.530 we're supposed to do. 61 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.630 Johny Fernandez: Yeah, so talking about normal. We know 62 00:02:24.630 --> 00:02:27.240 here in Florida, things have been relatively normal. 63 00:02:27.270 --> 00:02:27.480 Ken Peng: Yeah. 64 00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:29.160 Johny Fernandez: For the last couple of months. You guys are 65 00:02:29.160 --> 00:02:31.920 based based out of Gainesville. So let's talk a little bit about 66 00:02:31.950 --> 00:02:34.470 how business has been like in Gainesville, and your 67 00:02:34.470 --> 00:02:38.310 experience, just tryna get the company, you know, back on its 68 00:02:38.310 --> 00:02:40.560 feet moving forward, out of Gainesville? 69 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:42.930 Ken Peng: Well, so, you know, obviously, we're kind of out of 70 00:02:42.930 --> 00:02:46.050 the madness, that is a lot of the major cities out there, 71 00:02:46.050 --> 00:02:48.810 right. And so for us, we've actually been back in office 72 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:52.500 since May of last year. And so everything has been going pretty 73 00:02:52.530 --> 00:02:55.830 smoothly. For the most part. Gainesville itself has kind of 74 00:02:55.830 --> 00:02:58.590 been a little bit more on the conservative, like, not 75 00:02:58.590 --> 00:03:01.560 conservative side, but a little more careful in terms of masks 76 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.830 and whatnot. Little less lacks than the rest of the state. But 77 00:03:05.160 --> 00:03:08.070 for the most part now, after the CDC announced that things are 78 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:11.370 okay, basically, you know, things have gotten back to 79 00:03:11.370 --> 00:03:13.140 normal, I went to a grocery store with no mask on the other 80 00:03:13.140 --> 00:03:13.410 day. 81 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:14.310 Johny Fernandez: Oh okay. 82 00:03:14.310 --> 00:03:15.660 Ken Peng: It was the most amazing experience in my life. 83 00:03:16.830 --> 00:03:19.650 Johny Fernandez: So let's also talk about, you know, what the 84 00:03:19.650 --> 00:03:22.590 experience was like in 2021. Really quick. And then now 85 00:03:22.590 --> 00:03:27.510 moving forward, what is Elevate plan to do? You know, 2021 2022, 86 00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:29.700 let's talk and compare versus 2020. 87 00:03:29.730 --> 00:03:32.340 Ken Peng: Yeah, we're gonna continue to grow. We were one of 88 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:34.350 the lucky few that actually continued to grow throughout 89 00:03:34.350 --> 00:03:38.040 2020. And we're gonna take that momentum and keep it going. We 90 00:03:38.040 --> 00:03:40.590 just brought on two more underwriters. We've been honing 91 00:03:40.590 --> 00:03:42.870 in on our new website, we actually just launched that on 92 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:46.800 Friday. And then our tech team has been very busy working on an 93 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:49.710 API integration capabilities. And so we're starting to roll 94 00:03:49.710 --> 00:03:52.380 that out as well. And so we're just gonna continue to build on 95 00:03:52.380 --> 00:03:55.050 that momentum and keep going. We're gonna start building out 96 00:03:55.050 --> 00:03:58.410 of sales floor as well, and continue to build out some more 97 00:03:58.410 --> 00:04:01.680 organic growth. And hopefully, things continue to go our way. 98 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:03.810 Johny Fernandez: So a pattern that we've seen here is that a 99 00:04:03.810 --> 00:04:06.030 lot of the business owners and people that are here 100 00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:08.880 specifically, that's one thing that they've said that 2020 has 101 00:04:08.880 --> 00:04:11.070 been a year where they've seen tremendous growth. 102 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:11.280 Ken Peng: Yeah. 103 00:04:11.310 --> 00:04:13.650 Johny Fernandez: Versus other businesses that have, you know, 104 00:04:13.650 --> 00:04:15.990 fallen through the cracks or that have closed, why do you 105 00:04:15.990 --> 00:04:19.770 think it is that people have succeeded in 2020 versus, you 106 00:04:19.770 --> 00:04:22.410 know, in other, you know, versus not succeeding? 107 00:04:22.440 --> 00:04:24.720 Ken Peng: Well, I think the downturn was kind of a blessing 108 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.390 in disguise for a lot of people because it let them take a step 109 00:04:27.390 --> 00:04:30.330 back, and kind of reevaluate their business as a whole. 110 00:04:30.450 --> 00:04:34.050 Right? So, you know, for us, we started looking at a lot of it 111 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:36.660 was out of necessity, because of you know, what was happening 112 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:39.510 with all the industry types closing down, and all the all 113 00:04:39.510 --> 00:04:42.570 the states closing down as well. So we actually had somebody that 114 00:04:42.570 --> 00:04:45.840 was dedicated to monitoring all of that stuff, making sure 115 00:04:45.840 --> 00:04:49.650 things were, you know, still viable for us, right, because we 116 00:04:49.650 --> 00:04:54.420 wanted to fund quality and not quantity. So, I think that made 117 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:56.880 us smarter. You know, we were able to make smarter decisions 118 00:04:56.880 --> 00:04:59.580 now and honed in on our underwriting guidelines and our 119 00:04:59.580 --> 00:05:02.700 requirements, and I think that kind of holds true for a lot of 120 00:05:02.700 --> 00:05:05.130 different businesses as well. So they're operating more 121 00:05:05.130 --> 00:05:07.440 efficiently and smarter now, from what they've learned. 122 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:08.100 Johny Fernandez: That's great. 123 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:08.400 Ken Peng: Yeah. 124 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:09.600 Johny Fernandez: That's great. So what are you most excited 125 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:10.230 about today? 126 00:05:11.820 --> 00:05:13.800 Ken Peng: I mean, all the networking, there's a lot of 127 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:16.140 people still showing up to this thing. There's a ton of people 128 00:05:16.140 --> 00:05:16.470 here. 129 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:16.770 Johny Fernandez: Yeah. 130 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.530 Ken Peng: So I'm really excited to actually meet some new folks 131 00:05:19.530 --> 00:05:22.620 and see some familiar faces too. So it's awesome. Yeah. 132 00:05:22.770 --> 00:05:24.690 Johny Fernandez: So and for people that are not here, what 133 00:05:24.690 --> 00:05:26.880 would you say to them, you know, that are watching right now. 134 00:05:26.940 --> 00:05:29.160 Ken Peng: Start going out to shows. It's perfectly safe. 135 00:05:29.190 --> 00:05:31.680 We're good. It's time to get back to networking and growing 136 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.710 your business. Let's keep it going, 2021's gonna be awesome. 137 00:05:34.950 --> 00:05:37.440 And yeah, we'll just let's do it. 138 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:38.760 Johny Fernandez: All right. Well, thanks so much Ken 139 00:05:38.760 --> 00:05:41.940 appreciate you being here in our space chatting with us. So 140 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:44.460 again, if people want more information about Elevate 141 00:05:44.460 --> 00:05:45.870 Flevate Funding, where could they find that? 142 00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:48.120 Ken Peng: You can come check us out if you're here at the show, 143 00:05:48.570 --> 00:05:52.920 but then also www.elevatefunding.com Take a 144 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:55.710 look at our brand new spankin new website and shoot me an 145 00:05:55.710 --> 00:05:57.330 email. I'm Ken@elevatefunding.com 146 00:05:58.200 --> 00:05:59.940 Johny Fernandez: Awesome. Thanks so much, man. Appreciate it. 147 00:05:59.940 --> 00:06:00.360 Ken Peng: Thanks, Johny. 148 00:06:00.630 --> 00:06:02.430 Johny Fernandez: And thank you guys. Of course we will be back 149 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:06.210 soon with another live interview right here from the 20th annual 150 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:08.370 SEAA annual conference.