The CEO and co-founder of Fundation talks small business lending, bank partnerships, big tech, verticalization and what's next
While there are several online lending platforms that have reached scale in the small business space, banks still do the vast majority of small business loans. But many banks don’t have the capability to provide a modern, digital and user friendly experience. The good news is that banks now recognize this and are more open to partnering with fintech companies than ever before.
Our next guest on the Lend Academy Podcast is Sam Graziano, the CEO and co-founder of Fundation. His company is increasingly partnering with large banks to help digitize and streamline their small business lending operation (their latest bank partner was announced just this week).
In this podcast you will learn:
- The Fundation origin story.
- Why he quickly realized that they needed to be focused on institutional capital.
- The two pivots they have made since starting the business.
- The type of channel partners they work with for referrals.
- How they built their platform for different kinds of partners.
- The typical terms of their small business loans and lines of credit.
- How their white label small business lending products work for banks.
- The type of banks they are focused on with that product.
- Why it is easier to talk with banks today than it was a few years ago.
- How incumbent banks are becoming more like fintechs.
- Sam’s thoughts on big tech entering the small business lending space.
- Why we are seeing a verticalization in small business software.
- The paradigm shirt he sees in the future for banks.
- What’s on the horizon for Fundation next year.
