Category Archives: Raising Capital

Ep 243 – Downsides of Revenue Based Financing and Startup Funding Advice from Lighter Capital and Ceterus CEOs BJ Lackland and Levi Morehouse

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 243 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different.

Today Tom has invited two guests to join the show. We proudly welcome CEO Lighter Capital, BJ Lackland and Levi Morehouse the founder and CEO of Ceterus onto the Success in Business Podcast. They are experts in Revenue Based Funding and have great insights for entrepreneurs.

Revenue Based financing can be described as a royalty agreement. It’s a way to acquire capital and pay it back on a schedule that matches the cash flow of your business.

Lighter Capital provides that kind of capital to start-ups and is more interested in helping the companies that they partner with succeed as opposed to getting their money back. Lighter is the more friendly option for start ups looking for capital. They use technology to gather the data more quickly. Additionally they factor in the individual and personal partnership much more highly than other sources of capital including banks would. They want to get to know your business. They are looking at personality and awareness of operation.

Ceterus is a SAS company that started in 2008. In any industry, developing a product is expensive. Ceterus had self-funded the development of a software product to which they were selling subscriptions and it was really taking off. They wanted to be able to keep growing as opposed to holding tight and stagnant. He was in a part of the country that didn’t have a strong angel lending scene and a bank loan wasn’t an option so he looked into revenue based financing with Lighter Capital.

So how does Revenue Based Financing compare to bank debt or equity? Well, Levi explains that Revenue Based Financing is more expensive money than bank debt, but the advantage is that there isn’t a ton of regulation around it and in his case, Lighter Capital sat junior to your bank loan as a way to facilitate businesses getting all he financing they need.

BJ and Levi share some great expertise for entrepreneurs to really do their homework before acquiring any kind of capital. Revenue Based Financing has its pros and cons. Make sure you’re choosing the best option.

Levi is a returning guest to the Success in Business Podcast. You can check out his previous episodes here:
Ep. 223 – From CPA to High-Growth CEO With Levi Morehouse
Ep. 224 – The Challenge of Letting Good Customers Go With Levi Morehouse
Ep. 225 – Keeping Up With Your Company’s Growth With Levi Morehouse

Thanks for tuning in!

Check out BJ Lackland and apply for revenue based financing at LighterCapital.com or contact him by e-mail at blackland@lighercapital.com

Check out Levi Morehouse at Ceterus.com or contact him by e-mail at levim@ceterus.com

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep 242 – What to Consider Before Pursing Revenue Based financing from Lighter Capital and Ceterus CEOs BJ Lackland and Levi Morehouse

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 242 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different.

Today Tom has invited two guests to join the show. We proudly welcome CEO Lighter Capital, BJ Lackland and Levi Morehouse the founder and CEO of Ceterus onto the Success in Business Podcast. They are experts in Revenue Based Funding and have great insights for entrepreneurs.

Revenue Based financing can be described as a royalty agreement. It’s a way to acquire capital and pay it back on a schedule that matches the cash flow of your business.

Lighter Capital provides that kind of capital to start-ups and is more interested in helping the companies that they partner with succeed as opposed to getting their money back. Lighter is the more friendly option for start ups looking for capital. They use technology to gather the data more quickly. Additionally they factor in the individual and personal partnership much more highly than other sources of capital including banks would. They want to get to know your business. They are looking at personality and awareness of operation.

Ceterus is a SAS company that started in 2008. In any industry, developing a product is expensive. Ceterus had self-funded the development of a software product to which they were selling subscriptions and it was really taking off. They wanted to be able to keep growing as opposed to holding tight and stagnant. He was in a part of the country that didn’t have a strong angel lending scene and a bank loan wasn’t an option so he looked into revenue based financing with Lighter Capital.

So how does Revenue Based Financing compare to bank debt or equity? Well, Levi explains that Revenue Based Financing is more expensive money than bank debt, but the advantage is that there isn’t a ton of regulation around it and in his case, Lighter Capital sat junior to your bank loan as a way to facilitate businesses getting all he financing they need.

Levi is a returning guest to the Success in Business Podcast. You can check out his previous episodes here:
Ep. 223 – From CPA to High-Growth CEO With Levi Morehouse
Ep. 224 – The Challenge of Letting Good Customers Go With Levi Morehouse
Ep. 225 – Keeping Up With Your Company’s Growth With Levi Morehouse

Thanks for tuning in!

Check out BJ Lackland at LighterCapital.com or contact him by e-mail at blackland@lighercapital.com

Check out Levi Morehouse at Ceterus.com or contact him by e-mail at levim@ceterus.com

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep 241- Lighter Capital and Ceterus CEOs BJ Lackland and Levi Morehouse Breakdown Revenue Based Financing

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 241 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different.

Today Tom has invited two guests to join the show. We proudly welcome CEO Lighter Capital, BJ Lackland and Levi Morehouse the founder and CEO of Ceterus onto the Success in Business Podcast. They are experts in Revenue Based Funding and have great insights for entrepreneurs.

Revenue Based financing can be described as a royalty agreement. It’s a way to acquire capital and pay it back on a schedule that matches the cash flow of your business.

Lighter Capital provides that kind of capital to start-ups and is more interested in helping the companies that they partner with succeed as opposed to getting their money back.

Ceterus is a SAS company that started in 2008. In any industry, developing a product is expensive. Ceterus had self-funded the development of a software product to which they were selling subscriptions and it was really taking off. They wanted to be able to keep growing as opposed to holding tight and stagnant. He was in a part of the country that didn’t have a strong angel lending scene and a bank loan wasn’t an option so he looked into revenue based financing with Lighter Capital.

Levi is a returning guest to the Success in Business Podcast. You can check out his previous episodes here:
Ep. 223 – From CPA to High-Growth CEO With Levi Morehouse
Ep. 224 – The Challenge of Letting Good Customers Go With Levi Morehouse
Ep. 225 – Keeping Up With Your Company’s Growth With Levi Morehouse

Thanks for tuning in!

Check out BJ Lackland at LighterCapital.com or contact him by e-mail at blackland@lighercapital.com

Check out Levi Morehouse at Ceterus.com or contact him by e-mail at levim@ceterus.com

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep 240 – Who Does Revenue-Based Financing Work for Best?

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 240 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different.

Today Tom delivers on his promise to dig into revenue-based financing and who it works for best. It’s important to understand that revenue-based financing investors are essentially lenders. This is not “I love you money.”

Revenue-based financing investor will first consider revenue. They will want to know the prospect for having future, consistent recurring revenue. That’s called MMR: monthly recurring revenue. So, if you have a strong showing in that area then you would be an excellent candidate for revenue-based financing.

Examples of these types of companies are membership services like Netflix, Square Space, a paid e-mail through Google, etc. Tom continues to teach us that there is a positive correlation between the amount of the loan and the amount of the MMR.

Tom wraps up today’s great episode with a New Year’s toast! May you have a happy new year!

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep 239 – 80s Movies, Ugly Christmas Sweaters, and More Revenue Based Financing

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 239 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different.

Today Tom and Jason celebrate the fictional anniversary of the Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso’s legendary victory over the Cobra Kia, and Tom’s sister’s birthday. And, keeping with the spirit of the holidays, Tom gives pointers on how to emerge victorious from your next “ugly sweater” party. Spoiler alert, a glue gun and a lot of sass are needed.

The guys manage to bring the conversation back to business by returning to the topic of revenue-based financing. Tom uses the go-to hypothetical start-up, Kick-Ass Cat Sweaters to step through the mechanics of a revenue-based financing deal. Tom stresses how revenue is the most significance variable to revenue-based funding and determines how many Kick-Ass Cat Sweaters must be sold per month to repay a $100,000 loan.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! We hope you have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep 233 – Breaking Down Revenue-Based Financing

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 233 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different.

Today Tom breaks down revenue-based financing for us. It is a hybrid of sorts: part loan, part credit card. It is similar to a loan because the business gets a lump sum of cash up front to use to finance the business’ growth, perhaps toward the purchase of an asset or to finance production by purchasing machinery. It is also a little bit like a credit card.

The thing that really sets it apart is how it is to be repaid. It will be repaid based on taking a percentage of ongoing revenue. As sales ebb and flow the revenue will likewise fluctuate. So, with a revenue-based financing deal the payments will fluctuate, too.

In a future episode Tom will explain how to know if a revenue-based financing deal is right for you and your business. Thanks for listening!

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 232 – Startup Secret Weapon: See Execution Risk Like an Investor

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 232 of the Success in Business Podcast. We are here for you every Monday to teach you about success in business and today is no different, except that our host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles want to start off by wishing you a Happy Halloween! We hope you have a fun, safe and spooky day!

Next thing, be sure to tune in to listen to these recent episodes for a little more background to today’s episode:

Episode 218 – See Risk Like an Investor, Part 1
Episode 219 – See Risk Like an Investor, Part 2
Episode 220 – See Risk Like an Investor, Part 3

Understand that the investors are looking at 10 other deals and they will make their decision very objectively. It will come down to your ability to execute.

Thanks for listening!

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 231 – 12 Questions Every Investment Pitch Deck Must Answer – Part 4 of 4

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 231 of the Success in Business Podcast. Today your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles wrap up the list of 12 questions you’ve got to be ready to answer when meeting with an investor.

10. Is your team able to get it done?

It is critical that you can prove that you have assembled an incredible team. Even if it is a small team, that’s OK. It just can’t be you alone. At this point you need to have valuable people on your team.

11. How much money can you make in the next 3 to 5 years?

Investors’ business model is typically to invest and then liquidate in 3-5 years. They want to know that you can do that for them in that short amount of time.

12. How much money are you seeking, and what will you accomplish with it?

Now you need to “read” the flow of the conversation and get ready to ask a direct or semi-direct question. Are they still sitting back with their arms folded or do you have them leaning forward in their seat? Tom reminds us that you need to have a little swagger! Be confident that you are worth the risk!

Thanks for listening!

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 230 – 12 Questions Every Investment Pitch Deck Must Answer – Part 3 of 4

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 230 of the Success in Business Podcast. Today your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles continue discussing the kind of thorough preparation you must do before meeting with an investor. There are 12 questions every investment pitch deck must answer. We’ll break this into 4 parts. Today, in part three, we cover questions seven through nine:

7. What success or traction have you achieved so far?
Great idea vs. great business model = how receptive the Market is.

8. Who do you need to beat, and how beatable are they?

9. How will you scale the business?

Thanks for listening!

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes

Ep. 229 – 12 Questions Every Investment Pitch Deck Must Answer – Part 2 of 4

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 229 of the Success in Business Podcast. Today your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles continue discussing the kind of thorough preparation you must do before meeting with an investor. There are 12 questions every investment pitch deck must answer. We’ll break this into 4 parts. Today, in part two, we cover questions four through six:

4. What’s so special about your offering? This is a unique opportunity for you to prove that you have something innovative to bring to the table.

5. How do they make money? The investor is looking to make money. This isn’t a philanthropic venture for them. Basically, you have to remove all doubt that there is a real problem here for you to remedy. How is the investor going to make money?

6. How many customers will you reach, and how can you reach them? (How big is big?) OK, show them your traction. Show them who your customers are and how you find them.

Thanks for listening!

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

Like this podcast on Facebook

Follow this podcast on Twitter: @TomRyanSIBP

Get every episode free: Subscribe in iTunes