BUTTONED-UP BORROWERS

What It Covers

Carrie Findlay, founder of Tekora asset lending, discusses charging 17-21% interest rates to venture-backed startups, predicting commercial real estate will trigger the next credit crisis, and maintaining strict lending covenants despite industry trends.

Key Questions Answered

• •Asset-Based Lending Rates: Tekora charges 17-21% interest to first-time entrepreneurs and venture-backed companies, not because borrowers face bankruptcy, but because they lack traditional banking relationships and carry scaling risk that banks avoid despite strong fundamentals.
• •Portfolio Performance Expectations: Approximately one-third of Tekora's loans fail to scale as projected, but the firm avoids losses by maintaining tight collateral controls, liquidating assets early, and structuring deals where underlying receivables retain value independent of borrower survival.
• •Credit Market Bifurcation: Companies accessing mega-fund capital from Blackstone, Ares, or Apollo face abundant credit availability with competitive terms, while consumer borrowers and smaller businesses encounter severe credit restrictions due to regulatory burdens and bank withdrawal from these segments.
• •Commercial Real Estate Crisis Prediction: Empty office buildings, struggling multifamily properties, and weak retail create an inevitable refinancing crisis that will spread to banks, CMBS holders, and private credit funds, triggering capital allocation shifts and deflationary pressure across the economy.