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BJ Lackland. He has spent over 15 years as an investor in startups. As an investor, he\u2019s been in VC and Angel and is now the CEO of Lighter Capital, where he oversees over 200 alternative investments in early stage tech companies. As an executive, he\u2019s been on the executive team of 3 companies including CFO of a public tech company called Power Efficiency Corp. He\u2019s raised and uploaded over $150M worth of capital.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \u2013 Crossing the Chasm
• What CEO do you follow? \u2013 N/A
• Favorite online tool? \u2014 Cirrus
• How many hours of sleep do you get? \u2014 4-5
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 \u201cJust keep seeking\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:20 \u2013 Nathan introduces BJ to the show
• 02:05 \u2013 BJ was at VC in the early 2000s for 5 years and focused on energy technology
• 02:58 \u2013 Lighter Capital is a fintech company that revolutionized as a startup finance
  • 03:06 \u2013 They are using technology to improve entrepreneurs\u2019 access to capital
• 03:14 \u2013 Lighter Capital\u2019s model
  • 03:23 \u2013 An entrepreneur spends 8-10 hours with them before they write a check
  • 03:30 \u2013 The revenue-based financing tends to be the best aspect of equity
• 03:58 \u2013 On average, Lighter Capital provides companies $250K and can go up to $2M
  • 04:28 \u2013 Pay multiple is 1.5 to 2 times and paid typically over a 3 to 5-year period
  • 04:53 \u2013 If the company grows quickly, they can pay in a shorter time period
  • 05:00 \u2013 \u201cWe have every incentive of trying to help them grow\u201d
  • 05:07 \u2013 Lighter Capital is really betting on the entrepreneurs
• 05:20 \u2013 Lighter Capital has raised a total of $120M
  • 05:23 \u2013 The initial fund was $20M
• 05:45 \u2013 Lighter Capital is raising from traditional LPs
• 06:44 \u2013 Lighter Capital makes money like a bank does
• 07:35 \u2013 Most lenders are worried about payment defaults
• 07:44 \u2013 Lighter Capital focuses on helping companies grow long-term
• 08:40 \u2013 Lighter Capital has a minimum threshold of $15K a month
• 08:55 \u2013 Lighter Capital looks into 2 different audiences
  • 08:58 \u2013 One is their customers
  • 09:01 \u2013 The other one is their capital partner
• 09:14 \u2013 Lighter Capital is funding 10-12 companies a month
• 09:40 \u2013 Lighter Capital has a group of 9 developers and data scientists
• 09:49 \u2013 Lighter Capital has 90% accuracy for predicting revenue
• 10:45 \u2013 Lighter Capital still goes through several different factors for approving a company
• 11:56 \u2013 In Episode 421, Nathan had Ceterus who worked with Lighter Capital
  • 12:17 \u2013 The payment can or cannot accelerate depending on the company
• 12:44 \u2013 Companies can pay lighter capital earlier with a lesser amount
• 13:56 \u2013 Lighter Capital funded companies that are just by themselves
• 15:00 \u2013 Lighter Capital is also funding similar companies
• 15:36 \u2013 In Episode 542, Nathan had HipLead and on Episode 560, Badger Maps, and they both worked with Lighter Capital
• 17:34 \u2013 Lighter Capital worked with 101 companies last year
• 17:54 \u2013 Lighter Capital closed a lot of deals last Christmas
• 19:20 \u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

1. Thousands of new businesses are coming out every month; having easy access to capital is a huge advantage for them.
2. Predicting one company\u2019s future revenue is beneficial, both for the investor and the company.
3. Keep seeking, stay curious, and always find new things to learn about.

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Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Organifi \u2013 The juice was Nathan\u2019s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
• Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
• Freshbooks \u2013 Nathan doesn\u2019t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives