venture-debt
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Jim Labe and the price of buying time
Before venture debt became a familiar line on a startup’s balance sheet, Jim Labe was helping build the business of it. His career runs from equipment leases to public markets, with one question following him: how much time can borrowed money buy?
Rob Pomeroy and the price of a little more time
Rob Pomeroy built a career lending to companies whose futures were still taking shape. From Horizon’s first commitments to his final board departure, his story turns on a practical question: what can a company accomplish before the money runs out?
Mike Balkin and the other side of the bet
After decades investing in small companies, Mike Balkin moved into the CEO seat at Horizon Technology Finance. His next act puts a growth investor’s instincts to work in a business where the money must come back.
Scott Bluestein and the price of buying time
Before Scott Bluestein became CEO of Hercules Capital, he was responsible for its credit. His career follows a question every ambitious company eventually faces: how much is the next chapter worth borrowing for?
Parag Shah and the value of a wrong turn
A banking job in Buenos Aires was supposed to be a detour. It became the beginning of a career spent building investment firms - and asking how much freedom money should buy.
Sajal Srivastava and the business of buying time
For more than two decades, Sajal Srivastava has worked at the junction of startup ambition and repayment schedules. As the TriplePoint Capital co-founder prepares to leave at the end of 2026, his career offers a close look at the machinery behind venture lending.
David Wanek and the value of waiting
At Western Technology Investment, David Wanek helps finance young companies. At Cimento, he grows a wine business on volcanic cobblestones. Both pursuits ask what capital can do when it gives talent time.
Alkarim Jivraj and the price of keeping control
Before he lends a founder money, Alkarim Jivraj wants to know what the business can carry. The Espresso Capital CEO has spent a career working through the complicated relationship between growth, ownership and time.
Sai do Papel: growing startups is easier than getting paid
The Rio innovation group brings founders, corporations and investors into the same room. Its move into venture debt reveals what happens when a startup grows, but the investor still cannot cash out.
Mountside Ventures teaches the money people to ask for money
Founders need investors. Investors need investors of their own. Mountside Ventures has built a fundraising business around the awkward fact that both sides could use some help.
Hypercore wants to retire the second spreadsheet
Private credit funds hire someone to administer their loans, then keep another ledger to check the work. Hypercore is building a business around making that second job unnecessary.
Tacora Capital Funds the Balance Sheet Behind the App
The Austin lender looks past the software pitch and into the pile of loans, contracts and policies underneath it. That focus has helped Tacora turn a quiet corner of venture finance into a roughly $1.4 billion platform.
The Houston fund betting your best round is the one you never raise
Golden Section has built a $110 million platform around a contrarian SaaS idea: founders can grow, professionalize and sell well without surrendering the company one priced round at a time.
Mercury
Mercury is a San Francisco fintech that builds banking and financial software for startups and growth-stage companies. Through partner banks, it offers FDIC-insured checking and savings, corporate cards, treasury, venture debt, bill pay, and an API - aimed at founders who would rather not call a branch manager.