Book Launch! “Technology Enabled Lending: A Comprehensive Resource for Founders, Executives, and Investors”, available now on Amazon

Upcoming Webinar 6/16/26: We are partnering with Aleph and ZRG to discuss how Specialty Finance businesses should think about scaling their finance function in the age of AI. Register here.

Landscape Update

The first half of 2026 has produced a wave of unsettling headlines about private credit, war, high oil prices, and waning consumer confidence surveys. Many of our clients have the very same question: what does this mean for me and my business?

Our take is that the turmoil in private credit we have read about is real, but it is concentrated in corners of the market that are structurally and fundamentally different from the majority of financing our clients utilize to run their businesses. In short: a higher level of scrutiny by lenders will reward well prepared, well guided companies.

Don’t worry, keep grinding.

Pick a recent private headline; few if any involve systemic deterioration in the performance of underlying consumer or small business loan portfolios or deteriorating macroeconomic conditions such as recession, rising unemployment, or broad credit cycle deterioration. Consumer confidence is low; but behavior is telling us a different story altogether. The economy is strong and borrowers - consumers and businesses - want to borrow.

In equity, it's a tale of two cities. Yes, AI is dominating new investment and for good reason. However, our lending business clients are consistently getting equity checks too, and we do see a pattern here - the businesses we see raising equity capital successfully possess:

• Experienced operators

• Well articulated and thought out business models

• Strong financial models that point to strong unit economics

• Parsimonious Opex

• Advantaged, low cost acquisition channels

Don’t waste your capital on balance sheet

Whether VCs are throwing equity at you or you are forced to run the business on a bit of scant equity cushion, the market is providing options to expand origination. Forward flow arrangements are back!

Credit funds, once very focused on borrowing base facilities, understand companies need to protect equity and are more open to forward flow transactions. This trend helps manage equity while also opening up diversity of funding.

Focus on the basics

Yes, there is some noise and distraction in the news. Plenty of it. But, our advice to our clients and prospects is unchanged:

• Lead with transparency

• Protect your equity

• Diversify your funding sources

• Invest in your lending relationships

• Prepare thoroughly before approaching new lenders

We pride ourselves in our ability and success in preparing our clients to take on new capital by making their businesses easy to understand to a lender. At the same time, we believe our work also helps our lending partners better understand the business, enabling better, more confident decisioning.