November 10, 2025 • 30 mins
Ryan Rosett co-founded Credibly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis after recognizing the opportunity to make a big difference for small and medium-sized business owners and has spent the last several years developing groundbreaking new ways to make small business financing faster, easier, and more accessible using machine learning and generative AI.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's meet Ryan Rosette, founder and co CEO of Credibly,
a US based small business lending company that provides financing
options like working capital loans, merchant cash advances, and equipment
financing with a focus on fast funding and flexible requirements
for small to mid sized businesses. Ryan co founded Credibly
in the aftermath of the two thousand and eight financial
(00:21):
crisis after recognizing the opportunity to make a big difference
for small and medium sized business owners. He spent the
last several years developing groundbreaking new ways to make small
business financing faster, easier, and more accessible using machine learning
and generative AI. Please join me in welcoming Ran Rosette.
Welcome Ryan, Colleen. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I appreciate it, glad to have you here today.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Listen, why don't we start with how did this all
come about? I mean, it sounds like you're doing interesting
things in the world of small business financing. How do
you even come to this place today?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I started this business in twenty ten with my partner
Eden King. Prior to that, I was in a bridge
lending where we were lending money to real estate, like
basically secured by real estate. It was a process that
took probably thirty days. The term was like one to
two years, but it was like acute capital that needed
(01:16):
funding immediately, and it was opportunities that kind of sprung
out of the Great Recession from two thousand and seven,
two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine. That when
we originally thought in Detroit where I'm from, that we
were a single state recession, and then if you looked
at and then the entire country turned into this great
recession that occurred. That was like sort of the impetus
(01:37):
of getting into lending. We saw a need for small
businesses accessing capital. We also saw that banks take ninety
days to get an approval, and we thought there was
a better way to get capital in the hands of
small businesses throughout the United States by leveraging technology, machine learning,
(01:58):
data science, and today we have a number of generative
AI models that run to make it a more customer
centric experience for accessing working capital.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
What was the lending situation during that timeframe when you
decided to expand your lending make it faster.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What was the state of lending.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
We lend to small businesses and medium sized businesses.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
The banks do as well.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Banks are of course going to be less costly than
us because we borrow money from banks.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
We do asset back securitizations.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
But the process of accessing capital from a bank is
a very long process. So it could take sixty it
could take ninety days, could take longer for them even
to decision. So where we come in, we're decisioning within
two hours. Our applications are super simple.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Wow two hours. Two hours.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
We have three months bank statements, one simple application, which
is just basic information about the business, who you are.
We look at cash flow, so we're not necessarily credit focused.
We really focus on the bank statements and looking at
average daily balanced negative days in the bank NSFs and
the cash flow trajectory so to see like where a
(03:14):
business is, if there's any seasonality, things of that nature.
And with that, we have models that then price it
based on the industry type and what they can afford.
Because what's important to us is that we get paid back,
and also what's important to us is that we provide
an amount of capital for a small business that doesn't
over leverage them that they can afford to pay. So
(03:37):
that's what we do, and we make a decision, We
make an offer and a customer can accept and we
can find same day.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So it really is just a very seamless process.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
It's time usually the issue for a business.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Oftentimes it is it's situational, so like there may be
an opportunity that a business has that they can leverage
our cash for to buy inventory, to buy something at
a discount, to put an addition on their business, to
enter into a contract.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
It could be to pay to pay taxes.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
It could be, you know, certain things and as a
small business owner, things pop up that you do you
don't necessarily anticipate, and you could have had a leak
and the leak may have damaged you know, some of
the your inventory that may not have been covered by insurance,
or if it wasn't covered by insurance, it will take
ninety days to process. I mean, there's a number of things,
(04:28):
and so we provide this working capital to viable businesses
based on their cash flow. And that's that's really it's
it's we're very banks do a lot of things. One
of them is small business lending. That's all we're after that.
We don't do any you know, we're not consumer lender,
(04:48):
we don't do auto lending.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
We're just lending to small businesses.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
How did you end up getting particularly in small business lending.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I think, you know, before this we we were talking,
we asked me about my background. I do have a
small business background. I went to law school. My partner
and I are both lawyers by education. When I was
in law school, I opened a coffee shop in downtown Birmingham,
which is, you know, right right side of Detroit, Michigan.
And it was a time when there was no coffee
(05:17):
shops in Birmingham. I came from going to school in
ann Arbor. There were eighteen coffee shops in ann Arbor.
I went to law school and I was saying, and
I was living in Birmingham, I was, you know, just saying, like,
why aren't there coffee shops?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Like what's going on?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So I opened one and that was my like my
first entry into owning a small business. And I now
I gained an appreciation for small businesses. And then subsequent
to that, I opened a number of other businesses. Some work,
some didn't, and you know, I view like the businesses
that didn't work were super helpful to guide me in
(05:54):
because I always think like small you know, failures are
sort of what make you stronger and you learn a
ton from it.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
That's sort to how I got into this space.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
So it was just recognizing the need that small businesses
have and the shortage of options. You know, you have
friends and family, but like they have limitations as well.
And so we have started this business and you know
it's grown tremendously over.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The years with industries and economic uncertainty right now, what
advice would you give with all your experience the new
small business owners are anyone looking to start or expand
their business right now.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So you know, it's it is a little bit choppy
right now with the economic times. I mean, there are
some rate cuts that are scheduled. It's you know, we'll
we'll find out this week about the rate cuts. But
it's I would say, cautious, you know, be cautious. I'm
always I'm always a believer in you know, being prudent
taking don't take too much money, you know. So there
(06:49):
oftentimes we make offers and these are my favorite customers
where we offer two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, they
take fifty. That is a prudent small business owner, somebody
who who you know, knows what they need and doesn't
take the max, So those are like, you know, so
I would just try to identify, like where you use
(07:09):
this capital, how you will best use it, what kind
of return potentially you'll get on the investment from borrowing
money from us and accept it, you know, and take it,
and recognizing that if you can bridge this to getting
an SBA, or if you can bridge it to getting
a loan from a bank, that's fine, that's you know,
if that's the service that we're providing, we're happy to
(07:31):
be a partner.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
In that from that side.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So you've brought up twice since we started talking about
either getting over leveraged or somebody taking more than they
really should.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Does that happen a lot? It does small businesses.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
They may get an offer and they think that they
have a good use for it, but they may not
have a great use for it, you know, aside from
just having it in their bank account. So my advice
always is take what you need and you can always
come back.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know, we have a they call the bridge product.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That is, if we offer you know, two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, the customer takes you know, fifty or
one hundred thousand dollars they can come back in a
certain period of time and draw the rest. It's not
a line of credit, but it would just their approval
kind of stays open.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So we address that.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
So it's not a it's not like take it all
or lose it, assuming there's not further deterioration in your business,
which is something you know.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
That's part of the struggle we have with.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
From an underwriting perspective is that we're looking at a
small business that usually is in an LLC or a
corporation of some sort, and we then have to look
at that company and we have to make a determination
based on the credit risk of it, looking at the
owner's credit worthiness to some degree, but there's no really
business credit per se that is super predictive.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So we take a look at that.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
And then we we kind of say it's like a
mosaic of some sort, like we piece together a bunch
of data points that we have to paint a picture
and then to profile that business and that business owner
and price it accordingly. So for example, if you're a
doctor and you come to us and you've been in
business for twenty years, you're going to have far more
(09:13):
favorable pricing from us than somebody who opens up a
plumber who's been in business for six months.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
That the risk profile is completely different.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And so the pricing associated with the plumber versus the
doctor not because they're a plumber, because there's plenty of
plumbers we're going to give that been in business for
twenty years, that will give the same pricing as a doctor.
It's the six months in business that is like the issue.
So we'll still make an offer, but it may be
a little shorter in term, it may be a little
bit more expensive just to protect us as the lender.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And you said there are multiple factors that you look at,
and so how is generative AI helping you with those
decisions or how are you using it?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yeah, business, that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
There's a we've always been used I say always, like
for the last seven eight years, we've.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Used machine learning.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
So we're using certain data sets, we're using machine learnings
within our models. What we've done now with generative AI,
which is like an amazing technology. I mentioned industry types
for example, So industries are if you have like an electrician,
an electrician and so it says ABC the electric LLC,
(10:27):
and do you know if that is somebody who's putting
wires in the home. Do they sell electrical supplies, do
they manufacture electricity? All those are different, and so the
pricing and the margins on those are different. So how
we price them Originally when we were starting originally being
like a year ago before we had this new generative
AI model that has a provisional pattern that we've been
(10:50):
awarded congratulations, thank you, we were using humans and the
humans were accurate sixty four to sixty five percent correct
of the time. We now are ninety five percent accurate, Wow, using.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Generator of AI.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
And we had twenty five employees that worked out of
India that we were able to eliminate. So like, that's
just like one example of how we're using it. But
it's more workflow than anything else. It's a number of
searches and then it waterfalls into like what's the best
pick and it continues to whittle it down to making
(11:26):
the right decision.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So going from sixty five to that HI have a
percentage is substantial and many people will fear AI will
liminate jobs. That was interested you said when we use humans.
You know, it's such an interesting point in time with AI,
isn't it, Yes, but you believe it'll actually require you
to hire more people.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Tell me why that would be.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I just think as we continue to grow, having humans
in the loop will always be a part of our business.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
There's there's we have a workflow.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And then if there's a what i'll call like a
happy path where there it never gets kicked out of
the path. There's no red flags, there's nothing, but those
are rare. So oftentimes what happens is it will get
kicked out to an underwriter.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
The underwriter will.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Have to do some verification and then they put it
back into the workflow until it.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Gets through like the full automation.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
So like there's always a point where a human is
sort of looking at a stop gap.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yes, and you know there's a So that's just that's
an example.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
And is we continue to get busier and more applications
come through our system. Unfortunately, I'd say fortunately unfortunately, like
we we haven't been able to eliminate employees, but for
like over like offshore, but we've grown the origination such
that we can support it, and people get sort of
(12:53):
retooled into different positions, so we're using them differently than we,
you know, than when they originally started.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
So and from what I understand you, you don't believe
AI will replace humans, but will actually make us better
at our jobs. Tell me a little bit more about
your philosophy on that.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I just think there's a you know, I think AI
is moving really fast, so I don't want to like
project out too far, but like today and what we do,
we think that there's it's just going to be a
part of the process for us, meaning that the humans
will still have a role in making these credit decisions.
(13:29):
And as AI can learn the way a human, there's
still going to be a different post for that human
because it's always there's always going to be sort of
as we make decisions, if we make better decisions, as
our data becomes richer, as the AI models become better,
we are going to continue to to sort of iterate
(13:51):
with AI. So I just think it's a process that
we don't see changing for the foreseeable future. Like I said,
I don't know what to come in you know, five years.
I just see like all the models that are being
generated by either Gemini or chat GBT or Anthropic are
they just keep getting better and better and better.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So it's almost like the human side of it will
have just evolve into different roles or different different knowledge
base that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
We caught up skilling.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
So just like you know, moving people into roles that
they will that they may be managing agents, okay, that
will be doing the work for them that that maybe
humans were doing in the past. But there's going to
be mistakes and so there's always sort of quality control,
checking and verification and things of that nature that will
take place.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Do you think it'll actually require hiring more people.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I think it probably will. It's not something that we're
we always are hiring more people. So, like you know,
we're in certain roles, whether it be you know, I
don't think it can eliminate sales today for example, like
there's certain roles that are I don't want to say,
like protect, and there's other roles that are sort of
more mundane that I think that if the task, if
(15:07):
it's all task orientated, I think those roles will be
automated and and you know, whether it be accredibly or
some other business, I just think those are the first
jobs that get.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Automated and then you ultimately.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I would say, the AI curious employees will continue to
evolve with the business because if the business is going
to continue to evolve. You're never it's never going to
run with no employees, is And I want to say
how that would be very like ideal but unrealistic.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
You said a year ago you started having AI generative,
so it was, uh.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, I want to say a year ago we probably
implemented it. I think it's been like two two and
a half years since like chech GPT kind of like
went public, you know, with their first sort of open
source model.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, and how do you feel about how it's influencing
your business or how it's integrated into your business? Obviously
the results are substantially better, right, Yes, I.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Think it's a I mean I personally, I think it's amazing.
I think it's and I think we continue to evolve
with it, so I don't think we have even reached
even close to like critical mass of like what we
are experimenting with right now. So I'm super excited by it.
And you know, I would say anyone who isn't curious
(16:22):
about it should be, you know, because it's evolving. I
have we mentioned I have three children. It's something that
I continue to push to them to say, you know,
you got to learn about this because if you put
your head in the sand and you think this is
going away, it's not.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah, it's far beyond that. Yes, this point right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You are in your second ear of the Credibly Small
Business Awards. Can you talk about that and also explain
how grants and awards like the Credibly Small Business Awards
are overlooked but a powerful strategy for small business owners?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Talk more about that on the Small Business Awards.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
We do we offer grants to small businesses that make
application to us that it doesn't necessarily have to be
a customer of ours. It's not weighted that way. It's
the story, it's how they use it. We've had great
use cases that have come out of it. Can you
give me some examples. Yeah, there was just a you know,
so there was a wine distributor that had like a
(17:17):
great experience by.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Using the grant.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And it's something that we look at the story, we
see how they're potentially going to leverage or use the money.
It goes in front of a committee, there's no there's
no preconceived decisions in terms.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Of like how we look at it.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
It doesn't we don't wait whether or not you've been
a customer or not a customer before.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
We don't care.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
We're really just trying to help the small businesses gain
access to work in capital.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
If they need a grant, like you know, and.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
They have a good story, we're more than happy to
you know, try to help them. And we put it
into you know, the contest, and you know, I hope
they win, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I mean so I love that you guys do that
for small businesses. So you haven't here or somebody does.
How grants and awards are often over looked a bit
of a powerful strategy?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yes? Is that for real? How grant? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Explain how grants and awards like the ones you guys
do are often overlooked, but a powerful strategy for small
business owners.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
It's you know, what's interesting is like we had I
want to say, last year, we had a winner and
we it was there's no strings attached. It was like,
if you win, you get the money. The person either
one they thought we were cold calling them or two
for whatever reason, would never take or call. And all
we were doing was trying to offer them money and
(18:32):
we tried their.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Hats to be a catch. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, and they just did not believe us. Nobody ever
just gives away money. Yeah, so it was just so
that was yeah, that was that was that was that
was a strange occurrence and so we had to go
to the next you know candidate that you know, but
that was, you know, too bad for them because really
all we were trying to do was provide them what
they deserve, which was they won.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
But yeah, no, it's a you know, it's something we're
really excited by. We get a ton of submissions like
that are seeking this the working capital grant, So it's
it's something that you know, we're we're proud of. We uh,
it's it's helped us a lot in terms of you know,
of course like when you when you apply, like what
will continue to touch base with you so that we
(19:16):
can give you educational tools and things like that that
in the event that you ever need working capital in
the future, you might get an email from us. But
like to that extent, that's it. So beyond that, there's
really no strings attached.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
That's awesome. I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So you had mentioned that you've had multiple business this
is some some that did well and that some that
you used as learning platforms. One lessons have you learned
as a leader about embracing those failures because sometimes they're
super fameful, that's for sure. And how can business owners
reframe those setbacks as growth opportunities what have How have
you used that mental ability to make it work for
(19:52):
you as opposed to it being like just a hardship.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, it's you know, it's a it's it's a tough
thing to do, but it's something that.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
You just got to get out of bed.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
The next day, you know, put your pants on, you know,
socks on, shoes on it. It just goes back up, pull
your boots back up and get going because there's you know,
there's no time to feel sorry for yourself.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
You learn what mistakes you made.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
And in business, I would say that's something that I
really have utilized, just as in more of a leadership role,
is that allowing failures is like a very vital part
of our business. So it's letting people fail as long
as they don't as long as it's not too big
of a failure, you know, and they don't do that
(20:39):
failure again. You know, they learn from it so they
don't make the same mistakes twice. That's something that we
very much encourage as a company culture because like that's
the only way you learn is by you know, if everything,
if you have no failures, you almost think that you're
you're invincible in some ways. And so like having some
setbacks generally, I think can be used as a positive.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
You know, it's funny you said you have three kids.
I have three kids too, And it's funny how much
we want to avoid their failures, and yet here we
are sitting saying all the things. You know, you said,
all the things that you learn from your failures.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yep, no, no, no, I and trust me I I you know,
there's like what the helicop parents and things like that
that you know. One thing I know, my wife and
I always my wife and I always say when my
kids were little, would be when they fell, you know,
they it looks like if it would be a fall,
Like if if I fell, I feel like I'd be
in the hospital for four weeks, you know. But like
they've all you know, running straight and you know, face
(21:33):
and you just kind of wait for the reaction and
you know, if they get up and pop up and
everything's okay.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
But if you run over there and you know and
dust them off and say, is everything okay? You know?
Speaker 3 (21:43):
So and they think that maybe you know, so it's
also it's part of the reaction. But I agree with
you as a parent that it's it's hard watching failure,
but it's it's it's such an important part of like growth.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
It's interesting that you in business you're okay with that failure.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Yes, you know, I am like you know, and I
say it like in like even the things we do,
like in marketing, is so easy to you know, because
you almost have to always test and some things work
and some things don't.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
But never are we fingerpointing saying.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Like, oh my god, you spent X amount of thousands
of dollars or whatever and that didn't work.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, shame on you. That's that's the nature of learning.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
How do you foster your workplace culture? How do you
balance innovation with accountability, especially when you're testing new AI
tools and approaches?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
You know, I would say culture with during COVID was
a challenge, okay, and so and we just did a
return to office three days a week. We maybe implemented
that four months ago, so we were kind of slow
to that change. But I believe working together and collaborating
is just vital. Anyone can tell me differently, that you
(22:50):
can work super hard remote, I can't.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
And I'm not basing it solely on my decision.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
I just my daughter just got her first job and
I watched her work remote for a little and it
just isn't the same as working together, and especially in
light of like what's going on in Generative AI, having
a collaborative work environment where you're going over the shoulder,
you're seeing what people are doing, you're trying to help
one another. I just think it's just a just a
(23:15):
very valuable tool. And as much as I get the
commute sometimes isn't super pleasurable, and certain things about coming
to an office may not be the best I would
just say that it's you know, I think it out.
What outweighs it is the business and what the business needs,
and I find it to be like.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
A very valuable part.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
So the culture that we create is very transparent, trusting,
Like you know, one of our values is we care.
We do spirited debates, like we debate a lot, but
debating just trying to find the right answer. It's not
to see who can win the debate. It's really just
trying to find what the best course of action is.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
It's hard to debate over our teams or zoom.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Oh. I think I think it's like, you know, it's
the worst. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
And when somebody says, hey, do you want to just
do a phone call versus like a zoom, I'm like yeah,
I'm like that. I'll take that. I don't need to
be on video.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
So that's hilarious. What advice you'd give other CEOs about
preparing their teams for the AI driven future?
Speaker 2 (24:16):
You've jumped right in, yes, you know, I just think
you need to jump right And I just think there's.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
How they even figure it out, Like how did you
figure that out?
Speaker 3 (24:23):
So we put together we have someone on our team
who is very tech forward, not a technologist, but just
very like you know, i'd say tech curious and just
you know, really pushes the boundaries and she runs her
strategy and she put together a skunk works team which
(24:43):
is just you know for short for like innovation lab
or whatever. And we've just been generating a lot of
great work product out of that and really kind of
I don't want to say trial and air, but just
putting together some amazing work is coming out of that
that we're able to implement into our workflow. So and
I do think it comes from the top down, So
(25:05):
I think, you know, the leaders of the company. It's
not something that we just like have a memo on
and say like oh this AI, this is what this.
You know, we are doing it and we're leveraging it
and in ways that it hasn't been done before. So
like there's a lot that we do and there's so
much more in store. I think we're you know, scratching
the surface. But when if somebody's not evolving to or
(25:30):
gravitating to it personally, I think it's a mistake.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Is everybody in the small business lending sector using machine
learning or generative AI in their decisions?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
I would say, you know, some of the more sophisticated
ones are definitely using machine learning, I would you know,
I can't speak to whether they're using generative AI yet.
You know, data science has been core to our business
for a long time, probably going out ten years, and
we have a very robust data science team, you know,
(26:04):
so we're analyzing everything from you know, from top of
the funnel when an application comes in, all the way
through the portfolio in portfolio management. So it's it's like
everything is measured. You know, there's KPIs on everything we do.
There's just it really there's the data is almost there's
(26:25):
almost too much. And you know, I don't think anyone
will be pleased with me saying it, but it's like
the amount of reporting that we get is just it's
it's almost hard to keep up with.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Where do you see small business lending heading over the
next five years and what role will AI play in
shaping that future?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Can you speculate a little bit for me.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, I think that people are starting to get or
have become comfortable with using online lenders. So again, we're
an alternative fintech non bank lender, So the distinction is
being a non bank, and I think that early small businesses.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Have gravitated to this type of product.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
So I think where a business has good cash flow
and they have good credit and they run a sound business,
I think they're going to get really attractive offers from
companies like us, that it's going to be very competitive
to what they would see elsewhere, and you know, from
potentially even banks. And so I just think that that
(27:27):
that evolution will continue. And America is a very innovative
country and we are the backbone of our economy is
always small businesses, so I just think it will continue
to grow. And with AI, I think there's going to
be more innovation. I think there's going to be more
people that are going to be you know, solo entrepreneurs
and creating businesses and you know that may have one
(27:49):
employee but generates revenue and we'll service that customer.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
What do you want the experience to be when people
come to you online and decide that they're going to apply.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
The last two years, you know, every year we kind
of have a year of something, you know, like whether
it's like year of portfolio or whatever, you know, like
where we focus our full energy on something. This the
last two years have been the customer experience, user experience,
just making it very easy for a customer to interface
with us. So the goal is really just to have
(28:23):
a fully automated approval you know, for a certain segment
of the.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Population quickly it sounds like, oh very fast.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
You know, and those would be you know, within minutes
if it's fully automated. So that's like, you know, the
two hours would go away. Two hours is like is
average with human in the loop. This is like a
perfect you know, I'll call it application. Not everyone's going
to have a perfect application. So you know, where they've
been in business for ten years, they have good cash flow,
they have seven hundred FIICO, they there's no negative days
(28:54):
in the bank and everything checks out. They're not a
foreign entity or a foreign citizen or what you know,
no red flags that then the customer would go through
what we call an online checkout where they get a link.
The link then you know, gives them their it asks
a series of questions. It goes through a biometric which
is basically you know, takes a picture of their face,
(29:14):
takes a picture of their driver's license, verifies from a
geotagging perspective that they're like in the location that we
believe they're in uh, and then sign the agreement and
get funded. So which is like you know, a seven
minute process. So it's really a fast process.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So it's that's where we are heading, and we're really
excited by it, and it's you know, we think that's
going to be the next you know, wave of innovation.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
For small business lending. Do you love what you do?
I do? I enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
I have a good time And I always say to
everyone who works you might as well, like everyone that
you know, work life balance is super important, and if
you don't, I work more than I see my family generally.
You know, I'm at work and you know so. I
always say that you might as well like what you do.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
And I do. I really enjoy what I do. What
do you love about it? I like?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
I like the people I work with a lot. I
care for them. I like, I like the employees. I
like the teams we built. I just I feel good
about what we're doing. I like that we're providing work
and capital to businesses. I like that customers appreciate us.
Not all, but you know, i'd say I'm the vast
majority they do. Like we make an offer, we don't
(30:25):
say you have to accept it. You know, it's really
just it's an option for them. I like what I do.
I really like, you know, like, would I rather be
with on a vacation, Yes, okay, you know, on a beach,
but but.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
If you got to work. If I gotta work, I
like what I do. This is where I want to be.
That's great.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Our guest today has been Ryan Rosead, He's founder and
co CEO of Credibly.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Thanks for joining us today, Ryan, I appreciate Colleen thank
you so much,
Let's meet Ryan Rosette, founder and co CEO of Credibly,
a US based small business lending company that provides financing
options like working capital loans, merchant cash advances, and equipment
financing with a focus on fast funding and flexible requirements
for small to mid sized businesses. Ryan co founded Credibly
in the aftermath of the two thousand and eight financial
(00:21):
crisis after recognizing the opportunity to make a big difference
for small and medium sized business owners. He spent the
last several years developing groundbreaking new ways to make small
business financing faster, easier, and more accessible using machine learning
and generative AI. Please join me in welcoming Ran Rosette.
Welcome Ryan, Colleen. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I appreciate it, glad to have you here today.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Listen, why don't we start with how did this all
come about? I mean, it sounds like you're doing interesting
things in the world of small business financing. How do
you even come to this place today?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I started this business in twenty ten with my partner
Eden King. Prior to that, I was in a bridge
lending where we were lending money to real estate, like
basically secured by real estate. It was a process that
took probably thirty days. The term was like one to
two years, but it was like acute capital that needed
(01:16):
funding immediately, and it was opportunities that kind of sprung
out of the Great Recession from two thousand and seven,
two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine. That when
we originally thought in Detroit where I'm from, that we
were a single state recession, and then if you looked
at and then the entire country turned into this great
recession that occurred. That was like sort of the impetus
(01:37):
of getting into lending. We saw a need for small
businesses accessing capital. We also saw that banks take ninety
days to get an approval, and we thought there was
a better way to get capital in the hands of
small businesses throughout the United States by leveraging technology, machine learning,
(01:58):
data science, and today we have a number of generative
AI models that run to make it a more customer
centric experience for accessing working capital.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
What was the lending situation during that timeframe when you
decided to expand your lending make it faster.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What was the state of lending.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
We lend to small businesses and medium sized businesses.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
The banks do as well.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Banks are of course going to be less costly than
us because we borrow money from banks.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
We do asset back securitizations.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
But the process of accessing capital from a bank is
a very long process. So it could take sixty it
could take ninety days, could take longer for them even
to decision. So where we come in, we're decisioning within
two hours. Our applications are super simple.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Wow two hours. Two hours.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
We have three months bank statements, one simple application, which
is just basic information about the business, who you are.
We look at cash flow, so we're not necessarily credit focused.
We really focus on the bank statements and looking at
average daily balanced negative days in the bank NSFs and
the cash flow trajectory so to see like where a
(03:14):
business is, if there's any seasonality, things of that nature.
And with that, we have models that then price it
based on the industry type and what they can afford.
Because what's important to us is that we get paid back,
and also what's important to us is that we provide
an amount of capital for a small business that doesn't
over leverage them that they can afford to pay. So
(03:37):
that's what we do, and we make a decision, We
make an offer and a customer can accept and we
can find same day.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So it really is just a very seamless process.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
It's time usually the issue for a business.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Oftentimes it is it's situational, so like there may be
an opportunity that a business has that they can leverage
our cash for to buy inventory, to buy something at
a discount, to put an addition on their business, to
enter into a contract.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
It could be to pay to pay taxes.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
It could be, you know, certain things and as a
small business owner, things pop up that you do you
don't necessarily anticipate, and you could have had a leak
and the leak may have damaged you know, some of
the your inventory that may not have been covered by insurance,
or if it wasn't covered by insurance, it will take
ninety days to process. I mean, there's a number of things,
(04:28):
and so we provide this working capital to viable businesses
based on their cash flow. And that's that's really it's
it's we're very banks do a lot of things. One
of them is small business lending. That's all we're after that.
We don't do any you know, we're not consumer lender,
(04:48):
we don't do auto lending.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
We're just lending to small businesses.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
How did you end up getting particularly in small business lending.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I think, you know, before this we we were talking,
we asked me about my background. I do have a
small business background. I went to law school. My partner
and I are both lawyers by education. When I was
in law school, I opened a coffee shop in downtown Birmingham,
which is, you know, right right side of Detroit, Michigan.
And it was a time when there was no coffee
(05:17):
shops in Birmingham. I came from going to school in
ann Arbor. There were eighteen coffee shops in ann Arbor.
I went to law school and I was saying, and
I was living in Birmingham, I was, you know, just saying, like,
why aren't there coffee shops?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Like what's going on?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
So I opened one and that was my like my
first entry into owning a small business. And I now
I gained an appreciation for small businesses. And then subsequent
to that, I opened a number of other businesses. Some work,
some didn't, and you know, I view like the businesses
that didn't work were super helpful to guide me in
(05:54):
because I always think like small you know, failures are
sort of what make you stronger and you learn a
ton from it.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
That's sort to how I got into this space.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
So it was just recognizing the need that small businesses
have and the shortage of options. You know, you have
friends and family, but like they have limitations as well.
And so we have started this business and you know
it's grown tremendously over.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The years with industries and economic uncertainty right now, what
advice would you give with all your experience the new
small business owners are anyone looking to start or expand
their business right now.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So you know, it's it is a little bit choppy
right now with the economic times. I mean, there are
some rate cuts that are scheduled. It's you know, we'll
we'll find out this week about the rate cuts. But
it's I would say, cautious, you know, be cautious. I'm
always I'm always a believer in you know, being prudent
taking don't take too much money, you know. So there
(06:49):
oftentimes we make offers and these are my favorite customers
where we offer two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, they
take fifty. That is a prudent small business owner, somebody
who who you know, knows what they need and doesn't
take the max, So those are like, you know, so
I would just try to identify, like where you use
(07:09):
this capital, how you will best use it, what kind
of return potentially you'll get on the investment from borrowing
money from us and accept it, you know, and take it,
and recognizing that if you can bridge this to getting
an SBA, or if you can bridge it to getting
a loan from a bank, that's fine, that's you know,
if that's the service that we're providing, we're happy to
(07:31):
be a partner.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
In that from that side.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So you've brought up twice since we started talking about
either getting over leveraged or somebody taking more than they
really should.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Does that happen a lot? It does small businesses.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
They may get an offer and they think that they
have a good use for it, but they may not
have a great use for it, you know, aside from
just having it in their bank account. So my advice
always is take what you need and you can always
come back.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know, we have a they call the bridge product.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That is, if we offer you know, two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, the customer takes you know, fifty or
one hundred thousand dollars they can come back in a
certain period of time and draw the rest. It's not
a line of credit, but it would just their approval
kind of stays open.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So we address that.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
So it's not a it's not like take it all
or lose it, assuming there's not further deterioration in your business,
which is something you know.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
That's part of the struggle we have with.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
From an underwriting perspective is that we're looking at a
small business that usually is in an LLC or a
corporation of some sort, and we then have to look
at that company and we have to make a determination
based on the credit risk of it, looking at the
owner's credit worthiness to some degree, but there's no really
business credit per se that is super predictive.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So we take a look at that.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
And then we we kind of say it's like a
mosaic of some sort, like we piece together a bunch
of data points that we have to paint a picture
and then to profile that business and that business owner
and price it accordingly. So for example, if you're a
doctor and you come to us and you've been in
business for twenty years, you're going to have far more
(09:13):
favorable pricing from us than somebody who opens up a
plumber who's been in business for six months.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
That the risk profile is completely different.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And so the pricing associated with the plumber versus the
doctor not because they're a plumber, because there's plenty of
plumbers we're going to give that been in business for
twenty years, that will give the same pricing as a doctor.
It's the six months in business that is like the issue.
So we'll still make an offer, but it may be
a little shorter in term, it may be a little
bit more expensive just to protect us as the lender.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And you said there are multiple factors that you look at,
and so how is generative AI helping you with those
decisions or how are you using it?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yeah, business, that's a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
There's a we've always been used I say always, like
for the last seven eight years, we've.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Used machine learning.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
So we're using certain data sets, we're using machine learnings
within our models. What we've done now with generative AI,
which is like an amazing technology. I mentioned industry types
for example, So industries are if you have like an electrician,
an electrician and so it says ABC the electric LLC,
(10:27):
and do you know if that is somebody who's putting
wires in the home. Do they sell electrical supplies, do
they manufacture electricity? All those are different, and so the
pricing and the margins on those are different. So how
we price them Originally when we were starting originally being
like a year ago before we had this new generative
AI model that has a provisional pattern that we've been
(10:50):
awarded congratulations, thank you, we were using humans and the
humans were accurate sixty four to sixty five percent correct
of the time. We now are ninety five percent accurate, Wow, using.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Generator of AI.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
And we had twenty five employees that worked out of
India that we were able to eliminate. So like, that's
just like one example of how we're using it. But
it's more workflow than anything else. It's a number of
searches and then it waterfalls into like what's the best
pick and it continues to whittle it down to making
(11:26):
the right decision.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So going from sixty five to that HI have a
percentage is substantial and many people will fear AI will
liminate jobs. That was interested you said when we use humans.
You know, it's such an interesting point in time with AI,
isn't it, Yes, but you believe it'll actually require you
to hire more people.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Tell me why that would be.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I just think as we continue to grow, having humans
in the loop will always be a part of our business.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
There's there's we have a workflow.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And then if there's a what i'll call like a
happy path where there it never gets kicked out of
the path. There's no red flags, there's nothing, but those
are rare. So oftentimes what happens is it will get
kicked out to an underwriter.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
The underwriter will.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Have to do some verification and then they put it
back into the workflow until it.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Gets through like the full automation.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
So like there's always a point where a human is
sort of looking at a stop gap.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yes, and you know there's a So that's just that's
an example.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
And is we continue to get busier and more applications
come through our system. Unfortunately, I'd say fortunately unfortunately, like
we we haven't been able to eliminate employees, but for
like over like offshore, but we've grown the origination such
that we can support it, and people get sort of
(12:53):
retooled into different positions, so we're using them differently than we,
you know, than when they originally started.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
So and from what I understand you, you don't believe
AI will replace humans, but will actually make us better
at our jobs. Tell me a little bit more about
your philosophy on that.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I just think there's a you know, I think AI
is moving really fast, so I don't want to like
project out too far, but like today and what we do,
we think that there's it's just going to be a
part of the process for us, meaning that the humans
will still have a role in making these credit decisions.
(13:29):
And as AI can learn the way a human, there's
still going to be a different post for that human
because it's always there's always going to be sort of
as we make decisions, if we make better decisions, as
our data becomes richer, as the AI models become better,
we are going to continue to to sort of iterate
(13:51):
with AI. So I just think it's a process that
we don't see changing for the foreseeable future. Like I said,
I don't know what to come in you know, five years.
I just see like all the models that are being
generated by either Gemini or chat GBT or Anthropic are
they just keep getting better and better and better.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
So it's almost like the human side of it will
have just evolve into different roles or different different knowledge
base that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
We caught up skilling.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
So just like you know, moving people into roles that
they will that they may be managing agents, okay, that
will be doing the work for them that that maybe
humans were doing in the past. But there's going to
be mistakes and so there's always sort of quality control,
checking and verification and things of that nature that will
take place.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Do you think it'll actually require hiring more people.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I think it probably will. It's not something that we're
we always are hiring more people. So, like you know,
we're in certain roles, whether it be you know, I
don't think it can eliminate sales today for example, like
there's certain roles that are I don't want to say,
like protect, and there's other roles that are sort of
more mundane that I think that if the task, if
(15:07):
it's all task orientated, I think those roles will be
automated and and you know, whether it be accredibly or
some other business, I just think those are the first
jobs that get.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Automated and then you ultimately.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I would say, the AI curious employees will continue to
evolve with the business because if the business is going
to continue to evolve. You're never it's never going to
run with no employees, is And I want to say
how that would be very like ideal but unrealistic.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
You said a year ago you started having AI generative,
so it was, uh.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, I want to say a year ago we probably
implemented it. I think it's been like two two and
a half years since like chech GPT kind of like
went public, you know, with their first sort of open
source model.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, and how do you feel about how it's influencing
your business or how it's integrated into your business? Obviously
the results are substantially better, right, Yes, I.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Think it's a I mean I personally, I think it's amazing.
I think it's and I think we continue to evolve
with it, so I don't think we have even reached
even close to like critical mass of like what we
are experimenting with right now. So I'm super excited by it.
And you know, I would say anyone who isn't curious
(16:22):
about it should be, you know, because it's evolving. I
have we mentioned I have three children. It's something that
I continue to push to them to say, you know,
you got to learn about this because if you put
your head in the sand and you think this is
going away, it's not.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah, it's far beyond that. Yes, this point right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
You are in your second ear of the Credibly Small
Business Awards. Can you talk about that and also explain
how grants and awards like the Credibly Small Business Awards
are overlooked but a powerful strategy for small business owners?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Talk more about that on the Small Business Awards.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
We do we offer grants to small businesses that make
application to us that it doesn't necessarily have to be
a customer of ours. It's not weighted that way. It's
the story, it's how they use it. We've had great
use cases that have come out of it. Can you
give me some examples. Yeah, there was just a you know,
so there was a wine distributor that had like a
(17:17):
great experience by.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Using the grant.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And it's something that we look at the story, we
see how they're potentially going to leverage or use the money.
It goes in front of a committee, there's no there's
no preconceived decisions in terms.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Of like how we look at it.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
It doesn't we don't wait whether or not you've been
a customer or not a customer before.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
We don't care.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
We're really just trying to help the small businesses gain
access to work in capital.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
If they need a grant, like you know, and.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
They have a good story, we're more than happy to
you know, try to help them. And we put it
into you know, the contest, and you know, I hope
they win, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I mean so I love that you guys do that
for small businesses. So you haven't here or somebody does.
How grants and awards are often over looked a bit
of a powerful strategy?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yes? Is that for real? How grant? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Explain how grants and awards like the ones you guys
do are often overlooked, but a powerful strategy for small
business owners.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
It's you know, what's interesting is like we had I
want to say, last year, we had a winner and
we it was there's no strings attached. It was like,
if you win, you get the money. The person either
one they thought we were cold calling them or two
for whatever reason, would never take or call. And all
we were doing was trying to offer them money and
(18:32):
we tried their.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Hats to be a catch. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah, and they just did not believe us. Nobody ever
just gives away money. Yeah, so it was just so
that was yeah, that was that was that was that
was a strange occurrence and so we had to go
to the next you know candidate that you know, but
that was, you know, too bad for them because really
all we were trying to do was provide them what
they deserve, which was they won.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
But yeah, no, it's a you know, it's something we're
really excited by. We get a ton of submissions like
that are seeking this the working capital grant, So it's
it's something that you know, we're we're proud of. We uh,
it's it's helped us a lot in terms of you know,
of course like when you when you apply, like what
will continue to touch base with you so that we
(19:16):
can give you educational tools and things like that that
in the event that you ever need working capital in
the future, you might get an email from us. But
like to that extent, that's it. So beyond that, there's
really no strings attached.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
That's awesome. I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So you had mentioned that you've had multiple business this
is some some that did well and that some that
you used as learning platforms. One lessons have you learned
as a leader about embracing those failures because sometimes they're
super fameful, that's for sure. And how can business owners
reframe those setbacks as growth opportunities what have How have
you used that mental ability to make it work for
(19:52):
you as opposed to it being like just a hardship.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, it's you know, it's a it's it's a tough
thing to do, but it's something that.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
You just got to get out of bed.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
The next day, you know, put your pants on, you know,
socks on, shoes on it. It just goes back up, pull
your boots back up and get going because there's you know,
there's no time to feel sorry for yourself.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
You learn what mistakes you made.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
And in business, I would say that's something that I
really have utilized, just as in more of a leadership role,
is that allowing failures is like a very vital part
of our business. So it's letting people fail as long
as they don't as long as it's not too big
of a failure, you know, and they don't do that
(20:39):
failure again. You know, they learn from it so they
don't make the same mistakes twice. That's something that we
very much encourage as a company culture because like that's
the only way you learn is by you know, if everything,
if you have no failures, you almost think that you're
you're invincible in some ways. And so like having some
setbacks generally, I think can be used as a positive.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
You know, it's funny you said you have three kids.
I have three kids too, And it's funny how much
we want to avoid their failures, and yet here we
are sitting saying all the things. You know, you said,
all the things that you learn from your failures.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yep, no, no, no, I and trust me I I you know,
there's like what the helicop parents and things like that
that you know. One thing I know, my wife and
I always my wife and I always say when my
kids were little, would be when they fell, you know,
they it looks like if it would be a fall,
Like if if I fell, I feel like I'd be
in the hospital for four weeks, you know. But like
they've all you know, running straight and you know, face
(21:33):
and you just kind of wait for the reaction and
you know, if they get up and pop up and
everything's okay.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
But if you run over there and you know and
dust them off and say, is everything okay? You know?
Speaker 3 (21:43):
So and they think that maybe you know, so it's
also it's part of the reaction. But I agree with
you as a parent that it's it's hard watching failure,
but it's it's it's such an important part of like growth.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
It's interesting that you in business you're okay with that failure.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Yes, you know, I am like you know, and I
say it like in like even the things we do,
like in marketing, is so easy to you know, because
you almost have to always test and some things work
and some things don't.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
But never are we fingerpointing saying.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Like, oh my god, you spent X amount of thousands
of dollars or whatever and that didn't work.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, shame on you. That's that's the nature of learning.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
How do you foster your workplace culture? How do you
balance innovation with accountability, especially when you're testing new AI
tools and approaches?
Speaker 3 (22:28):
You know, I would say culture with during COVID was
a challenge, okay, and so and we just did a
return to office three days a week. We maybe implemented
that four months ago, so we were kind of slow
to that change. But I believe working together and collaborating
is just vital. Anyone can tell me differently, that you
(22:50):
can work super hard remote, I can't.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
And I'm not basing it solely on my decision.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
I just my daughter just got her first job and
I watched her work remote for a little and it
just isn't the same as working together, and especially in
light of like what's going on in Generative AI, having
a collaborative work environment where you're going over the shoulder,
you're seeing what people are doing, you're trying to help
one another. I just think it's just a just a
(23:15):
very valuable tool. And as much as I get the
commute sometimes isn't super pleasurable, and certain things about coming
to an office may not be the best I would
just say that it's you know, I think it out.
What outweighs it is the business and what the business needs,
and I find it to be like.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
A very valuable part.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
So the culture that we create is very transparent, trusting,
Like you know, one of our values is we care.
We do spirited debates, like we debate a lot, but
debating just trying to find the right answer. It's not
to see who can win the debate. It's really just
trying to find what the best course of action is.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
It's hard to debate over our teams or zoom.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Oh. I think I think it's like, you know, it's
the worst. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
And when somebody says, hey, do you want to just
do a phone call versus like a zoom, I'm like yeah,
I'm like that. I'll take that. I don't need to
be on video.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
So that's hilarious. What advice you'd give other CEOs about
preparing their teams for the AI driven future?
Speaker 2 (24:16):
You've jumped right in, yes, you know, I just think
you need to jump right And I just think there's.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
How they even figure it out, Like how did you
figure that out?
Speaker 3 (24:23):
So we put together we have someone on our team
who is very tech forward, not a technologist, but just
very like you know, i'd say tech curious and just
you know, really pushes the boundaries and she runs her
strategy and she put together a skunk works team which
(24:43):
is just you know for short for like innovation lab
or whatever. And we've just been generating a lot of
great work product out of that and really kind of
I don't want to say trial and air, but just
putting together some amazing work is coming out of that
that we're able to implement into our workflow. So and
I do think it comes from the top down, So
(25:05):
I think, you know, the leaders of the company. It's
not something that we just like have a memo on
and say like oh this AI, this is what this.
You know, we are doing it and we're leveraging it
and in ways that it hasn't been done before. So
like there's a lot that we do and there's so
much more in store. I think we're you know, scratching
the surface. But when if somebody's not evolving to or
(25:30):
gravitating to it personally, I think it's a mistake.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Is everybody in the small business lending sector using machine
learning or generative AI in their decisions?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
I would say, you know, some of the more sophisticated
ones are definitely using machine learning, I would you know,
I can't speak to whether they're using generative AI yet.
You know, data science has been core to our business
for a long time, probably going out ten years, and
we have a very robust data science team, you know,
(26:04):
so we're analyzing everything from you know, from top of
the funnel when an application comes in, all the way
through the portfolio in portfolio management. So it's it's like
everything is measured. You know, there's KPIs on everything we do.
There's just it really there's the data is almost there's
(26:25):
almost too much. And you know, I don't think anyone
will be pleased with me saying it, but it's like
the amount of reporting that we get is just it's
it's almost hard to keep up with.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Where do you see small business lending heading over the
next five years and what role will AI play in
shaping that future?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Can you speculate a little bit for me.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, I think that people are starting to get or
have become comfortable with using online lenders. So again, we're
an alternative fintech non bank lender, So the distinction is
being a non bank, and I think that early small businesses.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Have gravitated to this type of product.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
So I think where a business has good cash flow
and they have good credit and they run a sound business,
I think they're going to get really attractive offers from
companies like us, that it's going to be very competitive
to what they would see elsewhere, and you know, from
potentially even banks. And so I just think that that
(27:27):
that evolution will continue. And America is a very innovative
country and we are the backbone of our economy is
always small businesses, so I just think it will continue
to grow. And with AI, I think there's going to
be more innovation. I think there's going to be more
people that are going to be you know, solo entrepreneurs
and creating businesses and you know that may have one
(27:49):
employee but generates revenue and we'll service that customer.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
What do you want the experience to be when people
come to you online and decide that they're going to apply.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
The last two years, you know, every year we kind
of have a year of something, you know, like whether
it's like year of portfolio or whatever, you know, like
where we focus our full energy on something. This the
last two years have been the customer experience, user experience,
just making it very easy for a customer to interface
with us. So the goal is really just to have
(28:23):
a fully automated approval you know, for a certain segment
of the.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Population quickly it sounds like, oh very fast.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
You know, and those would be you know, within minutes
if it's fully automated. So that's like, you know, the
two hours would go away. Two hours is like is
average with human in the loop. This is like a
perfect you know, I'll call it application. Not everyone's going
to have a perfect application. So you know, where they've
been in business for ten years, they have good cash flow,
they have seven hundred FIICO, they there's no negative days
(28:54):
in the bank and everything checks out. They're not a
foreign entity or a foreign citizen or what you know,
no red flags that then the customer would go through
what we call an online checkout where they get a link.
The link then you know, gives them their it asks
a series of questions. It goes through a biometric which
is basically you know, takes a picture of their face,
(29:14):
takes a picture of their driver's license, verifies from a
geotagging perspective that they're like in the location that we
believe they're in uh, and then sign the agreement and
get funded. So which is like you know, a seven
minute process. So it's really a fast process.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So it's that's where we are heading, and we're really
excited by it, and it's you know, we think that's
going to be the next you know, wave of innovation.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
For small business lending. Do you love what you do?
I do? I enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
I have a good time And I always say to
everyone who works you might as well, like everyone that
you know, work life balance is super important, and if
you don't, I work more than I see my family generally.
You know, I'm at work and you know so. I
always say that you might as well like what you do.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
And I do. I really enjoy what I do. What
do you love about it? I like?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
I like the people I work with a lot. I
care for them. I like, I like the employees. I
like the teams we built. I just I feel good
about what we're doing. I like that we're providing work
and capital to businesses. I like that customers appreciate us.
Not all, but you know, i'd say I'm the vast
majority they do. Like we make an offer, we don't
(30:25):
say you have to accept it. You know, it's really
just it's an option for them. I like what I do.
I really like, you know, like, would I rather be
with on a vacation, Yes, okay, you know, on a beach,
but but.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
If you got to work. If I gotta work, I
like what I do. This is where I want to be.
That's great.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Our guest today has been Ryan Rosead, He's founder and
co CEO of Credibly.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Thanks for joining us today, Ryan, I appreciate Colleen thank
you so much,
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