Private Credit Meets the Valley, with John Markell and Matt Schwartz
Growth credit has exploded from a niche to a crowded market, reshaping how tech companies scale - and this episode breaks down the opportunities, risks, and hard truths founders and fund managers must understand to use it well.
Inside The Episode
350+ lenders now finance cash-flow negative businesses. Five years ago, maybe a handful would.
This shift is creating new opportunities - and new risks - that most founders and fund managers don't fully understand.
John Markell of Armentum Partners and Matt Schwartz, Head of U.S. Finance at DLA Piper, join me to unpack growth credit: the segment of private credit quietly reshaping how technology companies scale.
We cover:
- What growth credit actually is - and why it's different from the private credit you read about in the papers
- The gap between bank capital (under 10% risk) and equity risk (north of 20%) - and who's filling it
- How SVB's collapse changed underwriting, covenant packages, and deal sizes
- Why enterprise software lending is "way, way, way saturated" - and where the white space is
- What founders get wrong when pitching lenders vs. equity investors
- The three things every founder should know before taking on debt
- Why some funds net 19% to LPs while others struggle to clear 12%
Whether you're a founder considering debt or a fund manager looking for origination opportunities, this conversation will change how you think about the gap between bank capital and equity risk.
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