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How Brex Raised $580M in 3 Years and Lessons Learned

 

In the last 3 years, Brex has raised nearly $600 million in venture funding. In this #DreamitLive episode, Michael B. Tannenbaum, CFO & CBO of Brex, and Steve Barsh will discuss Michael’s experiences at Brex in raising successive large venture rounds while executing and growing a company quickly. Michael will also speak about his experiences growing SoFi, another fintech unicorn where he was an early executive. We discuss Michael’s top 3 lessons learned and his biggest "Wow, I wish someone had told me that beforehand!" thoughts.

In this episode:

  • 2:00—What is Brex and how did it get started?

  • 15:00:00— What are the KPIs that Brex looks at to measure success?

  • 16:30:00—How much has Brex raised in debt and equity funding?

  • 17:00:00—What does it mean to raise debt capital (versus equity capital)?

  • 19:00:00—How does the team come together to raise funding rounds?

  • 24:00:00—How does the collapse of WeWork affect the valuations of other unicorns?

  • 26:30:00—When does it make sense to raise debt capital?

  • 35:00:00—Setting valuation with potential investors

  • 38:50:00—How do you think about stock options? How to talk to investors about granting stock options?

  • 41:00:00—What are the top 3 lessons learned from raising capital for SoFi or Brex

  • 44:00:00—The importance of making decisions and sticking to them

  • 47:00:00—What do you look for in a lead investor?

  • 50:00:00—Why it's difficult to bootstrap a fintech company

  • 51:20:00—Do you detail your 3 to 5 year financials? How much do VCs analyze these numbers?

  • 55:00:00—Good sources of venture debt

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How to Build a Brand That Drives Loyalty [In 2020]

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February 5

How to Get a "Yes" from this Proptech VC