On today’s episode, we sit down with Sol Lax, the CEO of Revenued, to dive into the intricacies of small business lending. Lax shares his journey from managing Merchant Cash Advances (MCA) to leading Revenued, a company focused on providing financial solutions for small businesses, particularly those with subprime FICO scores. With a background rich in financial innovation and a keen understanding of small business needs, Lax offers insights into the challenges and opportunities in the subprime lending space. “Merchant Cash Advances (MCA) were a necessary but imperfect tool for small businesses,” Lax explains. “We saw an opportunity to create a more flexible and tailored financial product.” The Big Ideas Lax emphasizes the need for flexible financial products. “MCAs are too rigid,” he says. “Our Flex Line offers more controllable, predictable, and available capital.” The PPP era was instrumental in refining Revenued’s operations. “Processing a million PPP loans taught us anti-fraud and scaling,” Lax recounts. Revenued is harnessing the power of data to provide actionable insights that help in decision making. “We can show small businesses how much they’re spending on bank fees and help them find better options,” Lax explains. Lax acknowledges the difficulties in subprime lending but sees opportunities. “Subprime small businesses find it challenging to access credit,” he notes. “With a different credit perspective, we can make it happen for them.” Revenued is looking to expand its offerings through strategic partnerships. “We’re partnering with companies to provide business insurance quotes and other services based on our data,” says Lax. Through the tumultuous times of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Revenued pivoted and leveraged its platform to process over a million PPP loans. This experience honed their skills in anti-fraud measures and scaling operations, setting the stage for their current offerings. It’s a candid conversation that you won’t want to miss! Sol Lax is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.