April 24, 2023

And that's that. We're done. We've successfully closed on our Series B. There's of course still a few administrative items to get to the finish line but all the commitments are in and ready to be signed for and wired. Amazingly enough, we were actually oversubscribed, with several groups this past week trying to figure out how to squeeze into the round with checks as large as up to $[ ]M beyond this $[ ]M we already have committed.

Nelson Chu is founder and CEO of Percent—a capital markets platform bringing transparency, liquidity, and standardisation to private credit.

Nelson’s path started with a $1,000 “experiment fund” from his dad and early side hustles in design. After stints at Merrill Lynch and BlackRock, he left corporate life behind, built a consulting firm that helped raise over $1B, and used that momentum to launch Percent.

April 17, 2023

It was a good week. Starting things off on Monday with a $[ ]M commitment from [ ] was a huge win. Following that up with another full day of diligence with [ ] on Wednesday just kept that momentum going. [ ] has done a tremendous amount of diligence work on us already, with many of you involved in that process.

When you’re building a company from the ground up, you will make many mistakes. Learning from them and building core mantras from the lessons you glean will define how you think and operate during your journey. Mantras are born out of your experiences when scaling your company and from surrounding yourself with people who have been down this path before, imparting wisdom from their experience onto you.

This week, I sat down with Sean Smith, co-founder of SMB Investor Network, to talk about a very different slice of the private markets—entrepreneurship through acquisition. We cover everything from his leveraged finance days at CIBC to why he's now focused on buying HVAC companies and plumbing businesses. Plus, we discuss how private credit and SMB equity are surprisingly complementary when it comes to building a resilient, income-generating portfolio.

April 10, 2023

As Q1 numbers start to roll in as well for the rest of the industry, it paints a sobering picture of the tech and startup ecosystem as a whole. Just 21 Series Bs were done in fintech in all of Q1, averaging $25M. It’s important to note that these are just reported fundraises, meaning most of these probably closed in Q4.

April 3, 2023

With that, we've officially closed the books on Q1. For the first time ever in the company's history, we've managed to post three consecutive beats on revenue and also the highest quarter ever for technology revenues. This is no small feat, especially in as volatile and unpredictable a year as this.

With new tariffs already taking effect—and more on the way—I wanted to unpack how this shift is affecting small businesses, capital flows, and ultimately, how we're adapting our lending strategy at Percent to navigate these changes. From forced supply chain changes to increased capital needs, these policy moves are reshaping the economic landscape. I also share listener questions on team dynamics, hard deals, and leadership under pressure.

March 27, 2023

Some stats came out recently about just how difficult it is to fundraise in this environment, particularly for Series Bs. Historically, Series Bs have always been the most challenging as companies at this stage are moving beyond product market fit and for the first time are using the new growth capital to scale the business.

Small businesses are already being hit hard, but here’s what these tariffs could mean for the global economy in the long run. Since the Trump administration took office on January 20, immense changes have overwhelmed business owners of all sizes. Perhaps most impactful are the tariff policies President Trump was touting before election and is now enacting—theoretically to prioritize American business, but possibly upending businesses of all sizes.

March 20, 2023

This past week, across continents, across time zones, across teams, we came together to solve the many different challenges and problems thrown our way. Over the last weekend, we put ourselves out there as a viable bridge financing platform for startups staring down a situation where their operating company cash was trapped at SVB.

In this episode, I’m joined by Lucas Keefer, VP of Originations and one of the earliest team members at Percent. We talk about what it really takes to build a company from the ground up — wearing multiple hats, embracing uncertainty, and learning by doing. Lucas shares his journey from JPMorgan to Percent and how “filling the gaps” helped shape both his career and our company. If you’ve ever wondered how startups actually scale, this one’s for you.

March 13, 2023

It's certainly been a hectic last few days so I wanted to share our weekly team email with you earlier than the usual at 8AM on Monday mornings. It was an almost unbelievable week but not in the conventional sense of the word. In what felt like shades of 08/09, we had the second largest failure of a bank in US history when Silicon Valley Bank shuttered its doors on Friday.

March 6, 2023

Another month in the books and another month of further validation of the diversity of revenue streams we have at our disposal. Revenue came in at [ ] and more importantly, we had initially forecasted a [ ]d increase month over month from Jan to Feb in terms of revenue and we were still able to meet these lofty targets. As a result, we're coming in ahead of our YTD forecast of $[ ]K in revenue by [%, the first time we've ever been able to meet and exceed targets on a consistent basis.

February 27, 2023

It’s going to be a busy week as our team is dividing and conquering several conferences and events in Park City, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. The theme for all three is driven entirely by our search for capital from investors, particularly those Qualified Purchasers we had mentioned in the last all hands.