WEBVTT 00:00:00.879 --> 00:00:02.819 Awesome. What's up, my friends? Welcome in to 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:04.559 another episode of Vision Pros Live. I've got 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.719 Walt Postleway in the house, and we're going 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:08.640 to be talking about what most businesses get 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.740 wrong about banks and capital. This is important 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:14.380 for us as visionaries, because if you don't know 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:16.260 how to establish your relationships with banks 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:18.640 and with capital, and you've got an unhealthy 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:21.320 relationship with finances, it's going to bleed 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:23.859 out into every corner of your brand. And it is 00:00:23.859 --> 00:00:26.120 so important that we have guidance regarding 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.760 the financial opportunities. My friends, finances. 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:34.119 is a vehicle for being able to create more abundance 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:36.600 for those that we serve. Walt, thank you so much 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:37.880 for being here today. This is going to be fun. 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:40.539 Jackson, thanks for having me. I'm looking forward 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:44.280 to the conversation. Absolutely. So, you know, 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:46.840 access to capital, it's not just about numbers. 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:49.240 It's about understanding how the system really 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:51.299 works. And I'm not going to pretend to understand 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:54.060 fully how that system works. I know certain tricks 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:56.520 up from my sleeves from years of startups, from 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:00.000 having a a Y Combinator funded company. We received 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.420 $10 million from Paul Buchheit, the inventor 00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:04.120 of Gmail, Matt Kuss, the search director of Google. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:06.739 At Restaurant Connect, where we bootstrapped 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:08.799 for years and built a recurring monthly revenue 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.280 and then eventually raised funding with the Baylor 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.180 Angel Network. Or being involved in John Lee 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:15.819 Dumas' Kickstarter launch of his Freedom Journal 00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:18.299 and him raising $500 ,000 within three weeks 00:01:18.299 --> 00:01:21.060 through Kickstarters. There's a lot of different 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:22.859 funding opportunities that I've had the experience 00:01:22.859 --> 00:01:24.959 of being involved in. being involved in. And 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:27.400 I'm one of the rare entrepreneurs who's gotten 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:29.739 to experience funding from almost every major 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:32.920 type of funding source. But it doesn't mean that 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:35.219 I'm going to rest on my laurels and allow my 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:37.260 ego to block me from seeing what else is out 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:40.760 there. Walt, from your perspective, and let's 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:42.319 get a little bit of background from you as well, 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:44.500 because I don't want to misdefine your background 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:47.959 with finances. What is it about the systems that 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:50.319 really work? Let's dive right into that. Certainly. 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:54.620 You touched upon its relationship. I preach a 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:58.200 lot that small business owners really need to 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:00.799 have a relationship with the banker of some sort. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.819 And we'll talk more about the different kinds 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:06.400 of banks. And unfortunately, relationship, you 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.599 know, that's an overused word these days. But 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:13.449 a small business owner, an entrepreneur. You 00:02:13.449 --> 00:02:16.469 can't expect to know everything. And that's why 00:02:16.469 --> 00:02:19.069 I have found that the most successful entrepreneurs 00:02:19.069 --> 00:02:21.590 put the right people around them. And so, you 00:02:21.590 --> 00:02:23.849 know, we'll talk more about it here in this conversation. 00:02:24.330 --> 00:02:28.360 But putting somebody. around you who understands 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.599 capital who understands the pressures you are 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.819 experiencing as a small business owner and is 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:38.219 there to not just you know lend you money but 00:02:38.219 --> 00:02:40.939 to be a sounding board to actually kind of walk 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:44.680 with you on growth plans and have somebody to 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:48.620 bounce ideas off that really is key and and frankly 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:53.199 i've built a 30 plus year banking career um on 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:57.229 that principle I'm going to push back a little 00:02:57.229 --> 00:03:00.310 bit for those entrepreneurs who have startups 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:03.710 or tech companies, SaaS companies that are often 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:07.449 outside of the wheelhouse of a banker. And because 00:03:07.449 --> 00:03:09.830 ultimately I need more guidance on it. So when 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:13.430 I'm going into a bank and maybe I do misunderstand 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:16.250 the relationship building process with the bank 00:03:16.250 --> 00:03:18.009 and how the funding, how the capital is actually 00:03:18.009 --> 00:03:20.990 allocated. But I often found that when I go in, 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:23.270 they don't understand the freemium business model. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:25.800 at all. They have a major resistance to it. And 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:27.340 they're like, well, wait, what's your degree? 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:30.379 I'm like, I don't have a degree. I had a 0 .37 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:33.460 GPA, you know, at BYU, if you'd like to know. 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:37.319 And then, you know, you're somebody who's got 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:39.719 a digital company back before COVID, especially 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:41.639 it was like, what do you mean? You only meet 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:44.020 people via Zoom. And how do you have real relationships? 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:46.060 It's like my relationships with people through 00:03:46.060 --> 00:03:47.819 Zoom are stronger than the relationships that 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:51.000 they build in person. But that doesn't necessarily 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.740 lead to a warm and fuzzy feeling. um right there's 00:03:53.740 --> 00:03:55.719 some diplomacy that's probably lacking on my 00:03:55.719 --> 00:04:00.229 end for it um but How do we build relationships 00:04:00.229 --> 00:04:04.069 with banks? And is it for specific traditional 00:04:04.069 --> 00:04:08.789 businesses? And they want a pro forma, which 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:11.069 you can easily create with AI and pull the wool 00:04:11.069 --> 00:04:12.530 over their eyes with it. They want a business 00:04:12.530 --> 00:04:15.389 plan, which everybody puts in their desk the 00:04:15.389 --> 00:04:17.910 moment they create it. They want an executive 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:20.629 summary, and that makes sense. But the rest of 00:04:20.629 --> 00:04:23.350 that stuff is stuff that businesses don't use. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.519 and implement on a daily basis in their brands. 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:27.980 And the banks know it. They know they're not 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:30.959 going to use it. And so talk to us a little bit 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:32.560 further about this. Let's dive into the weeds. 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:35.259 Sure. Yeah, no, no, no. Great place to start. 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:41.839 So with the broadening digital age, and frankly, 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.100 we can talk a little bit more about AI -assisted 00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:49.759 coding, because to me, that's opening up this 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.220 marketplace for people. who have identified challenges 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:57.899 and they have ideas and solutions. And with this 00:04:57.899 --> 00:05:02.120 vibe coding, and I've lived it, it's brought 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:05.819 the cost of development down to a place where 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:08.720 average blokes like me can come up with solutions. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:12.040 So I think bankers are gonna have to play a catch 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.699 up game when it comes to tech businesses, but 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:21.060 traditionally startup companies have been a challenge 00:05:21.709 --> 00:05:24.870 for traditional banks to lend to and so i'm going 00:05:24.870 --> 00:05:28.149 to break this this little piece up into two two 00:05:28.149 --> 00:05:30.910 little segments one is the relationship and then 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:33.730 we can kind of talk about that that first capital 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:38.069 conversation debt capital for a young business 00:05:38.069 --> 00:05:41.870 so when i say relationship If you're a business, 00:05:42.110 --> 00:05:44.490 you should have a check in or a savings account 00:05:44.490 --> 00:05:47.850 somewhere. Because the idea that you are in business, 00:05:48.089 --> 00:05:50.790 you're trying to make money through this business, 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.689 through this passion, through this idea you have. 00:05:53.769 --> 00:05:55.490 So you have to deposit these funds somewhere. 00:05:56.689 --> 00:06:00.149 It's been interesting because as especially, 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:04.250 you know, post -COVID, there are more and more, 00:06:04.269 --> 00:06:07.069 you know, kind of digital banks out there. that 00:06:07.069 --> 00:06:10.670 can be your relationship. And I know tech companies 00:06:10.670 --> 00:06:13.470 are kind of drawn to this because they do kind 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:17.490 of speak the same language. I'm not a big fan 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:20.269 of that. I'm still, I guess, a little bit old 00:06:20.269 --> 00:06:22.850 school, and I like that face -to -face kind of 00:06:22.850 --> 00:06:26.829 relationship. So for this young company, even 00:06:26.829 --> 00:06:30.329 if it's just an idea, but you've registered your 00:06:30.329 --> 00:06:35.769 business, you have an EIN number, go open up 00:06:35.769 --> 00:06:37.990 a business account. It should be a free account. 00:06:38.250 --> 00:06:40.670 There's plenty of free business accounts out 00:06:40.670 --> 00:06:43.850 there. And I would start with a community bank. 00:06:44.110 --> 00:06:48.970 And so the way I look at the banking kind of 00:06:48.970 --> 00:06:53.250 spectrum is you've got your large global national 00:06:53.250 --> 00:06:57.410 banks, super regional banks that put into that 00:06:57.410 --> 00:07:03.420 same category. There's a place. for all of these 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:07.459 types of banks but for a small business this 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:10.180 first segment i don't think is for you and i 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:13.500 don't recommend that where i really recommend 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:17.379 is the community bank these are the smaller types 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:20.579 of community banks um you know they're they're 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:24.040 in your community hence community bank and it's 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.730 and they're made up of a different group of lenders 00:07:27.730 --> 00:07:30.269 of people these are people who are actually in 00:07:30.269 --> 00:07:33.430 the community looking to benefit and grow their 00:07:33.430 --> 00:07:36.850 community both of these segments are going to 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:40.009 most likely be public companies you're bigger 00:07:40.009 --> 00:07:43.870 the bank the more likely it's going to be a for 00:07:43.870 --> 00:07:48.240 -profit obviously public company All public companies, 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:51.500 by definition and just the way they're structured, 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.360 have to make more money year after year after 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.600 year. And so, you know, that's not a community 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.259 bank. They still may be public companies. They're 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:02.600 still trying to build value, but they really 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.160 are of the community. And so that's where I would 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.420 start. And you open up a business account, checking 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:10.720 your savings account, get to know the people 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.000 in that office, get to know. the branch manager, 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:17.519 the people in your community who are making decisions. 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:20.560 And that's where it starts. And I always, you 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.240 know, if you have your business and you don't 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.639 have that relationship yet, that should be your 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:30.079 priority for tomorrow. Because at some point 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.299 you are going to need that resource. Where I 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:38.639 think these digital... banks fall down is they're 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:42.700 much more deposit centric and when it comes to 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:45.519 the lending side i think they default too much 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.320 to you know a scripted program like like the 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:53.820 the big banks for capital then this is the third 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:57.080 category of what i would call a bank and unfortunately 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:01.000 it's it's a too well kept a secret uh here they're 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:05.710 called community Development Financial Institutions, 00:09:05.870 --> 00:09:10.970 CDFI for short. They look like a bank. They kind 00:09:10.970 --> 00:09:14.950 of smell like a bank, but they are not a depository. 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:17.809 And that is a significant difference because 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:20.470 these other two, you know, these national banks, 00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:23.409 global banks, one bucket, community banks, and 00:09:23.409 --> 00:09:27.350 a second bucket. they're all regulated so they 00:09:27.350 --> 00:09:31.190 have oversight from the feds who tell them what 00:09:31.190 --> 00:09:34.389 they can and can't do they have examiners that 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:37.149 come out they look at what they're doing and 00:09:37.149 --> 00:09:40.590 that's because they are taking other people's 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:45.029 money and lending it out to unrelated folks and 00:09:45.029 --> 00:09:48.289 so they have a fiduciary responsibility of taking 00:09:48.289 --> 00:09:52.269 care of your money your depositors mine So that's 00:09:52.269 --> 00:09:56.110 why they're regulated. CDFIs, it's their own 00:09:56.110 --> 00:09:58.629 money that they're lending. And if you want, 00:09:58.669 --> 00:10:00.929 we can talk more about where their capital comes 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:06.029 from. But they are independent. They can do things 00:10:06.029 --> 00:10:10.090 that. banks can't do and if you are a startup 00:10:10.090 --> 00:10:13.169 business and let's just define that as a business 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:15.409 that that you're still within your first two 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:20.970 years of operation and in cash flow cdfi's are 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:24.049 where you would want to have that conversation 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:27.990 for for capital if you're needing capital for 00:10:27.990 --> 00:10:32.870 new equipment to expand to hire cdfi's are probably 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:35.629 going to be your best bet because that's what 00:10:35.629 --> 00:10:39.649 they're designed to do they are there to have 00:10:39.649 --> 00:10:44.409 you as as their client really for three to five 00:10:44.409 --> 00:10:49.330 years and then the idea is your business has 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:52.129 the track record where they can then hand you 00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:56.509 off to the traditional banking environment hopefully 00:10:56.509 --> 00:10:59.210 to a community bank because that's that's really 00:10:59.210 --> 00:11:01.629 where my passion lies is with the community banks 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:04.570 but that's how i'd answer that Relationship, 00:11:04.570 --> 00:11:07.610 community bank. If you're a young business or 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:10.289 a digital business looking for capital, I would 00:11:10.289 --> 00:11:15.070 start with the CDFI. Very good. This is definitely 00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:19.669 helpful direction. I will speak to the virtual 00:11:19.669 --> 00:11:23.129 banks and the communal bank experiences a little 00:11:23.129 --> 00:11:25.690 bit. On the virtual bank side, my friends, I 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:28.399 used to use RelayFi. And one of the things I 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.519 loved about RelayFi was that I could have up 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:34.379 to 20 plus 25 bank accounts, I think. And those 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:37.639 25 bank accounts allowed me to also create basically 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.820 sub accounts for certain team members to have 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:42.299 access to different types of funding. And so 00:11:42.299 --> 00:11:44.539 I could give a brand new team member. Well, maybe 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:45.940 not brand new, but somebody's been with us for 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:48.740 six to 12 weeks and access to a very low budget. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.039 And if they ran with the budget. but I knew I 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.700 couldn't trust them. Right. But if they use that 00:11:53.700 --> 00:11:56.039 budget responsibly and they checked in, it empowered 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:58.720 them to learn new things about how to act as 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.299 a business owner on my behalf and how to use 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:03.120 those funds for different, different projects 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:04.759 that we had. So that was one of my favorite pieces 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:06.379 about it was being able to have all those different 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:09.460 accounts where I could separate the money and 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:11.759 not have to worry about having a fee for each 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:16.159 account that I had. the also to your point well 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.759 the general ux and ui um like the user experience 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:21.940 user interface of dealing with it was just so 00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:26.779 easy and the service was so good um the uh challenge 00:12:26.779 --> 00:12:29.759 though was in uh december of this past year i 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:32.500 got a notice on christmas eve of all days we're 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:35.720 shutting your bank account down um and uh we're 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:37.639 not gonna tell you why and we can't tell you 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:40.559 why because of of uh regulations and so here 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.340 i am like oh man like i can't tell my team about 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:45.299 this i've got to fix this before payroll comes 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:49.409 up um like Thanks for the Christmas card relay 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:53.450 file. Like, wow. And so I dove in with AI. I 00:12:53.450 --> 00:12:55.090 was like, what I do about like you can hire an 00:12:55.090 --> 00:12:56.830 attorney, but it's just going to cause yourself 00:12:56.830 --> 00:12:59.210 more pain. Like, just move on, find the next 00:12:59.210 --> 00:13:02.950 one. But these banks apparently clean sweep and 00:13:02.950 --> 00:13:06.309 wipe out digital marketing companies and companies 00:13:06.309 --> 00:13:09.230 that are in the digital space kind of routinely 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:12.230 as part of their processes, because they have 00:13:12.230 --> 00:13:15.450 parent banks that have to. they have to comply 00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:17.929 with and stuff. And so I have no idea why it 00:13:17.929 --> 00:13:21.129 happened, but it happened. And it was three years 00:13:21.129 --> 00:13:23.850 into my relationship with RelayFi. And so I 100 00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:29.269 % loved it. But I'm grateful for the three years 00:13:29.269 --> 00:13:31.830 that I had. And so I'll say that. And now I'm 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:33.789 with Mercury Bank. Maybe the same thing happens 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:36.870 in the future with Mercury. But so far, so good. 00:13:37.009 --> 00:13:40.009 Freaking love Mercury. Same exact type of experience. 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:43.940 And then as far as the communal banks goes, one 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:46.279 of the things that scared me um was so in san 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.779 antonio texas there's this uh pyramid looking 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:50.659 building and they light it up with different 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:53.240 colors and stuff and it had a bank on it called 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:55.600 the spirit of texas bank and i figured they owned 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:58.139 the building and everything and so one day i 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:00.379 decided to go in i was like i'm texan i'm gonna 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:02.259 work with the spirit of texas bank plus you're 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:04.320 supposed to go local and small and i i go into 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.799 this bank and i mean they have like a corner 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:11.820 dungeon office um out of the entire thing And 00:14:11.820 --> 00:14:13.899 it's in the middle of the day. It says their 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:18.320 office hours are open. Nobody was inside. And, 00:14:18.419 --> 00:14:20.600 like, there's boxes everywhere. And this thing's 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:23.320 been open for years. It's like, okay, yeah, no. 00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:26.639 This looks like a horrible restaurant, you know, 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:28.600 where, like, I'm going to get food poisoning, 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:31.740 bank poisoning in this case. And so that was 00:14:31.740 --> 00:14:33.500 a real disconnect. And sure enough, within a 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:35.080 couple months, they shut down. And I was like, 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:37.220 dang, had I gotten an account with this bank 00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:39.679 account or with this bank. what would have happened 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:41.500 had they shut down and that would have been a 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:45.500 bind. And so I don't mean to preach against the 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:47.919 small local business side. I also went into a 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.360 Truist and I built a little relationship with 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:54.080 a VP of Truist locally. And they wanted to connect 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.519 me to certain things, but that's kind of where 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:59.159 my experience went well, where it was like, wait, 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:02.720 they know small local businesses and they understand 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.279 that and they feel comfortable with that. But 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.000 with what I was doing, they didn't feel comfortable 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.519 and they felt like, I was building something 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.240 that was kind of, I don't want to say crazy, 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:14.000 but they tried and they meant well, but I could 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.320 tell that I wasn't building a relationship that 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:19.700 was leading towards them helping me. It was, 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.779 they wanted me to network locally and do certain 00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:26.159 things, but they really. didn't want to touch 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.200 the business model with a 10 -foot pole. And 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:30.019 there was something awkward about that. So perhaps 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:32.639 there's changes in the times right now. We're 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:33.679 going to come back. We're going to take a little 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.860 break, my friends. But I want to dive in specifically 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:39.259 about the financial landscape and how it is evolving 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:41.840 right now. That was years ago. Now there's a 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:46.720 rise of AI and banking. They're more positioned 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.139 to understand different business models. if they 00:15:50.139 --> 00:15:52.200 understand how the AI stuff works. And I love 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:54.700 that Walt used the words vibe coding. Walt, way 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:57.519 to get with the times, man. You're a banker who 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.700 gets money. It gives me hope that, wow, okay, 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:01.580 maybe more of them are starting to pay attention. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:05.639 But we need to understand how those tools can 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.919 also amplify our relationships with the banks 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:10.539 who are starting to inform themselves. And if 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:12.220 your bank is not, but you have a relationship, 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:15.480 you also have the opportunity to plant the seed 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.000 and help them see what you know. I could see 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.840 how that could put you in a... very good position 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.740 with your banker in today's society. So we'll 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:24.320 be right back and we'll dive right in. All right. 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:28.139 Welcome in to Vision Pros Live with Jackson Callum. 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:30.179 I'm your show host. We'll be doing interviews 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:32.679 for visionary entrepreneurs and guest leaders 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:35.220 who are building fantastic visions out there. 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:46.100 Hey, what's up, everybody? Again, I'm super happy 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:48.080 to have Walt here today talking about banks and 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.620 capital because this is such an important reality. 00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:52.519 My friends, I used to say I don't care about 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:54.460 the money because I got into business to help 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.620 people, but I didn't realize that that doesn't 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.120 have to be mutually inclusive, those two statements. 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:03.220 I was basically telling my God, hey, if you send 00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:04.900 me money to help people, I'm not going to care 00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:06.940 about it. that's not a good recipe that's not 00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:09.380 being a wise steward i was i had an immaturity 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:11.519 when it came to finances and that was holding 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.380 me back when i switched to start looking at money 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:16.759 and saying you know what i am grateful for the 00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:18.759 sacred resource that is right in front of me 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:21.019 i need to be a wise steward and learn how to 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.339 work with this in order to serve more people 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.039 my life started to become more abundant immediately 00:17:26.910 --> 00:17:29.349 And as I've continued to lean into that, I've 00:17:29.349 --> 00:17:31.410 continued to unlock superpowers when it comes 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:33.930 to funding my vision, moving this podcast forward, 00:17:33.970 --> 00:17:35.789 moving my other businesses forward. And I wish 00:17:35.789 --> 00:17:38.130 the same thing for you as a visionary. It is 00:17:38.130 --> 00:17:40.369 super important that we lean into learning how 00:17:40.369 --> 00:17:43.250 do we access and utilize the funding that is 00:17:43.250 --> 00:17:45.609 necessary to bring our visions to life. So we've 00:17:45.609 --> 00:17:48.309 got Walt here to help us with that today. He 00:17:48.309 --> 00:17:50.250 has mentioned that there is an AI revolution 00:17:50.250 --> 00:17:53.190 taking place in banking as well. And I think 00:17:53.190 --> 00:17:55.710 all of us know it because it's in every sector 00:17:55.710 --> 00:17:57.740 of our life. lives and news. And so I want to 00:17:57.740 --> 00:17:59.799 talk about two of the greatest resources for 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:03.019 me when it comes to AI and implementing AI in 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:05.799 my business, AI Mavericks. with Austin Armstrong 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:08.460 and Scott Simpson. These are two guys that dive 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:10.819 into the depths of AI and the advanced stuff. 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:12.880 And they're talking about agents and building 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.480 out these agents. And so I have a membership 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:18.039 for their program every single month so that 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:20.140 I can go in and learn what are they doing? What 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:22.819 is the AI hack of the month that they're working 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:24.900 on and bringing to fruition so that I can bring 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:28.079 those into my business world as well. And I can 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.099 stay ahead of the AI curves. They're very good 00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:33.420 at staying again in touch with what the latest 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:35.799 and greatest. new things are. They're great leaders. 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:38.900 That's also a big factor as to why I joined forces 00:18:38.900 --> 00:18:41.460 with them on this, even though I have my own 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:44.200 AI program, right? It's like, wait, you're going 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.279 to work with somebody who's ultimately your competitor 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:48.700 and be in their environment while building. Yes, 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:50.759 of course. And I talked to them about it. And 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:52.420 I was like, guys, I have my own as well. I want 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:54.259 you to know it's like two math professors, you 00:18:54.259 --> 00:18:56.380 know, they're teaching geometry. I'm teaching, 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:59.079 teaching algebra for this. And we're all getting 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:01.799 more out of it because when the rising tide. 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:04.259 lifts all ships that are well -prepared. If you're 00:19:04.259 --> 00:19:05.460 not a well -prepared ship, by the way, you're 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:07.920 sinking when the tide rises, get your ship and 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:10.140 order my friends. Then there's the AI marketplace. 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:13.700 The AI marketplace is our world. for AI. And 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:15.880 this is positioned to help anybody who's been 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:17.480 a little bit scared of AI or who doesn't know 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:20.559 how to use it from the get -go. You already have 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.880 the skills within you as a professional. And 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:24.940 I want you to be able to see and recognize that. 00:19:25.140 --> 00:19:27.380 Professionals, you can use this free tool on 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:29.720 the front end to define what your skills are 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.819 by just checking boxes of what do you know how 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:34.079 to do in the real world. It will translate for 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.380 you what you should have on your resume and on 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.779 your LinkedIn. And you can revamp both of those 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:41.500 within 15 minutes. In addition, it guides you 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:43.920 through how to interview for conversations so 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.460 that you can position yourself as an AI executive 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:49.240 for the future. I believe that most of you who 00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:51.779 are working in average American companies have 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:54.400 far more AI skills than you even realize. On 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.619 the business side, we have a bottleneck audit 00:19:56.619 --> 00:19:58.839 and the bottleneck audit helps you see what are 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:00.500 some things that may be going on in your business 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:02.339 right now that you can check the box for. And 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:04.420 it will show you what type of system you can 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:07.779 build with AI in order to surpass those bottlenecks. 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:09.880 Right now we're in the founding member stage. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:12.960 We're going to have 50 founding members at $50 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.880 a month or $500 for lifetime access, not one 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:18.920 -year access, lifetime. We'll be bumping up to 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.960 $100 after that. The 50 founding cohort is a 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:26.099 special signature level, if you will. And you'll 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.339 notice underneath the button for it on the enrollment 00:20:28.339 --> 00:20:31.140 page. It says you can apply for a grant if you 00:20:31.140 --> 00:20:33.039 can't afford this. My friends, I don't want to 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:34.859 leave anybody behind. If you want to explore 00:20:34.859 --> 00:20:37.180 it, just go to the grant program and see what 00:20:37.180 --> 00:20:38.759 that looks like. You can dive in and see the 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:41.880 dashboard, see how we design our materials every 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:45.019 single month. And if you want to upgrade, fantastic. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:46.839 But again, if you're not in a financial position 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:48.779 to be able to afford this, just come and join 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:51.519 us for free. We also have the AI exchange on 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:54.000 Tuesdays at 2 p .m. Central. We would love to 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:56.480 see you there. Lastly, we've got the Water Project. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:58.619 While we're here to serve each and every single 00:20:58.619 --> 00:21:00.559 one of you, we also don't want to forget the 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:02.880 less fortunate people who don't even have the 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.460 ability to lock into AI. We're talking about 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:07.460 people in Africa who don't have access to clean 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:11.170 drinking water. This project was something that 00:21:11.170 --> 00:21:12.470 I couldn't relate to because I've never been 00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:14.170 thirsty in my life, but I'm glad a team member 00:21:14.170 --> 00:21:17.230 insisted that I take a look. Once I did, I saw 00:21:17.230 --> 00:21:20.450 kids celebrating water like my kids celebrate 00:21:20.450 --> 00:21:22.369 Christmas Day, and I was like, we should definitely 00:21:22.369 --> 00:21:24.670 help out with this. And so we do give to this 00:21:24.670 --> 00:21:27.250 project every single month. I hope that if you're 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:29.230 in a position to give, you certainly can choose 00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:30.930 a community where you want to give. I love that 00:21:30.930 --> 00:21:33.690 the water project transparently shows you the 00:21:33.690 --> 00:21:35.630 completion of the project. They actually update 00:21:35.630 --> 00:21:37.569 you on the one that you donate to, which is awesome. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:39.900 But if you don't have the finances to give back 00:21:39.900 --> 00:21:41.960 to this, my hope is you will at least share it 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:43.759 with friends and family. Maybe you can talk about 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:45.539 it over lunch with somebody and show somebody 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:47.200 what they're up to. I think it's really cool 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:50.079 and fun to learn about. And we've got 8 billion 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.240 people to help in this world, my friends. So 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.200 if there's another cause that's drawing your 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:56.380 attention, just like this cause was drawing one 00:21:56.380 --> 00:21:58.440 of my team members' attentions, do us a favor. 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:01.420 Drop it as a comment in the show. I will personally 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:03.259 take a look at whatever that cause is, and I 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:05.720 will do my best to either create and spread the 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:09.059 word for it or to... to also contribute to it 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:11.240 myself. So without further ado, let's get back 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:14.299 to helping all of you with your visions. Walt, 00:22:14.380 --> 00:22:17.559 thanks for being here on Vision Pros Life. Absolutely. 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:20.839 It's a good conversation. Yes, sir. So diving 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:24.539 right into that rise of AI and banking and how 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:27.059 the rules are changing and many business owners 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:28.960 are falling behind without even realizing it. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:31.240 Where do you want to start for that segment? 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.710 Well, ai is here to stay you know you i think 00:22:36.710 --> 00:22:39.430 we're all beginning to understand that the thing 00:22:39.430 --> 00:22:42.410 to remember with with bankers generally speaking 00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:47.829 is um you know they're slow to respond uh generally 00:22:47.829 --> 00:22:50.529 speaking and when you speak in generalities you 00:22:50.529 --> 00:22:53.849 always get yourself in trouble but um you know 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:58.839 bankers are risk managers and part of being comfortable 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:01.920 managing risk is understanding the risks associated 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.960 with you know the technology the product the 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:09.220 times you know the macro economics and so Because 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:12.019 of that, bankers tend not to be a leading edge 00:23:12.019 --> 00:23:15.960 on anything. They tend to learn and adapt. And 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:18.779 so I think that's where we are today. I can tell 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:22.400 you from a regulatory standpoint, there's a lot 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.519 of discussion over the last three or four years, 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:31.019 both here and in Europe, on how commercial banks 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:36.109 need to implement AI to better manage risk. um 00:23:36.109 --> 00:23:39.650 most of that is going into the front end side 00:23:39.650 --> 00:23:44.630 of lending which i've spoken um before on on 00:23:44.630 --> 00:23:48.170 some other podcasts that i don't think ai will 00:23:48.170 --> 00:23:52.210 replace your your commercial lender Personal 00:23:52.210 --> 00:23:55.470 debt, personal lending, that's already been replaced. 00:23:55.609 --> 00:23:58.990 That got replaced by algorithms years ago, long 00:23:58.990 --> 00:24:04.089 before AI. But with commercial lending, there's 00:24:04.089 --> 00:24:07.950 so much different nuances from business to business, 00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:13.829 even in the same industry. Granted, I'm a banker. 00:24:13.930 --> 00:24:18.069 That's my fabric. So I may be that slow to change. 00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:23.059 but there's too much humanity that needs to go 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:29.519 into assessing that business owner's acumen to 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:34.200 be successful and to be at the table when the 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:38.279 headwinds come i have not dealt with any business 00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:41.700 that hasn't had some headwinds at some point 00:24:41.700 --> 00:24:46.039 it's inevitable it's life things happen and so 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:49.170 really Commercial lending is about understanding 00:24:49.170 --> 00:24:52.470 the acumen of the business owner and assessing 00:24:52.470 --> 00:24:57.049 their staying power. And I think there's just 00:24:57.049 --> 00:25:01.690 too much humanity for that piece. Interesting. 00:25:02.509 --> 00:25:05.049 Maybe it's a different category. I don't know 00:25:05.049 --> 00:25:07.069 why it's perhaps overlooked a little bit, but 00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:09.470 to validate what you said too, yes, bankers, 00:25:09.470 --> 00:25:11.970 when you're in a successful position, visionaries, 00:25:11.970 --> 00:25:15.819 you don't have to react to the markets. And so 00:25:15.819 --> 00:25:17.720 you are going to be slow because why would you 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:20.220 risk everything that you have? They're not great 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:24.039 gamblers. And that's a good thing. Imagine if 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:26.119 our banks were constantly gambling with our money. 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:27.839 I mean, we would be in a very, very difficult 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.380 position, even further difficult position as 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:33.940 an economy. But as far as commercial. 2008 all 00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:37.259 over again. all right yes and with the commercial 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:39.980 lending side so there's a couple of of routes 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:43.000 that i recommend having your eyes open for uh 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.259 my friends and again i wouldn't i want to be 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:47.140 careful with this i'm not a financial advisor 00:25:47.140 --> 00:25:49.460 you're making your own decisions in relation 00:25:49.460 --> 00:25:52.980 to this i'm definitely not a banker but to open 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:54.619 your eyes to what is out there that you may not 00:25:54.619 --> 00:25:58.019 have seen stripe provides lending to businesses. 00:25:58.099 --> 00:26:00.700 As you continue to build up a good relationship 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:03.500 with Stripe by processing transactions, not having 00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:06.140 chargebacks, they open capital to you. PayPal 00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:11.059 also opens lending to individuals and QuickBooks 00:26:11.059 --> 00:26:13.859 as well. If you've used QuickBooks for two years 00:26:13.859 --> 00:26:16.660 or so, QuickBooks Capital becomes a resource 00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:19.500 that is open to you. So there are opportunities, 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:22.460 but I want to dive in more aggressively on, this 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:24.619 is again, why it's so helpful and so valuable. 00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:26.980 to build relationships with people like Walt. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:31.720 Ultimately, the more choices that you have, the 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:34.039 better position you'll likely be in to get the 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:35.980 best bang for your buck in these opportunities 00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:38.759 and not just the best bang for your buck, but 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:41.160 also the relationships that are likely to have 00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:43.819 more depth and can help you in different ways. 00:26:44.019 --> 00:26:45.859 And so that's really what it's about. It's about 00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:49.680 making sure that we don't end up with. one solution 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:52.660 for water bottles on the planet um you know that's 00:26:52.660 --> 00:26:55.099 where corruption ultimately comes in and so you 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:56.960 want to put yourself in a position if you want 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:58.500 to read the book never split the difference by 00:26:58.500 --> 00:27:01.000 chris voss as well this goes back to basic negotiations 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:04.960 the person who is in the strongest position is 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:06.859 almost always going or has the least to lose 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:09.039 is almost always going to win the negotiations 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.819 and so if you put yourself in a position to where 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:14.900 you have collateral, you have versatility, you 00:27:14.900 --> 00:27:16.619 have different relationship options, you have 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:19.799 supply and demand in your favor when it comes 00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:22.660 to how am I going to raise funding, then the 00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:24.680 banks are going to be more likely to want to 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:26.819 win your business because they don't want you 00:27:26.819 --> 00:27:28.900 to go with another bank if they see that you 00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:30.240 have all those strengths. They're like, well, 00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:33.420 what can we do to win this account over? So those 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:35.359 are some other fundamentals behind the scenes 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:39.900 on this. Hidden rules, Walt, of getting business 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:41.660 from funding that we haven't talked about that 00:27:41.660 --> 00:27:45.859 you'd like to highlight. Yes. And I would say 00:27:45.859 --> 00:27:48.200 information, because what was interesting was 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:50.440 with those lenders that you listed, I think it 00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:55.339 was three or four. All of those are our service 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:59.349 providers that have data. and the reason why 00:27:59.349 --> 00:28:02.710 they're able to then provide credit is because 00:28:02.710 --> 00:28:05.789 the guesswork has kind of been removed they know 00:28:05.789 --> 00:28:09.750 what your cash flow is they see every time you 00:28:09.750 --> 00:28:13.130 know you get paid you know so so that it's data 00:28:13.130 --> 00:28:16.309 driven right right so it does take some of the 00:28:16.309 --> 00:28:20.529 guesswork out when it comes to dealing with a 00:28:20.529 --> 00:28:25.890 community bank or a cdfi it really is about the 00:28:25.890 --> 00:28:29.569 communication tools understand that the person 00:28:29.569 --> 00:28:33.490 you're talking to you want them to be your advocate 00:28:33.490 --> 00:28:37.690 they're your champion at that bank or at that 00:28:37.690 --> 00:28:43.170 CDFI you need to empower them to be able to then 00:28:43.170 --> 00:28:47.910 talk about you and your business to the larger 00:28:47.910 --> 00:28:51.309 group within their institution their organization 00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:58.339 and you know sell you to them because in lending 00:28:58.339 --> 00:29:00.940 there's a lot of times where the person you're 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:05.119 talking to may have signing authority um at one 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:07.880 time you know depending where i uh what lender 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.240 i was working for i had signing authority so 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:13.559 i i could you know approve things myself often 00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:17.019 it does need to go up at least one layer and 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:20.240 so the person you're dealing with needs to be 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:24.039 given the information so they're excited about 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:27.460 you your business so they can then take that 00:29:27.460 --> 00:29:30.039 excitement to the next level and so that's where 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:34.619 it comes to you know keep your books right um 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:37.700 with all of the technology out there today it's 00:29:37.700 --> 00:29:41.539 really inexcusable if you can't produce financial 00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:44.880 statements a balance sheet in a profit and loss 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.140 you know an income statement um on a regular 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:51.799 basis and have it be you know good information 00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:56.519 good data um you know that shows that you're 00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:58.740 paying attention to your business and you're 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:01.519 managing your business um you also need to be 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:04.740 able to talk about your business from not just 00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:07.559 a passion standpoint because if you're a business 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:10.319 owner and you don't have passion about what you're 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:16.140 doing get out now yes right because um you have 00:30:16.140 --> 00:30:19.539 to have that passion um you know things are cyclical 00:30:19.539 --> 00:30:22.259 you know you may you know there's the old saying 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:25.339 even blind squirrels can find a nut from time 00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:29.000 to time so you know you you may have an opportunity 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.700 you may not be really passionate about it but 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:35.039 you see oh i can make a buck or two get in make 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:38.000 your buck or two and get out because if you're 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:41.079 not passionate about what you're doing you know 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:44.140 life is short If you're not passionate and those 00:30:44.140 --> 00:30:48.519 headwinds come, that's where I think people then 00:30:48.519 --> 00:30:51.259 can get really tripped up and make bad decisions 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:53.819 that not just impact themselves, but others. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:57.980 So you have to have passion. And so you need 00:30:57.980 --> 00:31:02.039 to be able to talk about the business outside 00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:04.670 of your passion. you need to talk about your 00:31:04.670 --> 00:31:08.650 competitors what makes you special how are you 00:31:08.650 --> 00:31:12.509 differentiated from your competition now we talked 00:31:12.509 --> 00:31:14.869 about a little bit earlier about that you know 00:31:14.869 --> 00:31:19.730 the humanity aspect and you talking to your banker 00:31:19.730 --> 00:31:24.140 about why you're going to stay when those headwinds 00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:26.819 come and you're going to equip your whoever you're 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:30.220 dealing with with those pieces um jackson to 00:31:30.220 --> 00:31:32.880 have that successful conversation about capital 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:36.980 absolutely my friends i want you to also dive 00:31:36.980 --> 00:31:40.940 in with ai and ask ai about promissory notes 00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:44.599 and how promissory notes you know, are they legal 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:48.000 and ask it, are there ways to set healthy boundaries 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.400 with individuals to talk through how to set up 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:51.759 promissory notes? My friends have been teaching 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.460 this for years and I want you to dive in and 00:31:54.460 --> 00:31:56.220 figure that out for yourself and see what's there 00:31:56.220 --> 00:31:58.400 because I see so many people skipping that stage 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:00.980 and going straight to banks, capital or worse, 00:32:01.140 --> 00:32:04.119 going to credit cards, you know, and not seeing 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:05.920 what else is out there. And I'm not saying that 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.220 you can't win by taking out a credit card and 00:32:09.220 --> 00:32:11.220 running your business on that. There's people 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:13.980 who do it. But there are so many other options 00:32:13.980 --> 00:32:16.940 that we often overlook and we don't we don't 00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:18.339 educate ourselves. So we don't really know what 00:32:18.339 --> 00:32:19.859 our options are. So I'm going to leave that where 00:32:19.859 --> 00:32:21.880 it's at. We're going to continue on this thought 00:32:21.880 --> 00:32:24.299 process of passion a little bit because you were 00:32:24.299 --> 00:32:26.000 going in two different directions. Well, and 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.200 both are super important. One, you talked about 00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:30.119 the people who don't have passion. Now I want 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:31.799 to talk about the dangers of having passion. 00:32:32.420 --> 00:32:34.980 You know, we have the passion. There's a saying 00:32:34.980 --> 00:32:38.119 when we start selling hammers, everything looks 00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:40.980 like a nail. And I see a lot of business owners. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.119 think that their stuff's way cooler than it actually 00:32:44.119 --> 00:32:46.579 is, or think that they're way more prepared than 00:32:46.579 --> 00:32:49.819 they actually are, guilty as charged as a business 00:32:49.819 --> 00:32:53.319 owner. We have to be able to look past our blind 00:32:53.319 --> 00:32:55.140 spots. We have to have team members who can help 00:32:55.140 --> 00:32:57.500 us see that, wait, we need to get these elements 00:32:57.500 --> 00:33:00.759 in place before we launch. You can passionately 00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:03.539 run yourself way too close to the cliff or off 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:05.839 the cliff if you're not careful with making sure 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:08.720 that what you're doing is also pragmatic. And 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:11.740 so that's another side. But as we get ready to, 00:33:11.779 --> 00:33:13.259 so now let's say that you're in the middle zone. 00:33:13.700 --> 00:33:15.960 You have the passion, but you're also pragmatic. 00:33:16.420 --> 00:33:19.259 You've got the story. You've got the data -driven 00:33:19.259 --> 00:33:22.119 processes to help showcase that you're on the 00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:24.380 right track. My friends, one of the greatest 00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:26.559 challenges, and this is something that I think 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:27.940 we have an opportunity to teach our banks about, 00:33:28.059 --> 00:33:32.180 is that we are often misguided 90 % of the time, 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:34.400 maybe plus, maybe even 99 % of the time in some 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:37.680 cases, on how much money you need for operations. 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:41.160 marketing and advertising and i'm going to show 00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:43.319 an article that we created walter look forward 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:45.200 to your opinion on this as well i'm going to 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:47.019 plant this seed my friends are the first banker 00:33:47.019 --> 00:33:49.359 i've talked to yet about this but there's this 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:53.220 there's this myth that exists and it comes from 00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:57.130 the sba and we hear friends and family regurgitate 00:33:57.130 --> 00:33:59.089 this over and over that you need to put seven 00:33:59.089 --> 00:34:01.549 to 8 % towards marketing and advertising and 00:34:01.549 --> 00:34:03.470 Gartner backs it up and says the same thing. 00:34:03.589 --> 00:34:06.910 And the CMO survey that evaluates like 6 ,000, 00:34:06.910 --> 00:34:09.889 I think CMOs says it's around 9 .4 % around the 00:34:09.889 --> 00:34:13.010 same exact reality. And here's the odd thing 00:34:13.010 --> 00:34:16.710 about this, the 6 ,000 CMOs they asked, there's 00:34:16.710 --> 00:34:18.050 no proof that any of them are any good at what 00:34:18.050 --> 00:34:20.369 they do. And in fact, there's a track record 00:34:20.369 --> 00:34:23.550 of 66 % of businesses losing within 10 years. 00:34:23.650 --> 00:34:26.289 So if you follow the advice that all of these 00:34:26.289 --> 00:34:29.070 entities are pushing, you are likely to have 00:34:29.070 --> 00:34:31.050 the exact same track record that every other 00:34:31.050 --> 00:34:34.050 company that they've ever revised has also followed. 00:34:34.110 --> 00:34:37.349 But I took this article, and I worked with Claude 00:34:37.349 --> 00:34:40.590 on this, by the way, and it talks about how that 00:34:40.590 --> 00:34:43.610 is a descriptive reality, the 7 % to 9%. It is 00:34:43.610 --> 00:34:47.920 not a prescriptive reality. And the actual behavior 00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:50.519 is closer to 1%. I mean, they did studies and 00:34:50.519 --> 00:34:53.559 the average American business owner only spends 00:34:53.559 --> 00:34:56.579 1 .08 % of revenue advertising. But that led 00:34:56.579 --> 00:35:00.260 me to ask, well, wait a second. Do we know out 00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:02.219 of the brands that actually listened to SBA, 00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:05.699 how many actually have winning track records 00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:09.800 that spent 7, 8 %? There is literally no study 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:13.039 done in the world that exists on this. And whether 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:15.860 this is actually an accurate map. or whether 00:35:15.860 --> 00:35:18.000 the map is just some some fable that was invented 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:20.699 by authorities and institutions and has just 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:22.400 been pushed over and over and over so we're going 00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:25.579 to go down here to looking past tesla past other 00:35:25.579 --> 00:35:28.099 frameworks to this reality and this is based 00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:31.800 on vc backed information if you're pre -revenue 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:35.400 or you have no budget you don't get to invest 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:37.900 a percentage and if you invest the bare minimum 00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:40.840 in your industry you're like it's like a gardener 00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:43.150 saying what's the least amount of water I can 00:35:43.150 --> 00:35:45.570 give my plants and them not die. That's not how 00:35:45.570 --> 00:35:48.030 you build a healthy garden. You need to put yourself 00:35:48.030 --> 00:35:50.969 in a position where you have the capital to advance 00:35:50.969 --> 00:35:53.349 your projects. Let's go down to new businesses, 00:35:53.449 --> 00:35:56.809 zero to two years. VCs recommend that you put 00:35:56.809 --> 00:36:00.510 20 to 50 % of revenue towards your brands. Hey, 00:36:00.530 --> 00:36:02.829 if you're Dropbox, Dropbox put 100 % of revenue 00:36:02.829 --> 00:36:05.909 towards their advertising and their marketing. 00:36:05.929 --> 00:36:09.309 They made it to a $10 billion IPO. What about 00:36:09.309 --> 00:36:11.469 existing but stalled businesses? Well, if you've 00:36:11.469 --> 00:36:13.860 stalled out, because you have a bad reputation, 00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:16.320 because you didn't hit it off in the beginning. 00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:17.679 Guess what? People are going to be that much 00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:19.739 less likely to be excited about finding out your 00:36:19.739 --> 00:36:22.920 brand. You've got to invest more in those cases. 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:24.900 And there's industry stats on if you're going 00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:28.679 to do a rebrand, $100 ,000 to $350 ,000. I know 00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:31.280 that's not comfortable. But business isn't about 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:33.059 being comfortable. It's about providing for your 00:36:33.059 --> 00:36:34.920 loved ones. It's about making sure you put yourself 00:36:34.920 --> 00:36:36.699 in a position where you are as bulletproof as 00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:39.179 possible. Establish and growing, then maybe you 00:36:39.179 --> 00:36:41.699 go down to 10 to 20 % and you work on maintaining. 00:36:42.039 --> 00:36:44.980 And in the dominant cycles, most brands that 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:46.659 are dominant in their market, they are peddled 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:48.719 to the metal crushing it. But if you want to 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:51.199 gamble and put yourself in a position to where 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:54.679 you are maintaining status quo, 7 to 15 % might 00:36:54.679 --> 00:36:57.360 be possible. But recently Tesla learned that 00:36:57.360 --> 00:36:59.440 other companies come after you. And they take 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:01.420 your lunch money. That's what's happening with 00:37:01.420 --> 00:37:03.800 DYB over in China. And that's why Tesla is now 00:37:03.800 --> 00:37:05.619 advertising, even though they had a no advertising 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:08.420 policy previously. But that was where the founder 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:11.320 had 150 million social media followers. He had 00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:14.460 a billion dollar strategy in place that didn't 00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:16.059 cost him anything because he had already built 00:37:16.059 --> 00:37:18.739 equity into that for so long. So while those 00:37:18.739 --> 00:37:20.880 are my thoughts and some of the studies, I'll 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:23.639 drop the link for everybody is that we've got 00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:26.599 to help entrepreneurs realize that. They need 00:37:26.599 --> 00:37:29.780 to invest far more in their awareness campaigns, 00:37:30.099 --> 00:37:33.099 in their branding, in their exposure. I don't 00:37:33.099 --> 00:37:34.980 see anybody in the market talking about this 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:36.639 because there's no study to challenge the authorities. 00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:39.010 What are your thoughts on that? No, I think you're 00:37:39.010 --> 00:37:42.250 spot on. I've worked with a lot of companies 00:37:42.250 --> 00:37:46.070 that have developed great mousetraps. But if 00:37:46.070 --> 00:37:49.010 you can't tell the world about your mousetrap, 00:37:49.150 --> 00:37:51.409 you're not going to sell any. It's one thing 00:37:51.409 --> 00:37:54.929 to come up with an idea and a product. It's a 00:37:54.929 --> 00:37:57.289 whole different thing to actually turn that into 00:37:57.289 --> 00:37:59.769 money because you have to sell it. And no, I 00:37:59.769 --> 00:38:02.469 agree with you, Jackson. I think when it comes 00:38:02.469 --> 00:38:05.630 to the soft side of working capital and where 00:38:05.630 --> 00:38:10.769 that gets spent, um all too often entrepreneurs 00:38:10.769 --> 00:38:17.010 visionaries um uh get concerned of and they hold 00:38:17.010 --> 00:38:19.969 on to cash a little bit too tight right um and 00:38:19.969 --> 00:38:24.289 it's it's a defensive move um and i think you 00:38:24.289 --> 00:38:27.190 know it's kind of part of our nature when it 00:38:27.190 --> 00:38:29.710 comes to is it seven percent is it eight percent 00:38:29.710 --> 00:38:33.230 is it nine percent um i would kind of throw all 00:38:33.230 --> 00:38:35.929 of those out um i agree with you i think it's 00:38:35.929 --> 00:38:38.980 more than that What happens a lot in finance 00:38:38.980 --> 00:38:42.719 is you get people often, you know, it starts 00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:45.840 at universities and goes out from there. And, 00:38:45.860 --> 00:38:47.639 you know, they come up with these formulas and 00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:50.880 they pontificate from above. These are ratios 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:54.059 you should have. And and nobody's following up. 00:38:54.139 --> 00:38:56.940 Right. Nobody's looking at, you know, the the 00:38:56.940 --> 00:39:00.719 25 most successful companies in industry. Right. 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:06.309 What are they spending? exactly underwriting 00:39:06.309 --> 00:39:10.409 that banks do there's some data collectors out 00:39:10.409 --> 00:39:15.349 there um rma they were purchased by um i think 00:39:15.349 --> 00:39:17.829 prosite might be the name but they basically 00:39:17.829 --> 00:39:23.230 aggregate all of this cpa tax return data so 00:39:23.230 --> 00:39:26.789 as a lender i can subscribe to this service you 00:39:26.789 --> 00:39:30.769 know if i'm dealing with a a sas company and 00:39:30.769 --> 00:39:33.630 i can then look at all right other companies 00:39:33.630 --> 00:39:37.489 within these size ranges this is how much they're 00:39:37.489 --> 00:39:42.480 spending you know But that's not out there for 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:46.940 everybody to look at. And it can vary by industry. 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:51.400 But yeah, I kind of ignore a lot of these reports. 00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:59.099 SBA is good. What I would say is SBDCs, the small 00:39:59.099 --> 00:40:02.260 business development centers that are in every 00:40:02.260 --> 00:40:06.079 state. They're county kind of based. They can 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:11.159 be extremely useful. But but reports that come 00:40:11.159 --> 00:40:15.900 from SBA, you know, I give them maybe a C or 00:40:15.900 --> 00:40:18.260 a C plus when it comes. Well, it's it's again, 00:40:18.300 --> 00:40:21.900 it's not the report itself. That report is accurate, 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.559 but they've never measured the reality of the 00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:28.559 outcomes. And so it's it's important data, but 00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:30.380 it's an incomplete data set. It would be like 00:40:30.380 --> 00:40:33.380 me telling you telling you guys, hey, if you 00:40:33.380 --> 00:40:36.760 want to get to from Houston to San Antonio, then. 00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.840 A thousand people have tried to do it and are 00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:43.340 on their way. And as far as we know, they've 00:40:43.340 --> 00:40:46.000 all spent they all needed three gallons of gas, 00:40:46.059 --> 00:40:49.920 you know, and then nobody's checking if the thousand 00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.400 people actually made it or not. They're just 00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:56.389 telling them. that as a general answer. And obviously 00:40:56.389 --> 00:40:58.610 the data connects a little bit better. And I 00:40:58.610 --> 00:41:00.070 break it down in the article for you guys to 00:41:00.070 --> 00:41:02.329 see why do they recommend what they recommend 00:41:02.329 --> 00:41:04.989 and what's there. But if you don't measure against 00:41:04.989 --> 00:41:07.130 the outcome, there's no accountability for the 00:41:07.130 --> 00:41:09.449 advice given. And like I said, it's about businesses. 00:41:10.059 --> 00:41:12.320 that are maintaining, that are already successful. 00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:13.980 That's where that knowledge is coming from. It's 00:41:13.980 --> 00:41:16.420 not from your variable where your stage is and 00:41:16.420 --> 00:41:18.280 where you're at as a business owner. And so we 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:20.599 have to be more careful with that reality for 00:41:20.599 --> 00:41:23.559 ourselves. And as far as the SBDCs go, the local, 00:41:23.639 --> 00:41:25.599 I have another article on that. They do have 00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:29.000 free, legally required to help you advice. And 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:32.860 almost nobody uses it very well. And so I've 00:41:32.860 --> 00:41:35.849 wrote an article. about what to watch out for 00:41:35.849 --> 00:41:38.869 in relation to working with the SBDCs and how 00:41:38.869 --> 00:41:40.710 it's extremely beneficial. We wouldn't have raised 00:41:40.710 --> 00:41:43.090 the $100 ,000 to the Baylor Angel Network if 00:41:43.090 --> 00:41:44.670 it wasn't for our guy at Georgetown University 00:41:44.670 --> 00:41:47.550 who was helping us on that during our days where 00:41:47.550 --> 00:41:50.130 I was full -time at Restaurant Connect. So by 00:41:50.130 --> 00:41:52.369 all means, guys, lean into these types of resources. 00:41:52.929 --> 00:41:54.969 Walt, we don't have too much time left. I'm going 00:41:54.969 --> 00:41:57.030 to throw three different topics at you at once. 00:41:57.269 --> 00:41:59.889 And we'll do our best to efficiently go through 00:41:59.889 --> 00:42:03.269 them. One is why access to capital is about to 00:42:03.269 --> 00:42:05.849 change. with AI and the banking explained on 00:42:05.849 --> 00:42:08.789 that side. But more importantly, how is it changing? 00:42:09.110 --> 00:42:12.070 And how different types of banks serve different 00:42:12.070 --> 00:42:14.309 types of businesses as well. Maybe we'll dive 00:42:14.309 --> 00:42:16.929 into that a little bit. We can also create materials 00:42:16.929 --> 00:42:18.789 after the fact, Walt, if we want to give it back 00:42:18.789 --> 00:42:20.929 to the audience in a different way. And how banks 00:42:20.929 --> 00:42:25.349 really decide who gets capital. Let's start with 00:42:25.349 --> 00:42:29.300 two, go to three, go back to one. you told about 00:42:29.300 --> 00:42:31.980 your experience with with the bank in the pyramid 00:42:31.980 --> 00:42:35.139 i can't remember the name of that bank um when 00:42:35.139 --> 00:42:38.059 selecting banks it's it's an interview process 00:42:38.059 --> 00:42:41.840 not all banks and all community banks are a fit 00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:45.369 for every business Just like if you're getting 00:42:45.369 --> 00:42:48.989 a CPA or if you're getting an attorney, you want 00:42:48.989 --> 00:42:50.809 to talk to them. You need to make sure that there's 00:42:50.809 --> 00:42:54.170 a fit. And often people just go, oh, this is 00:42:54.170 --> 00:42:57.250 the bank that's closest or, oh, I like this is 00:42:57.250 --> 00:43:00.389 the better advertisement or this is the best 00:43:00.389 --> 00:43:03.090 one with their online mobile banking. You got 00:43:03.090 --> 00:43:06.329 to talk to the people and do your research. All 00:43:06.329 --> 00:43:08.869 banks, because they're regulated, you can look 00:43:08.869 --> 00:43:14.030 up information on them at FDIC. um on that um 00:43:14.030 --> 00:43:19.110 third how to get the capital or what that looks 00:43:19.110 --> 00:43:22.489 like the decision -making process it goes back 00:43:22.489 --> 00:43:26.550 to what we were talking about with having that 00:43:26.550 --> 00:43:30.909 champion within that organization and really 00:43:30.909 --> 00:43:33.469 what they are doing especially for young companies 00:43:33.469 --> 00:43:37.250 or companies that don't fit in a box well if 00:43:37.250 --> 00:43:40.630 you fit in a box you know skip pasco go to a 00:43:40.630 --> 00:43:43.489 community bank you know get dialed in after you 00:43:43.489 --> 00:43:46.289 you have that relationship if you're a young 00:43:46.289 --> 00:43:49.449 business if you're in these industries that are 00:43:49.449 --> 00:43:53.409 kind of new and unknown you know it's the cdfi's 00:43:53.409 --> 00:43:56.829 it's the community banks but it boils down to 00:43:56.829 --> 00:44:02.099 debt is not a grant the lender needs to have 00:44:02.099 --> 00:44:05.059 a reasonable expectation that you're going to 00:44:05.059 --> 00:44:09.099 pay them back so that's your job is to outline 00:44:09.099 --> 00:44:13.219 how with taking this money from them putting 00:44:13.219 --> 00:44:16.000 it into your business you're going to generate 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:19.099 more money which then can be used to pay them 00:44:19.099 --> 00:44:23.059 back It sounds simple. It's more complicated 00:44:23.059 --> 00:44:26.500 than that. But if you put that as your guidepost, 00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:29.619 you need to convince them that you can pay them 00:44:29.619 --> 00:44:33.599 back. That's 50 % of the path that gets you this 00:44:33.599 --> 00:44:38.579 huge head start. When it comes to AI, I think 00:44:38.579 --> 00:44:42.079 AI is going to play a couple of roles with banks. 00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:46.039 um both community banks and and we can see the 00:44:46.039 --> 00:44:49.679 big banks as well fraud detection uh let's face 00:44:49.679 --> 00:44:54.119 it um you know i i often kind of amuse that these 00:44:54.119 --> 00:44:58.900 people who prey upon others and pull off fraud 00:44:58.900 --> 00:45:03.119 if they would just put that much energy and resources 00:45:03.119 --> 00:45:06.860 and intellect into doing good in this world how 00:45:06.860 --> 00:45:09.940 much better would this world be but fraud exists 00:45:10.570 --> 00:45:14.570 AI is excellent at pattern recognition. So we 00:45:14.570 --> 00:45:17.869 already know and we've seen AI used in fraud 00:45:17.869 --> 00:45:23.590 detection. Other areas with banks is new services 00:45:23.590 --> 00:45:29.809 and better interfaces. What we had for mobile 00:45:29.809 --> 00:45:33.750 banking five years ago is completely different 00:45:33.750 --> 00:45:36.469 than what we have today. I think it's going to 00:45:36.469 --> 00:45:42.190 continue to develop. AI is really bringing down 00:45:42.190 --> 00:45:44.849 the cost of creating these platforms and these 00:45:44.849 --> 00:45:49.550 programs and banks will capitalize on it. And 00:45:49.550 --> 00:45:52.570 then lastly, and I disagree with a lot of people 00:45:52.570 --> 00:45:55.889 out there, you know, the talking heads talking 00:45:55.889 --> 00:45:59.670 about AI replacing people in the banking world. 00:46:00.110 --> 00:46:03.050 I do not, and I already touched on it, but I 00:46:03.050 --> 00:46:08.989 don't see AI taking over. credit decisioning 00:46:08.989 --> 00:46:12.050 on the commercial side i think it will augment 00:46:12.050 --> 00:46:15.449 it i'm hoping it makes it faster because i'll 00:46:15.449 --> 00:46:19.070 tell you and the worst thing a banker can do 00:46:19.070 --> 00:46:23.329 is deliver a slow no if you're dealing with the 00:46:23.329 --> 00:46:27.110 lender and they're dragging their feet and every 00:46:27.110 --> 00:46:29.250 three or four days they come back to you and 00:46:29.250 --> 00:46:31.630 they need one more piece of paper and this goes 00:46:31.630 --> 00:46:38.219 on for a week cut and run um slow Bankers have 00:46:38.219 --> 00:46:41.539 given themselves bad reputations because of bad 00:46:41.539 --> 00:46:47.059 practices. And the slow no is to me inexcusable. 00:46:47.179 --> 00:46:51.719 So I think AI is helping on the workflow, making 00:46:51.719 --> 00:46:56.059 the process easier for businesses to go. But 00:46:56.059 --> 00:46:58.940 I don't see it necessarily replacing the decision 00:46:58.940 --> 00:47:02.960 making process. And then the selfish plug, I 00:47:02.960 --> 00:47:08.909 think AI can. reduce the risk involved with commercial 00:47:08.909 --> 00:47:12.469 lending. That's what we built our company on. 00:47:12.590 --> 00:47:16.309 And the goal and the reason why we built this, 00:47:16.429 --> 00:47:19.670 and I mentioned this before. bankers tend to 00:47:19.670 --> 00:47:22.269 be, well, not tend to, they are risk managers. 00:47:22.489 --> 00:47:25.929 But to manage risk, you have to understand the 00:47:25.929 --> 00:47:28.769 parameters that you're working in. And we all 00:47:28.769 --> 00:47:31.630 know the world's very crazy right now. So if 00:47:31.630 --> 00:47:35.250 we can develop an AI tool that does a better 00:47:35.250 --> 00:47:39.869 job and a lower impact on the borrower to collect 00:47:39.869 --> 00:47:42.429 financial statements so we have the data, so 00:47:42.429 --> 00:47:45.610 we can have early warning systems, it ultimately 00:47:45.610 --> 00:47:49.400 reduces the risk to the commercial lender and 00:47:49.400 --> 00:47:52.980 if the risk goes down i believe they will say 00:47:52.980 --> 00:47:56.760 yes to more loans or more questionable loans 00:47:56.760 --> 00:48:00.480 increasing access to capital for these you know 00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:05.139 less known industries or younger businesses because 00:48:05.139 --> 00:48:08.079 they have that data feedback loop that is so 00:48:08.079 --> 00:48:12.420 essential absolutely guys today we received a 00:48:12.420 --> 00:48:16.269 master class on all things banking and ai and 00:48:16.269 --> 00:48:18.769 we can combine those two for our advantage i 00:48:18.769 --> 00:48:21.449 want to be able to help you do just that if you 00:48:21.449 --> 00:48:24.190 have a vision and a brand that you are trying 00:48:24.190 --> 00:48:27.309 to build you can take the script from this exact 00:48:27.309 --> 00:48:30.710 video and you can plug it into ai and i want 00:48:30.710 --> 00:48:33.170 you to do it because one i don't like to have 00:48:33.170 --> 00:48:35.889 conversations where i'm caught with my pants 00:48:35.889 --> 00:48:40.159 down meaning i don't like to go to a lender or 00:48:40.159 --> 00:48:43.659 to a lawyer or to anybody who's got a whole lot 00:48:43.659 --> 00:48:46.059 of knowledge over me on a subject and i'm not 00:48:46.059 --> 00:48:47.960 prepared to talk about it i don't really understand 00:48:47.960 --> 00:48:50.480 them i'm kind of wasting their time now i'm not 00:48:50.480 --> 00:48:53.139 i haven't done my due diligence well now ai can 00:48:53.139 --> 00:48:56.139 help you understand those things so much better 00:48:56.139 --> 00:48:57.980 so you can go in with the right types of questions 00:48:57.980 --> 00:49:02.199 so give ai the script tell it to do do research 00:49:02.199 --> 00:49:05.550 on you and your situation Ask it, what questions 00:49:05.550 --> 00:49:07.489 should I be asking when I go into these environments? 00:49:07.630 --> 00:49:10.730 What results might I be looking for? It's not 00:49:10.730 --> 00:49:12.530 going to give you a perfect answer, but I guarantee 00:49:12.530 --> 00:49:13.929 you it's going to give you more knowledge than 00:49:13.929 --> 00:49:16.150 you have right now if you just try to go in and 00:49:16.150 --> 00:49:18.809 do it by yourself. It can, as Walt talked about, 00:49:18.969 --> 00:49:21.929 augment that reality. For those of us looking 00:49:21.929 --> 00:49:27.210 to use AI to replace assets or people in our 00:49:27.210 --> 00:49:29.260 life, you're going to suffer the consequences 00:49:29.260 --> 00:49:31.420 of that period. That's the wrong attitude. It's 00:49:31.420 --> 00:49:34.019 how can you amplify your life and your situations 00:49:34.019 --> 00:49:36.320 and look no further than RingCentral's piss poor 00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:38.860 customer service. Look no further than Bank of 00:49:38.860 --> 00:49:41.199 America and how bad their customer service has 00:49:41.199 --> 00:49:44.159 become. They've spent millions of dollars implementing 00:49:44.159 --> 00:49:46.719 AI the wrong way. So yes, there are companies 00:49:46.719 --> 00:49:49.179 that are going to regret the way that they move 00:49:49.179 --> 00:49:52.800 towards AI. The neat thing about that is I think 00:49:52.800 --> 00:49:54.880 a lot of them will realize the cost and they 00:49:54.880 --> 00:49:57.690 will course correct. And be looking for people 00:49:57.690 --> 00:50:00.349 to come in and help salvage those relationships 00:50:00.349 --> 00:50:02.530 and build those businesses out too. So there's 00:50:02.530 --> 00:50:04.690 going to be some disruption that takes place. 00:50:04.730 --> 00:50:07.630 But my hope for you as a visionary, learn to 00:50:07.630 --> 00:50:11.010 use. AI the right way. Learn to use capital the 00:50:11.010 --> 00:50:13.429 right way. Build the relationships and understand 00:50:13.429 --> 00:50:16.110 how to use it in a way that is ethical, in a 00:50:16.110 --> 00:50:18.090 way that is healthy, in a way that creates sustainability 00:50:18.090 --> 00:50:20.510 for what you're up to. Walt, I really appreciate 00:50:20.510 --> 00:50:22.349 all that you've done. My friends, I'm going to 00:50:22.349 --> 00:50:24.409 be asking Walt if he will meet with me after 00:50:24.409 --> 00:50:26.269 this because I would like to be able to unpack 00:50:26.269 --> 00:50:28.829 more for him. It is really that simple in life, 00:50:28.909 --> 00:50:30.909 my friends. Just reach out to people like Walt. 00:50:30.989 --> 00:50:32.789 It doesn't matter if it's through LinkedIn or 00:50:32.789 --> 00:50:34.150 if it's through Facebook. Wherever you find him, 00:50:34.150 --> 00:50:36.269 just go to Google or AI and ask for Walt's information. 00:50:36.630 --> 00:50:38.340 I'm sure he'd be happy. to talk to you about 00:50:38.340 --> 00:50:42.260 how your visions can be impacted or can benefit 00:50:42.260 --> 00:50:45.239 from the services that he may have. Walt, I'll 00:50:45.239 --> 00:50:47.739 give you the final word, cookie cutter, or not 00:50:47.739 --> 00:50:50.340 cookie cutter, sorry, fortune cookie style. What 00:50:50.340 --> 00:50:53.400 advice or final wisdom do you have for visionaries 00:50:53.400 --> 00:50:56.619 out there? Build relationships, put the right 00:50:56.619 --> 00:51:00.360 people around you, and then listen to them. Unfortunately, 00:51:00.500 --> 00:51:04.639 through my career, I have had businesses, I've 00:51:04.639 --> 00:51:08.780 had friends grow businesses, not listen to advice 00:51:08.780 --> 00:51:12.139 from me or others, and then find themselves growing 00:51:12.139 --> 00:51:15.239 out of business. And that's a real threat out 00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:18.659 there. So put the right people around you, but 00:51:18.659 --> 00:51:22.269 then listen to them. You heard it from Walt Postlewaite 00:51:22.269 --> 00:51:24.409 on Vision Pros Live. Let's build relationships. 00:51:24.869 --> 00:51:26.150 We'll see you in the next episode. Thank you 00:51:26.150 --> 00:51:28.010 for being here today. I'm really happy that you 00:51:28.010 --> 00:51:30.309 tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward 00:51:30.309 --> 00:51:33.849 to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue 00:51:33.849 --> 00:51:35.610 to move forward. This is going to get more and 00:51:35.610 --> 00:51:37.650 more fun. We'll have more and more engagement 00:51:37.650 --> 00:51:39.750 as well. We'll invite people to participate in 00:51:39.750 --> 00:51:41.929 the show. And thank you for giving us your time 00:51:41.929 --> 00:51:44.210 and attention. Have an excellent time building 00:51:44.210 --> 00:51:46.570 out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.