RBFN Podcast

#7 - Capital Can Be Your Strategic Advantage - Brian Parks, Co-Founder and CEO of Bigfoot Capital

July 11, 2023 Keith Harrington Season 1 Episode 7
#7 - Capital Can Be Your Strategic Advantage - Brian Parks, Co-Founder and CEO of Bigfoot Capital
RBFN Podcast
More Info
RBFN Podcast
#7 - Capital Can Be Your Strategic Advantage - Brian Parks, Co-Founder and CEO of Bigfoot Capital
Jul 11, 2023 Season 1 Episode 7
Keith Harrington

This week I sit down with Brian Parks, co-founder and CEO of Bigfoot Capital, a leading lender for established B2B software companies. With 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur in early-stage software companies and a background as an investment banker, Brian founded Bigfoot in 2017. He has successfully raised capital from various sources, including angels, VCs, and credit funds, and has deployed capital both as a banker and a non-bank lender. Hear Brian's unique journey, why he decided to launched an alternative path to support B2B software companies that often struggle to secure traditional funding. We also get into the bootstrap origin story of Bigfoot and how he organically built the business. 


Key Takeaways

[8:40] What led to the formation of Bigfoot in 2017. 

[12:44] Who Brian funds at Bigfoot - established businesses.

[14:52] What he means by “established” and thinking of the borrowers as small businesses. 

[17:17] Optionality as an operator. 

[17:19] What is the problem that Bigfoot is fixing in the ecosystem? 

[19:55] Bigfoot’s unique loan structure and being strategic with your capital.

[28:12] Solving the sourcing problem. 

[30:54] Creating an ecosystem of content through the Bigfoot newsletter. 

[31:20] The key lessons Brian learned along the way (so far).

[37:53] Bigfoot’s future as a specialty finance company. 

[40:12] Digging into the fundraising journey and Bigfoot’s lending stack. 

[48:10] Brian’s expectations of broader market adoption by this point. 


Resources:
RBF Network
Our first Speaker Series with Brian - Aug. 27, 2019

Novel Capital

Keith’s Twitter
RBFN Newsletter 


Guest:

Brian: Bigfoot Capital | LinkedIn | Newsletter  



Show Notes

This week I sit down with Brian Parks, co-founder and CEO of Bigfoot Capital, a leading lender for established B2B software companies. With 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur in early-stage software companies and a background as an investment banker, Brian founded Bigfoot in 2017. He has successfully raised capital from various sources, including angels, VCs, and credit funds, and has deployed capital both as a banker and a non-bank lender. Hear Brian's unique journey, why he decided to launched an alternative path to support B2B software companies that often struggle to secure traditional funding. We also get into the bootstrap origin story of Bigfoot and how he organically built the business. 


Key Takeaways

[8:40] What led to the formation of Bigfoot in 2017. 

[12:44] Who Brian funds at Bigfoot - established businesses.

[14:52] What he means by “established” and thinking of the borrowers as small businesses. 

[17:17] Optionality as an operator. 

[17:19] What is the problem that Bigfoot is fixing in the ecosystem? 

[19:55] Bigfoot’s unique loan structure and being strategic with your capital.

[28:12] Solving the sourcing problem. 

[30:54] Creating an ecosystem of content through the Bigfoot newsletter. 

[31:20] The key lessons Brian learned along the way (so far).

[37:53] Bigfoot’s future as a specialty finance company. 

[40:12] Digging into the fundraising journey and Bigfoot’s lending stack. 

[48:10] Brian’s expectations of broader market adoption by this point. 


Resources:
RBF Network
Our first Speaker Series with Brian - Aug. 27, 2019

Novel Capital

Keith’s Twitter
RBFN Newsletter 


Guest:

Brian: Bigfoot Capital | LinkedIn | Newsletter