The changing business lending landscape

Fresh off the Expo West Natural Products Business School stage, Krista Morgan talks finance, lending and disruption with New Hope Network's Bill Giebler. Morgan's P2Binvestor provides marketplace lending for product companies in various phases of development. Where does marketplace lending fit with crowdfunding, angel investing and venture capital? It's different for everyone.

Morgan also has critical financial advice for startups. "Pay attention to your financials," she says. CEOs are quick to hand off the financials to an expert. "Don't do that. It's not rocket science and it really pays to understand how your business works. What are the metrics? What rate is it growing? What is the gross margin? What can you afford?" These are all questions that are not complicated to answer, she says. Don't hand it off too soon. "It's so important." 

When it comes to lending, P2Bi takes the process out of the banks and uses technology and mass marketing to make it more accessible. New lending models appeal to new food entrepreneurs and the result is disruptive lending for disruptive business. "We all stick together, us high growth disruptive businesses," says Morgan.

Because there are so many new kinds of lending coming out, she concludes, "it's a great time to be a product company."