James Walbridge

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James Walbridge

James Walbridge

@WalbridgeSMB

Husband, Father of 3 with 4th on the way, 10+year Fractional CTO. All things web/tech. Buying a FL/Remote/Relocatable biz. DM's open!

Tampa Bay, FL شامل ہوئے Ağustos 2010
568 فالونگ569 فالوورز
پن کیا گیا ٹویٹ
James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
Been playing with AI songs for fun, Music is going to look so much different in the future. This was a fun creative exercise. Used @sunomusic with help structuring from GPT. I imagine we'll be able to generate albums about our lives from our social media feeds in the future.
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Dennis Unrein | SMB PE
Dennis Unrein | SMB PE@dennis_unrein·
Breaking: SBA may be applying new rules to its $30B+ annual 7(a) loan program with formal guidance still pending. Source: Forbes.   Rules Change: SBA Bank Lenders and Investors reporting new rules. Penalties that used to apply only to the borrower may now apply to all owners, including passive investors under 20% Before: Only the guarantor was penalized if a deal failed. Now: Passive investors may also be flagged if a prior SBA loan they were tied to defaulted. Even a late payment on a prior SBA loan can trigger a flag. Example: A $25K investor tied to a past issue can block a $2M deal Implication: If any investor in your deal has a past issue in an SBA deal, your entire deal can get blocked. A single minority investor can now stop a deal from closing. Retroactive: Being applied retroactively back to any prior SBA Loans or deals. Investors may be judged under rules that did not exist when they originally invested in prior business buyer. Rules Remain Unclear: No official SBA guidance. Bank lenders and investors are interpreting behavior in real time. Article reported by Forbes. How Many Deals Raise Money? Estimated 6 out of 10 ~60% of small business buyers rely on outside investors (friends, family, small checks) Takeaway: This isn’t about the business this is about who is in your cap table. One bad investor can significantly delay your deal - and you will not find out until they are apart of your application with the SBA. Workaround: Ask investors up front if they have any exposure to bad SBA Loans. SBA Lenders are removing equity investors that are exposed to bad deals, so be prepared with backup investors if possible. Disclaimer: Not legal or financial advice. Review SBA guidance and speak with lenders directly. Formal rules still in flux.
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
@blueprintsmb22 Grant Hensel @GrantHensel (who originally reported this) sent out an email clarifying it was likely a glitch in the Etran system not a policy change
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Blueprintsmb
Blueprintsmb@blueprintsmb22·
I’ve heard that the SBA is enforcing this. I’m aware of a recent SBA bankruptcy where a relatively high profile platform that invests in these deals now can not invest in any self funded deals reliant on SBA financing anymore x.com/dennis_unrein/…
Dennis Unrein | SMB PE@dennis_unrein

Breaking: SBA may be applying new rules to its $30B+ annual 7(a) loan program with formal guidance still pending. Source: Forbes.   Rules Change: SBA Bank Lenders and Investors reporting new rules. Penalties that used to apply only to the borrower may now apply to all owners, including passive investors under 20% Before: Only the guarantor was penalized if a deal failed. Now: Passive investors may also be flagged if a prior SBA loan they were tied to defaulted. Even a late payment on a prior SBA loan can trigger a flag. Example: A $25K investor tied to a past issue can block a $2M deal Implication: If any investor in your deal has a past issue in an SBA deal, your entire deal can get blocked. A single minority investor can now stop a deal from closing. Retroactive: Being applied retroactively back to any prior SBA Loans or deals. Investors may be judged under rules that did not exist when they originally invested in prior business buyer. Rules Remain Unclear: No official SBA guidance. Bank lenders and investors are interpreting behavior in real time. Article reported by Forbes. How Many Deals Raise Money? Estimated 6 out of 10 ~60% of small business buyers rely on outside investors (friends, family, small checks) Takeaway: This isn’t about the business this is about who is in your cap table. One bad investor can significantly delay your deal - and you will not find out until they are apart of your application with the SBA. Workaround: Ask investors up front if they have any exposure to bad SBA Loans. SBA Lenders are removing equity investors that are exposed to bad deals, so be prepared with backup investors if possible. Disclaimer: Not legal or financial advice. Review SBA guidance and speak with lenders directly. Formal rules still in flux.

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Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom@SahilBloom·
I ran 12 miles through the backroads of Franklin, Tennessee early this morning. I think this may be on my list of best places to live. Beautiful scenery. Peaceful, open spaces. Quiet, but near a fun, lively city. Proximity to a major airport. Nice weather but still some seasons.
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SMB Attorney
SMB Attorney@SMB_Attorney·
For the record, these types of DMs are always welcome
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
I understand your position, and I definitely don't envy your cash conversion cycle. I think steering/suggesting is fine, but flat out saying "We're gonna tell sellers to reject offers that don't use our financing" is a whole different thing entirely. If it was about solely using your lender(s) for closing certainty, you wouldn't have an issue with just offsetting the fee since you'd be getting the same amount if they brought their own deal team. But, it is your business, just wanted to give you a different perspective. I'm only offering it because I respect you and what you guys are doing.
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Clint Fiore 🦬 DM for Biz Deals
You’re welcome to start a firm with no up front fees, much lower closing fees than other firms, great salaried pro staff, dedication to extreme quality control standards, and then let buyers do whatever they want without any steering or influence and give away fees at the end and see how it works out if you think that’s the play. For me, I’m going to not cut my dog’s tail off even though it would survive without its tail, but I’m also not going to let the tail wag the dog.
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Clint Fiore 🦬 DM for Biz Deals
We are going to more aggressively steer Buyers on Dealonomy to use Banks and Loan Brokers we trust. Biggest problem with deals dragging or falling apart recently is Buyers bringing terrrrrible banks and loan brokers to the table.
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
In this scenario - it's not you giving away any money, it's you getting the same amount of money you would have got if the buyer brought their own bank. You'd just offset whatever the referral fee you got with your success fee. Win/win. You get "surety of close" and the buyer saves some cash, so the incentives are aligned. It's not about "making sure you don't get a bank fee" - though I'm sure there are people like that - I just think it creates a conflict of interest. I'm the buyer. I am the one bringing the bag of cash and putting my personal guarantee on it. I should get to choose what bank I want to deal with, what lawyer I want to represent me, not the broker. But hey what do I know. Just my two cents.
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Clint Fiore 🦬 DM for Biz Deals
@WalbridgeSMB And we lose 100X more money on lost closing fees from people trying to make sure we don’t get a bank fee and bringing a bad bank to the table or bad loan broker than we will ever make in SBA referral fees so I don’t feel like I’m coming out ahead on this whole thing.
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
@ClintFiore I don't see the problem with sharing the fee then, if it's solely about getting the deal closing?
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Clint Fiore 🦬 DM for Biz Deals
My brother it’s about the deal closing more than anything. I’ve been doing this a long time and we always disclose if we get paid a fee and some banks do, some don’t, and lots of brokers we love and work with don’t. Doesn’t matter as long as it gets done. But someone bringing an unknown bank or broker to the table has bit us more times than we can count. Will try to avoid as hard as possible going forward and counsel our Sellers to prefer offers from Buyers that bring a known reliable player or will use one of ours. Same for attorneys too.
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
I mean sure but even your recommended bank or loan broker can cause brain damage depending on many factors from buyer to the deal itself. I've heard plenty, as I'm sure you have many more. I just think the idea of a broker forcing a buyer to use their "preferred" lenders when they are collecting a fee is a pretty big conflict of interest, but that's just my opinion. If that fee is shared with buyer in some wat, then I can see an aligned incentive.
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Clint Fiore 🦬 DM for Biz Deals
@WalbridgeSMB Incentive could also be your deal closes on time and you get the same kind of terms you would otherwise except it doesn’t fall apart and give us all brain damage as it does.
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Drew Fallon
Drew Fallon@drewfallon12·
basically for the entire history of iris people told us we picked the wrong market to sell into, that CPG/ecommerce is dead TAM too small customers too cheap everyone raced to fund the iris’ of the world that were selling into tech companies fast forward 2 years, CPG is probably the ONLY market that in investable for tech companies selling into. Maybe manufacturing as well. same supply chain. technology companies that built their businesses on top of other tech companies are a couple anthropic updates away from their entire customer base getting wiped out
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
I looked at a business for sale a couple years ago that did this for movers and junk hauling. They were in 100+ metros and had 50k+ providers in their network. Each metro had their own "regional" GBP, plus one main "brand" that all tied back to. I ended up passing because it was kind of a logistical nightmare and they wanted too much money. Wish I bought it now, 90% of their overhead could be AI now lol.
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Bodhi- Local SEO
Bodhi- Local SEO@irentdumpsters·
If I wanted to build another dumpster company, I would be able to do it within 50 cities and not own a single piece of equipment..... I wouldn't buy a truck. I wouldn't buy a single dumpster. I wouldn't lease a yard. I wouldn't hire a CDL driver. I'd build a dumpster rental BROKERAGE. The roll-off dumpster industry does $5 BILLION a year in the US. 99% of operators are stuck in ONE city because they're chained to their trucks and cans. I'd own ZERO equipment and operate in 50 markets before they figure out how to open a second location. Here's the full playbook why brokering beats owning, the exact match domain play, startup costs, and the math to scale coast to coast. 🧵👇
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
@MatznerJon I love how people brag about forbes when forbes is literally paid coverage 😂
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Jon Matzner
Jon Matzner@MatznerJon·
Is this some sort of a sick joke? Did anyone ask the filipino single mom's working for $800 of the $3000 of what they are billed out at? can you imagine making your living like this, and bragging about it on the internet?
adriane schwager@aschwags3

Forbes just named GrowthAssistant one of the best startups to work at. Wow. Just got off a 23h plane ride to the Philippines and saw this. Out of 20,000+ eligible companies. I think this is the best way to kick-off our biggest company off-site today. We're in good company too: Anthropic, Deel, Ramp, ClickUp, and… Growth Assistant. Awards are great. But on a day like today, surrounded by our entire internal team of 50+ Growth Assistants, “best startup up to work at” means more. It means building real growth opportunities for incredibly talented human beings. Creating a community around what we do. That’s the real reason @jspujji and I started GrowthAssistant. To connect growing brands with amazing marketers, and build a community where those marketers can grow. The best part was being able to experience this next to Alexis Bouhoum, who, ironically, just designed the entire offsite for our Support and Client team. When we saw the news, we were both in tears. “Are you crying?” Yep. Me too. Incredibly grateful for how much everyone puts in every day to build this. It pays off. forbes.com/lists/americas…

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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
@MehtabKarta I think with the starfield flop we can bank the next elder scrolls game is going to be incredible... *coping intensifies*
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Mehtab | Karta Ventures
Mehtab | Karta Ventures@MehtabKarta·
The Elder Scrolls Oblivion is over 20 years old. I feel so old now 😂
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James Walbridge
James Walbridge@WalbridgeSMB·
@MehtabKarta yeah, I wish they did more with it, was just a literal fresh coat of paint with the same jank from back then, I guess I just expected a bit more polish but I get it. elder scrolls VI maybe in the next few years
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Jacob Posel
Jacob Posel@jacob_posel·
@Seanfrank You share your ridge with 5 guys? I have one all to myself. I guess I could sell it but I don’t know if it’s for life changing money. You must have a rare one.
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Sean Frank
Sean Frank@Seanfrank·
We own all of Ridge. me + 5 guys. At any point, we can cash out and sell for life changing money. there is ALWAYS a market for EBITDA positive, growing brands. not having investors means the deal is clean- no preference, no board member vetos. I keep running ridge because it is fun and I like it. Build a business YOU LIKE to run. Not one you are trapped in. This is the number one reason to not raise money.
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Sonny
Sonny@SgtSonnyBonds·
@mhp_guy Hi Chris, I love everything you do, currently starting a newsletter. My wife is a family Physician working for a corporation and it is just that, an assembly line. Any suggestions for a different business model for Family medicine. Please and thank you!
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Chris Koerner
Chris Koerner@mhp_guy·
If I had to only give one piece of advice to parents this would be it. It could save your child’s life. A decade ago my 3 year old had breathing issues. She kept getting misdiagnosed with asthma. Her lips would turn purple and nothing helped. We were always in the ER. Then we found an amazing pediatrician who actually cared and actually listened. After hours of talking and research he referred us to a hospital to get her tested for pulmonary hypertension. An incredibly rare disease almost never seen in kids. All of that research and care by her pediatrician saved her life. Last week the same pediatrician saw my other child that has been struggling with ADHD symptoms. He spent 45 minutes asking him thoughtful questions. What excites you? What is your diet like? What are your goals? I don’t think any adult (aside from my wife and I) had ever shown him that much love. He then referred him to an ADHD coach instead of just giving him pills. So what’s the advice? Do everything in your power to find a pediatrician that actually, truly cares. You can see it in their eyes. Only 1-5% of them are this way. We’ve seen other pediatricians and always find like we were part of a soulless assembly line. Ask around and shop around. Don’t settle on the first one you find! It could save a life or a lifetime of unnecessary pain.
Chris Koerner tweet media
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