Podcasts about bankunited

Lisa Shim is the Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Technology and Innovation at BankUnited, a national bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. Lisa ‘s role encompasses technology, treasury solutions, marketing, operations, and corporate strategy. With an impressive career since joining BankUnited in 2009, she has played a crucial role in the bank's digital transformation journey and M&A strategies. Her background includes experience at Merrill Lynch and the retail bank division of Countrywide Bank. Lisa is recognized for her collaborative leadership style and commitment to continuous learning. In this episode… The shifting landscape of digital marketing and consumer behavior challenges even the most established industries. What does it take to drive innovation in a traditional industry like banking? Can personalization and technology coexist to create customer-centric services? With over 15 years leading strategic corporate growth and digital innovation, Lisa Shim has revolutionized customer service to thrive in a fast-paced digital landscape. She emphasizes the value of curiosity, the courage to challenge the status quo, and a collaborative culture that fosters learning and innovation. Lisa also discusses how keeping pace with digital trends like AI assistants involves creating meaningful interactions and seeking diverse perspectives in the workplace to enrich understanding. Engaging with mentors can provide you with these perspectives and enhance opportunities for growth. In this episode of The Growth Fire Podcast, Kevin Hourigan chats with Lisa Shim, the Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Technology and Innovation at BankUnited. Lisa dives deep into innovation and growth-driven leadership in the evolving digital marketing and consumer behavior landscape. She highlights her role in fostering a relationship-driven business model at BankUnited, her strategic approach to digital marketing, and her keen interest in advanced technologies like generative AI.

Mary Harris is the Vice President of Marketing at SRS Real Estate Partners, a firm building upon its retail foundation to provide commercial real estate solutions to tenants, owners, and investors. Mary is a results-oriented marketing executive skilled in client and business development, quantitative analysis, negotiations, strategic planning, and branding. Before her years in the commercial real estate industry, Mary served as head of marketing at BankUnited, responsible for the bank's corporate communications, advertising, and public relations. In this episode… Are you in a leadership position? What can you do to lead your team better? Throughout her career and entrepreneurial journey, Mary Harris has had the privilege of holding different leadership positions. She's discovered that to thrive as a leader she needs to prioritize the people she leads. She has also learned leaders need to surround themselves with mentors who have more experience and ask for guidance when necessary. In this episode of the Growth Fire podcast, Kevin Hourigan sits down with Mary Harris, Vice President of Marketing at SRS Real Estate Partners, to discuss her leadership journey. Mary shares her career and entrepreneurial background, the importance of networking, her career transition from banking to real estate, and her experience as the Vice President of Marketing at SRS Real Estate Partners.

LEGAL MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE NOTICE Default having been made in the terms of that certain Mortgage, executed on the 05/07/2019, by Ronnie J. Andrews and Jenny Andrews, husband and wife, as Mortgagor, to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC as Mortgagee, which said Mortgage is recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Clarke County, Alabama, in Book DMM BK 1517, Page 163 on 05/17/2019, and subsequently assigned to BankUnited, N.A. and recorded in the Office of the Judge of Probate, Clarke County, Alabama on 05/24/2021 in Book DMM BK 1548, Page 443, and...Article Link

Michael Lehmbeck, chief technology officer at BankUnited, gives Bank Automation News a glimpse into what he will share with attendees of next week's Bank Automation Summit panel discussion.

Seventh-grader Josh has a lot of questions for Tom Cornish, the Chief Operating Officer for BankUnited: how did dropping out of school affect his career path? As a kid, what hobbies kept him happy in tough times? And, perhaps most importantly: what is Tom’s position on playing Monopoly?

Episode #8 James Matarazzo Mortgage Advisor | Biz Builders with Andrew Haines Mr. James Matarazzo has been in the mortgage industry since 1988. He is a sales, business development and operations executive who has delivered outstanding results for both large and small companies including Countrywide Financial Corporation, Washington Mutual Bank, BankUnited and more recently, ran sales and operations for the East / Midwest region at PRMG. In all cases he has led sales and support teams in generating double-digit revenue increases. James has an extensive record in areas including sales, leadership, best practices, team building, and business development in B2C and B2B environments. He has produced substantial profit growth, and improved customer satisfaction with innovative sales and training programs, enabling companies to gain a competitive edge. For example, he grew sales and market share 50% for a multi-billion dollar organization by introducing new products. These products met the needs of the foreign market previously under-represented in the company. He also upgraded customer satisfaction levels 23% in three months by training account executives on best practices. In another example, he integrated sales and operation divisions, standardizing policies and procedures during seven mergers in a five-year period. He successfully led the change management process while building a sales and operations staff of 100 employees and generating $300M per month. James earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Florida Atlantic University. He is a member of the Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals (FAMP) and continues to help people achieve the American Dream of home ownership. Connect with James on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmatarazzo/ Follow Andrew on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewGHaineSR Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewghaines Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewghaines/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewghaines/ Website: https://andrewghaines.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewGHaines/videos

Prisma Cloud from Palo Alto Networks sponsored this podcast. BankUnited N.A. falls under the mid-sized bank category. Based in Miami Lakes, Florida, it has about $32.9 billion in total assets and serves both the consumer and commercial sectors. Not one of the largest banks or one of the smallest banks in the U.S., BankUnited N.A., a subsidiary of BankUnited, reflects what it is like for an organization in the financial sector, seen as a barometer for cloud native adoption, to make the switch to cloud native. In this edition of The New Stack Makers podcast hosted by Alex Williams, founder and publisher of The New Stack, Felipe Medina, vice president, IT security operations, InfoSec engineering, and Michael Lehmbeck, cloud architecture and operations manager, for BankUnited N.A. spoke about their DevOps' cloud native journey in the financial sector. The podcast was recorded for The State of Cloud Native Security Virtual summit that took place on June 24. BankUnited N.A. began to make its switch to the cloud about three years ago. The initial idea was to “test the waters” in order to achieve “some tangible returns,” Lehmbeck said. The DevOps team set about testing its disaster recovery capabilities. “We proved our ability to be able to failover between our primary data centers, to Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a disaster recovery-type scenario,” Lehmbeck said. “So, that basically enabled us to get an initial footprint stood up and proof out that our mission critical systems could in fact run in that cloud estate.”

Andy and Jessica welcome you to another edition of a live podcast. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are bringing up the subject of SBA financing for business acquisitions, Andy and Jessica are receiving the experts to dive deep into the opportunities this kind of loans are presenting in difficult times while coping with the financial impact that COVID-19 is creating.   The SBA program has historically been a great way to bail out the economy and that is why, in today's episode, the future will be assessed with the company of the experts in business lending, John Wahl, from Live Oak Bank, and Lynn Singletary, from BankUnited.   Listing of the week: Charles Palmer (Nashville). Family-owned Pizza Restaurant in business for 17 years. Italian menu, ample sitting space. Asking price $175,000. SDE $170,000 annually. Really motivated seller. Great potential. Call Charles Palmer (615) 962-4462 or email ppalmer@tworld.com   Key takeaways: [4:25] What is SBA lending? [8:16] The only loans that the bank has been making in the last months are PPP loans. [9:10] The lenders are looking at what industry is asking for a loan and how it was affected by COVID-19. [10:10] How is PPP affecting what is going on right now in the business world? [11:48] The rules for forgiveness have not yet been issued in regard to PPP loans. [15:35] Lynn talks about the waiver of the SBA guarantees. [17:35] 7(a) loan is approved under the CARES act with 110 billion dollars. [17:58] There is a risk of dollars not being available, but it is pretty minimal and short term in nature. [18:35] John talks about the benefits that are available now and will be accessible in the near future. [21:45] What does a typical 7(a) SBA loan look like? [26:19] How PPP loans will be handled in the transference of a business? [29:07] Will PPP money be taxable? [30:10] Make sure you have clean financials. [31:30] PPP loans are only being issued to bank customers. [34:10] How interest rates are determined in these types of loans for business acquisitions. [36:23] What if someone wants to buy a business above the $5 million range through a bank loan? [37:55] John and Lyn talk about which loans can't be done through a bank right now. [41:55] The opportunity of buying businesses that go bankrupt. [43:54] Quickfire round questions [55:58] Deal of the week: Dustin Audet (Colorado). Liquor store specialized in Colorado products. The buyer had an E2 Visa. Listed price $99,000 plus inventory, sold at $50,000 including inventory. The buyer paid in cash. [1:00:50] Listing of the week: Charles Palmer (Nashville). Family-owned Pizza Restaurant in business for 17 years. Italian menu, ample sitting space. Asking price $175,000. SDE $170,000 annually. Really motivated seller. Great potential.   Mentioned in this Episode: The Deal Board Podcast United Franchise Group Transworld Business Advisors Transworld on Linkedin Transworld on Facebook Call us — (888) 711-9018 Email us thedealboard@tworld.com Call Lynn Singletary at (407) 731-9555 or email lsingletary@bankunited.com BankUnited Call John Wahl at (303) 551-4453 or email john.wahl@liveoak.bank Live Oak Bank Email Dustin Audet at dustin@tworlddenver.com or call (970) 618-9330 Call Charles Palmer (615) 962-4462 or email ppalmer@tworld.com

Join former CEO of BankUnited, John Kanas, as he weighs in on how to lead banks, through these unprecedented times with States Title CEO Max Simkoff.Kanas was tapped by FDIC Chair, Sheila Bair, to assist with the government’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. With less than 24 hours’ notice, Kanas flew to Florida and organized a group of investors to recapitalize BankUnited, a regional bank on the verge of collapse.About John Kanas: Currently a Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman at the Carlyle Group, Kanas spent over 30 years at the helm of his first company, North Fork Bank, which he sold to Capital One in 2006. Two years later, he was tapped by FDIC Chair, Sheila Bair, to assist with the government’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. With less than 24 hours’ notice, Kanas flew to Florida and organized a group of investors to recapitalize BankUnited, a regional bank on the verge of collapse./span>

Well, it's almost time for our first con of the year, so let's dive in with the Astronomicon crew to talk about their third annual event, and then there's a fundraiser for Australian wildlife threatened by the fires Friday night over at Whiskey in the Jar... Astronomicon is at https://www.astronomicon.com/ The Outback Give Back is at https://www.facebook.com/events/2495538064053334/ Wave's invoicing solution is at http://www.waveapps.com/ITintheD The BankUnited $54,000 giveaway can be entered by following  @BankUnited on Twitter and tweet @BankUnited your answer to "what would you do with 54 thousand dollars?", using the hashtag #GoForMore54 CapitalOne is at http://www.capitalone.com Hey, welcome to episode 332 of the it and the D show a strap on your seatbelts. This one's going to be a fun one. We got Mike and Dustin in the house talking astronomic on coming up. February 7th and eighth at the Wyndham garden in Sterling Heights. The all star lineup of guests that's coming to this thing is sick and this is one of the, literally my favorite comic con of the year. We're going to talk a lot more about it and we've got August gets like in the house. Uh, he's got a cool a benefit they're doing called Outback. Give back, uh, helping out, uh, people affected in Australia. We were going to a steakhouse. Yes. Cool. Bio bloomin' on you get 15, 15% get dedicated, uh, donated to Australia. Um, you know what on that? No. You may fire when ready? Welcome back. Thanks for hanging out with us. This is episode 332 of the one and only IT in the D show. Broadcasting live here. Studio one in podcast. He tried and beautiful Royal Oak, Michigan. This is Bob the sales guy. Hey, always hanging out with Dave, the geek Ranee I do the Twitters is doing the Twitter's finding us online it in the d.com and do us a favor. Give us a like on the socials and subscribe to us everywhere. Fine podcasts are sold, right. So what do we got? We got a, we got the Ann Arbor event coming up on the fourth. Well first off I went, I want to thank Detroit Detroit city distillery. That was our first time going there. Yeah, last week. Last Thursday. Um, and it's the perfect bed. We've packed the place. Holy crap. Well it's the perfect venue for what we do. Uh, I think we, we brought in about 50 ish people. Uh, not that person all there at five o'clock. Holy crap. It was weird. They were all there at five o'clock. It's in right in Eastern market. Uh, it's the perfect venue. I've do, I've gone ahead and booked once a quarter for the rest of the year for that place. I've, I look forward to going back there and I thank you to the staff or the parking lot. No. Great. Everybody loved it. And again, it was one of those things where people were like, Oh my God, I've never been here before. Keep hearing about it. Keep meaning to go here. Yeah. I love it. I think the only, cause that's kind of the, one of the sidewalls of our meetings and I think the only complaint I heard was that some people's nav took them the wrong direction on Rio poll. Oh, that's fine. Yeah, fine. Whatever. Uh, but no, so, uh, the fourth, uh, is the Anarbor event. Uh, principal probably pretzel, but I was gay. Uh, so, yep. And uh, and then, Oh geez. And after that we will be at go figure astronomic con, uh, the following weekend, uh, or actually that weekend. Uh, and then our next event, uh, in Metro Detroit is going to be at the Woodward troub on the 20th. And yeah, that's the scoop. That's my story. I'm sticking to it cause I remember to set it up for the third Thursday. Not the fourth Thursday. That's fine. It's fine. It's like saying I put him on the pepperoni pizza. I'm so stupid. Or put him on it to meet on the pizza. Just deal with it. Still felt dumped. My um, one of it is my favorite article of the week and this one hit home didn't hit home, but you read it and you're like, and it's basically called the day Microsoft office turned into malware and Microsoft,

MEDC (the Michigan Economic Development Corporation) returns to our show to chat about entrepreneurship opportunities, grants, smart zones where you can get additional incentives and benefits to get businesses off the ground, and a whole host of other topics that are vital to the changing Michigan economy and they're doing to keep our economic engines moving as times change... Find their programs at: https://www.michiganbusiness.org/ Wave's invoicing solution is at http://www.waveapps.com/ITintheD The BankUnited $54,000 giveaway can be entered by following  @BankUnited on Twitter and tweet @BankUnited your answer to "what would you do with 54 thousand dollars?", using the hashtag #GoForMore54 CapitalOne is at http://www.capitalone.com Hey, what's going on? This is episode 331 of the it in the D show. We got a great guest lined up. He's the MEDC, that's the Michigan economic development Corp for those keeping score at home. He's the entrepreneurship and innovation vice president Fred Molnar. He's talking about, I guess there's thousands of high tech startups across the state, satellite companies. We always thought it was just like batteries and software, but no, there's a ton of stuff going on. Stuff I never even heard of, so I'm going to have a really, really fun time talking to Fred and should be a great show. Cool, and Hey, this show is brought to you by our friends at wave. Are you tired of chasing down payments for your small business waves? Easy. I am invoicing software. Hint, hint, wink, wink. You can customize your invoices, look professional and get paid faster for your work. Use waves, recurring invoicing feature. Hint, hint, wink, wink, so that you can sit back and relax and get back to doing what you love. Create your account at wave apps. It's WAV apps, aps.com/it and the D to get started with 100% free and unlimited invoicing. That's wave apps.com/it in the D. I'm so checking it out. Dave, you may fire when ready. Thank you for hanging out. This is episode three 31 of the one and only it in the D show broadcasting. Where are we? Back in studio one. We weren't. We are. We've, we're home Chewie. We're home. I feel comfy. Feel comfy at the end of the table here. Podcast. He traded beautiful Royal Oak, Michigan. This is Bob the sales guy that go in the worst Chewbacca impersonation ever. Dave the geek. Randy. I do the Twitters. Walker is doing the twin. Oh my. I said your last C I D I forgot. I'm just kidding. Find a sunlight combobulated that too. If you don't know what I'm talking about. Randy's till we say, why didn't you save or why don't you only say my last name and no one else's, so I just used it a pause for like probably a good year at least. Yeah. Find us online it in the D. dot com. Uh, do us a favor. Give us a like on the socials and subscribe to us everywhere. Fine podcasts are sold. Yep. Yeah, so we've got our event Thursday night, uh, which is this Thursday night, not last Thursday night because I'm a moron and scheduled it wrong. I feel like I owned that appropriately. Uh, we will be at Detroit city distillery, uh, and then next month, uh, in which will be the third Thursday, uh, we're going to try a new venue, a funnel hangout called Woodbridge pub. A great little spot. Loves great. Dave's is are going to go to Woodbridge. They go, where'd you get drugged in the last night? He goes, I'm not that shallow. First Facebook post is were wasted and it's at Woodbridge puppy with REM. And who posted that? Ran me. Oh, well yeah, I was there. Well, I told you what happened. It's like, cause last week's episode we were bitching about trying to find venues. And so I walked up to the bar and I'm ordering a drink and the bartender goes, Hey man. And he's like, you know, I listened to your show. And I'm like, and that's always a okay, why conversation? Uh, and he said, no, I just kinda cool by the way. He was like, you know, you guys were just bitching about, you know, needing,

BankUnited President and CEO, Thomas Cornish was abandoned when he was 2 1/2. Circumstances prevented his adoption; his mom-to-be packed up, beginning multi-city bus trips, ending in Miami. After poverty, anger - education, opportunity and, giving back.

In this first episode in a series about exiting your business, Dennis Zink talks with Mark Dunlop, Vice President with BankUnited, and attorney Ken Chapman, partner with Bowman, George, Scheb, Kimbrough, Koach & Chapman, P.A. about exit strategies.  You'll learn: The six most common exit options The best time to plan for selling your business Key considerations to include in your planning How to increase the value of your business SBA (Small Business Administration) loan guaranties The need (or not) for audited financial statements How to make your business more desirable The importance of cash flow If you own a business, at some point you will want to sell it, pass it on to others, or otherwise exit it while gaining the most value for it.  Listen to this series of podcasts and learn how to do it right!

Hey guys! Today I have Stephen Speer on the show and he is the Vice President of E-Commerce Business Acquisition at Bank United. We go through some very specific details for how you need to shape your business to make it attractive to buyers. We go through how people should run their accounting - it's not as easy as simply deciding you're going to sell, if you want to get the most bang for your buck, you need to make sure your business is prepped in the right way. Not only that, we also talk about how you can also go out there and use Stephen to help finance a purchase of a business. If the specific business you're looking at has the right numbers, Stephen can help you find finance the loan based on those numbers and not your own wealth! This was really eye opening to me! If you'd like to talk to Stephen or find out more, you can contact him below and find out more below - and yes he was brave enough to put his real cell phone down so take advantage of it! SSpeer@BankUnited.com Cell: 813.766.4524 BankUnited.com/SBF

If you've ever wanted to sell or purchase a SaaS business, listen to this Podcast because Nathan Singh has done both. He sold his own SaaS business in early 2017, only to turn around and buy a bigger SaaS business in December of the same year. He's a former NASA Scientist who out-negotiated a full price, all cash buyer to win the deal and close on a multi-million dollar SaaS website. In this interview Nathan shares how he approached his listing review, initial seller conference call, due diligence, navigating the SBA process and the transition after the sale. Nathan also shares why he feels SaaS businesses are the right fit for him, and what other types of website business models he looked at during his search. Episode Highlights: Learn how to make a buyer love you – and want to sell to only you. Interviews should be conversational, friendly and flow naturally. Nathan shares his SaaS due diligence process for this business. Seller was meticulous using Asana and Dropbox with SOPs and a streamlined process. How to navigate the SBA process and the team he worked with. What was it like to take over a remote team that was loyal to the owner. How he took over the business, worked for three weeks and then went on a three week vacation. SaaS Businesses produce recurring revenue without product working capital. Seller worked part-time and Nathan is planning full-time to expand and growth the business. Nathan purchased this SaaS business with an SBA Loan. Tax returns matching the P&L is great, but not always the case for solopreneurs. Keeping the sale confidential is critical until the APA is singed. https://youtu.be/yj_XkpWdRKs Transcription Mark: Hey Joe, how are you doing? Joe: Doing great today, how are you doing today Mark? Mark: I'm still under the weather. Joe: I had somebody tell me at the prosper show recently that they obviously enjoyed the podcast they came out to pay this compliment, but that he could tell we were in different parts of the country. I'm not sure how, I said “Did you watch” he said “No, I listened”. And he knows that we're in different parts of the country. So where are you in the world just so people understand? Mark: How in the world did he know that? Joe: I don't know. It's your funny accent I think. Mark: I'm up from Minnesota, although people think that Minnesotans have an accent, we do, but especially up north. Not as much in the city. I'm in the Twin Cities the Saint Paul side. If anybody's ever coming to the twin cities just drop me a wine and be happy to get together. Where are you? Joe: I'm just northern shell at North Carolina out in Morris zone North Carolina, and the more people I talk to, there's lots of sellers around here, lots of buyers around here and I've connected to just quite a few so anybody in this area, reach out. Mark: I thought down in North Carolina you guys supposed to have a bit of a twang accent, aren't you? Joe: No, not from here. [inaudible 0:01:47] from here. Everybody moves here because they're too darn cold up north. I grew up in Maine. We fled to the south back in 2006. Mark: Ah, ah. Whoever that was that knew we were in different parts of the country, I want to know how. That's pretty good. Joe: Not only did he know that, he came up to me to thank you and me personally for doing the Podcast, number one, and doing it with Norm Ferrar on SOP's because he got to connect with Norm, and it helped take his business to the next level, and he said it has made a huge difference in his business and his life. Mark: That's fantastic! Joe: Yeah! It's a feel good moment at that time. Mark: We got to be careful; our heads are going to get really big. Joe: I know, I know. Let's talk about somebody who doesn't have a big head but should, because he's a really impressive guy. That's Nathan Singh. He bought a multi-million dollar SaaS site for a million. He has also been a client. We sold his SaaS businesses before. You remember Nathan well, right? Mark: Absolutely! Joe: Well, Nathan is one of the nicest guys, very humble. Former NASA scientist, NASA engineer, and turned entrepreneur. We worked together first on the sale of his business last spring, and then he purchased a multi-million dollar SaaS site I've closed in the fourth quarter. And in review, we're sharing on this Podcast a lot of the things that he did right to make a great impression on the buyer, to out-negotiate all cash buyers to work with the SBA and lender to literally, quote, Nathan is one of my favorite clients of all times from the SBA lender, and the under writer as well. He instilled confidence in everyone all along the way that made him the choice to be the buyer that they approved him overlooking at other buyers as well, and he has just done a great job. Getting the business sold and then he talks a little bit about what he has done since purchasing the business including going on a three week vacation within three weeks of buying a multi-million SaaS business. Mark: Wow that's pretty brave! I don't think I could've done that. Joe: He had it planned, he took it and things went well, and they continue to go well. Mark: That's really good. So I'm excited to listen to Nathan. Nathan is generally, one of the nicest guys I've dealt with in 10 years, and I've dealt with a lot of nice people but he rises at the top of the list of one of the nicest guys. I'm excited to see him in the video, because I don't think I've ever met him in person. Also, more importantly, listen to what he has to say. Mark: Let's go to it! Joe: Hey Nathan welcome to Quiet Light Podcast! How are you today? Nathan: I'm doing well, thanks for having me. Joe: Excellent man! We haven't chatted for a while. I know you've been traveling so welcome back. Listen, we've talked about this briefly but the tradition on the Quiet Light Podcast is that we don't read scripts and do flowing introductions of our guests. We'd rather hear it straight from you so, for the folks that are listening today, can you share some background on yourself as an entrepreneur and where you come from? Nathan: Yes sure. So, before I was even an entrepreneur, I started off doing software engineering, and mostly high level stuff on requirements and project management. Work on department of defense for a couple of years and then moved on to their space operation. So while I was there, I really got the bug, for trying to start my own business that we knew we have an idea what I was going to do, but I just happen to run across somebody who was selling an app and basically started his app and it was a screenwriting program called Scripts Pro, brew that out for a couple of years and then it got acquired, and I was like “I want to do this again” so it just rings and repeat. After that I had an online ordering platform called Order Zen and had the same with that. At that time was actually easy to broker. So I brew that out till what I can do, and then we got that acquired, of course with a seller for that one. Pretty much after that, we became very tight, and I monitored your listings specifically, very closely, and then we came across the listing for Envira Gallery and that's kind of have [inaudible 0:05:57] Basically, that's pretty much the background that I had since industry extinct and that's why I [inaudible 0:06:02] it over to this senior entrepreneur acquisitions have been online businesses. Joe: I think you sort of lightly flew, touched over the fact that you were a NASA scientist. I mean, come on, that's a glowing thing to have in your resume. Let's not make that too light. It's an interesting transition from a scientist working at NASA to becoming an entrepreneur. I guess once you get the bugs, you will get the bugging, and you can't stop. So that's great. So I want to talk a little bit about the process that we went through, and you in particular, went through in buying Syed's business. Syed was a guest on the Podcast as well, as you know. In terms of how it works for you and what we looked at, can you, for the people that are out there looking at businesses and building portfolios of online businesses, can you talk a little bit about your vetting process and how you went about it? Then we'll jump into how you handled the call of Syed and the whole process right through the closing. Nathan: Yeah, absolutely. So the good thing, I mean I had some pretty good time between the time that I sold my last business and the time that I was working. So I got pretty acquainted to what was in the market, multiples they were going for, and the kind of business that sell out. So predominantly I was looking at SaaS businesses. I've been it in before. I love the fact that it was recurring revenue, there's no product I had to deal with, so I really zero in on that as my primary, well, it's more left open to great businesses that had good year over year return, and Syed just sort of filled all those checkmarks. They had great in over a year return, it was growing. In his case there was kind of a lower owner involvement which is great because that allows me to come in at full time and really push at the growth. So those were some of the main key characteristics. But one of the biggest ones, I know that you're familiar with this one. First question I'll ask you is, “Joe, is this taxable?” and I wanted to make sure that was it, because I wanted to leverage my money as much as possible. It may not be for everybody but we certainly list, so I've been trying to pursue SBA business and the loans for a while, [inaudible 0:08:04] And as you know that's not been easy for the last, however many years. But I would say within the last year too, I've seen more qualified banks and qualified SBA folks come in and be able to really take that sort of thing with ecommerce businesses and SaaS businesses, know what they're talking about, and present it to their credit department, and make it happen, and I actually solve with Stephen Speer, he's not even a competitor, he's a guest as well. Joe: That's right Stephen Speer from BankUnited, for those that haven't heard the Podcast, he was a guest. Very informative, as far as lenders go, I'd say Stephen is top notch, the best, and he's an entrepreneur, sort of, himself. Yes he's a lender with BankUnited but he works from home often, more often than not, and lives our lifestyle which is really unique, and he understands ecommerce and so he is underwriter, really important. So for those not familiar with the SBA, it's Small Business Administration. If you're buying a two million dollar business for instance, you don't have to have two million dollars. You can have 200,000 dollars and really leverage your money. But note, is Austin a ten year note which obviously works very well in terms of these online businesses. Let's jump to the first call that you had with Syed. Nathan, can you talk about your objective was on that first conference call would start? Nathan: Yeah, so the objective is pretty much similar as with most sellers, you try to get a feel for the seller and knowing the business with its seller personally. You're going to be working pretty close to this guy or girl. So, the main thing is, I want to understand what Syed does day to day, what is his outlook for the business, you know, kind of that more, the regular things that you'll for even if you're buying a house, and how the thing was maintained. So with Syed, it was really, we talked about this before. He knew early on that I was a gator so that kind of help me knock a little bit there too. Joe: What do you mean gator? What does that… Nathan: For the gator, so quarter gator not [inaudible 0:10:11] it's seminal, it's two different things.. Joe: Did you see the Podcast by the way? Nathan: I heard the Podcast with Syed. Joe: I put the hat on and I have a gator said hold up… There it is right there folks.. Nathan: But yeah, it was really bad to understand, you know, kind of gains and knots in the businesses. I was a buyer, one of the specific things you're looking for is, is there anything I'm missing that wasn't in the perspectives, in terms of, what is the seller doing that if I remove him from this equation, will I still be able to do this? Because that taught something that you will rarely see at perspectives and even on conversation. You're kind of feeling out for that but at the main time, at the main thing, what I would advise, anybody that's listening that's looking to buy a business, because I've been doing this for a while, in terms of talking to sellers, and back and forth, and I've been selling my own business. You don't want this to be a stringent interview where you're just running through all these questions, you want to be very conversational and let it flow. I've gotten a lot of good results by doing things that way. I think that was the main thing, is that we kept it friendly and conversational instead of, “I'm trying to figure out why you're selling this because I don't trust you.” It was just a totally different approach. Joe: I can tell you that, with the conversation that you had with Syed, he has told me that on that call he wasn't looking forward to it being over. He enjoyed the conversation and the things that you had in common like the gators, but more along the line of taking care of the customers, and taking care of your people or your staff first, and he really enjoyed it. Where some of the other conversations that other seller have, they can't wait until it's over. I had that experience with one of the people that called me when I had my business for sale back in 2010. He was rude, he was abrasive, and I did all I could to stay on the line and be polite, and just wanted the call to be over. Even if he made me a full press offer I would have a hard time selling him the business. So that makes a huge difference, I think when you ended the call with Syed, his thought was, “Man I really hope Nathan makes an offer, loves to do business with him, and the people that are using my services and products, and the staff that I have in place, will really enjoy working with Nathan and thrives with him as the leader of the business.” Is that kind of what you were shooting for or it's just natural that you did that? Nathan: You know I think it's a little bit of both, I've sold being on the opposite side and being on Syed's then while I was selling my business, I've come across different buyers and newer party's conversations, when you just talk to them, you're like, this is not the right fit. Even if this guy came with a complete cash offer or whatever it could be, this may not be the right fit. With Syed, I kind of guessing here, I think he was sort of looking, not so much about the deal or the money but he was looking for a right fit because he was worried about his folks that were, i mean these are all permanent employees with no contract, there's really in this business, five of them, and so he really cared about them and he really cared about the customers. A lot of it came from me just doing things that were customer centered, I've always run companies like that, I've run teams that way, and I just sort of mentioned that, I was like, I don't know who else your other buyers are, but this is the way I do things, so I don't know if that fits within your battle, it just happen to be that way, and then I heard later on that these were his core values, and those are my core values, and we just sort of mesh over that. Joe: Yeah, it was exciting factor in choosing you over the, technically, two other buyers. Let's talk about, jump forward to your due diligence process, what was your goal in due diligence, how did you approach it, and how long did it take? Nathan: You know, it's funny. I've done more due diligence in past businesses that was much smaller. I'll sort of elaborate it on line. So the initial due diligence I've coarsely didn't know, returns on profit and loss versus statements and all that good stuff, what you're supposed to do. I did not do as deep with due diligence solely because of the talks that me and Syed did have, and just the reputation that Syed had. So his influence in the WordPress community, he has got a lot on the line. So I didn't really have to worry about him ripping you of and stuff like that. He was really worried about, they going to the right buyers, versus me worrying I've got the wrong seller and the wrong product and… Joe: But you still verified that financials that was to make sure… Nathan: Yeah, the basic stuff was all done but I didn't lose any sleep worrying if it's something was going to happen because, again, there's still background that you've parked over this. When you see that the tax returns are completely reflective with the P&L that got submitted and the perspectives, that right there gives me the warm fuzzy I need as I go forward. I don't have to kick and [inaudible 0:15:00] as much, trying to figure out where am I getting ripped off. You're going more with the mindset, okay the basis is there and everything else should just work flow and it did. But that was the main stuff, it's just making sure that everything wind up with ways that it was. Joe: You only note on the tax returns, for those buyers and sellers listening, Syed had a business partner, so often time with partners, the tax returns and the P&L's are very very clean. When you are a solo entrepreneur, your more things, personal things with the business, it can get a little bit messier. The SBA looks at the tax returns, first and foremost, they'll use the P&L's if it's halfway through the year, and three quarters went through the year, thanks for that nature. But the tax returns are first and foremost, and what they do, their valuations off of. So don't be completely afraid if you're a solo entrepreneur, that you cannot sell a business, then have it be, financed with an SBA loan because you absolutely can. With the lenders that we've worked with, they understand the add tax schedules and the personal benefits that anyone takes, and so do the underwriters within the group that we work with there. So, you didn't worry too much about the due diligence process, naturally, you verified the financials, you had several calls with Syed, and you went through the process with the SBA. Let's jump to that for just a moment, what was it like going through the SBA process and what did you had to do? Nathan: Yeah, the fun thing is that I had actually been through this process with previous businesses before, and so I've actually gone to that fun part of the business. We just had issues and pulled out. I was familiar going in. So first of all, kudos to Stephen, kudos to you, and kudos to Syed for just being an awesome team for making it all happen. That's probably why we had them work speedy close than what's usually expected. But you know, aside from that, I think having everything ready to go, I mean, Stephen was good about that, and pretty much gave me more or less the stuff that I needed in terms of, “These are things on the checklist, you should probably have this done because from my experience I know that it's more of that likely go through”. That helps, because a lot of times, there's always [inaudible 0:17:17] going on, a lot of times the buyer takes a long time to get stuff back. So we didn't really have that issue here. But you know, again, it really mattered. I've worked with SBA bankers before, and it really matters on who it is that you're dealing with. With Stephen's case, he just had everything down. He's done ecommerce, he's done SaaS businesses, there is no “Well how does this work or where is the? So tell me where the hard assets are in the business?” There was none of that. So that kind of straight lined the process really well for all of us. But I think just having that stuff done upfront, that's what helped us get really done at speedy line. Joe: You said that Stephen and myself and the underwriters all worked very well together and Syed and so on and so forth. I happen to have dinner with Stephen and the underwriter that worked on your business, they were both in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago, and they both talked about you being one of their favorite buyers. So for anybody listening, this stuff matters, Nathan brought a business, would that note to the seller, when somebody else made and all cash offer. The seller chose Nathan over that all cash offer at the same purchase price, because he liked Nathan and what he stood for. The SBA lender and the underwriter, both said that Nathan was one of their favorite buyers of all time which makes process easier. They're going to work harder for you when they like you. It's human nature, so really really important to understand that aspect of it. Let's jump now on to closing, training, and transition, and what's taking place since then. I think we closed just before Christmas. By the way it was probably from letter of intent to closing about 50 days which is fairly short for an SBA loan, and we had a full week of thanksgiving in there, so call it 45ish. What's transpired since you close, how was it going, what was training and transition like and so on and so forth? Nathan: Yeah, again, comparing it to the past businesses I've had and worked with the past sellers, it's been night and day. The great thing is that because of the level of business, you know that will add the seven figures, because Syed runs seven and eight figure business above, he's very meticulous. So the first thing he did was setup, you know when they found a project in a drop box to view list. With all other things that his team needed to do for me, everything I needed in there. So that made it a lot more extreme ride then. Again if you're selling your business and you're getting to that point, make sure you have something like that in place, because that's the other warm fuzz and that lets you know that “Okay it's stuff I'm not thinking about as a buyer, the seller informed about for me” and we kind of running through those checklist. So, you know, I would say the transition went pretty smooth, I mean not really that he cuts.. You know, I talked to the CTO, I talked to the CFO, we all had these one on one's where we talked about what they did, so I made sure that I knew exactly what each person role is because I was taking over a couple of people's roles… Joe: How did they feel by the way, the staff, with you coming in and taking over Syed's role? Were they excited? Were they scared? What was that like to tell them that news? Nathan: You know, I think that initially they were, like most transitions, they were maybe a little one sided, just because, there was a lot of grey areas up until the actual deal was inked. So they were a little one sided, they were a little confused about what was going to happen now, they are getting the impression at something else or did I keep the same things they've had. So from my end, it just took a little bit of, getting them all on, talking to them face to face and letting them know, “Listen, everything stays the same, I've liked the way that Syed have done business, I've planned to keep those same things in place, let me know if there's something you're customed to and that is done because those things have all been accounted for” and so I wanted to do it and make sure I went above and beyond what they were expecting what happened after this transition and just kind of talk them down on the fears of what naturally happens when there's a transition even in corporate out and serious stuff. We're good to go now and that's what kind of passed that. Joe: While we kept it confidential, we didn't want to let the staff know that the business was even for sale, until everything was finalized, inked, and really truly going through. That's something all sellers struggle with, when to tell the core people. In my case, when I sold mine, I think I waited until the asset purchase agreement was signed, because she was valuable to me and I wanted her to stick around for me and for the new owner of the business. So that's what we did here, and I know that Syed said you did a great job instilling confidence in the staff and making them feel comfortable. One of the attractive things about this business is it was one of many businesses for Syed so he wasn't working full time on it. How was the workload then for you, taking over the business? Are you working full time early on or you're finding yourself with more than full time? You're working less? What's that situation like? Nathan: Yes, I'll say initially, at first two weeks, just like any transitions, it was pretty much full time. But I had a pre-planned vacation that's about three weeks long, that I have to go to India. So for me, that was a big deal to make sure that I would be able to leave and just do the minor stuff in the background and have some question, to get things while I'm abroad. Joe: So just, you bought the business, we closed, and then you had two and a half weeks of being around and then you went to India for three weeks? Nathan: Correct. Yeah. Joe: And everything still ran smoothly. Nathan: And everything is still smooth. I mean, that was mentioned to me early on and that was again, that was a really attractive factor to know that. You know, I think you've mentioned that you could move and go to the Far East and come back. That's kind of what I did. So, it was good to come back and see that everything was still in place, that the team was, the team was phenomenal, that Syed did assemble. Each individual player plays a major part in what they do, and for that reason they're also very turnkey. That's a turnkey business, turnkey team. So, that's why when I saw where am I inserting myself, it was kind of learning the role to what's already being done. How can I improve, how can I make things better for them, and be the leadership that Syed has been able to provide and do his other businesses. Joe: Okay, so where do you see your workload now? You were working really busy, after just a couple of weeks you went away for three weeks… Nathan: I would say that corporate atmosphere, it's like still checking at 8:00 to 9:00, I'm out by 5:00 – 5:30 and I'm told, you know, the employees do the same thing. Let's not make this a full 12 or 14 hour a day, and I want to balance that, that work-like balance too. Because I came from that kind of environment and I know it pays good. I usually work the eight or seven hours, sometimes nine whatever it needed. Rather than that, at a certain time before my wife comes home or whatever, I'm usually done, closed out, and I'm trying not to think about it. Joe: Well, what are you working on? Syed didn't work in about a few hours a week on the business and now you're working 30-40. Are you fixing broken things or are you working on to projects and growth opportunities? Nathan: Now the great thing is he built a solid foundation so what I'm really doing is I'm working on the stuff that he wasn't able to do, which is the marketing advertising taking that further gain, the PPC's setup, optimizing on the SEO getting the right content writers in to put that detailed information that we really liked, that's been attracting the other folks and traffic. So it's been really centered around the business development, the marketing and advertising stuff, which has really been done, because again, he's got great and recurring revenue, we've got a great organic traffic through Google, so from that right now, it's the going above and beyond the PPC stuff. The stuff that he didn't have to give and didn't really have to focus on because the business is really self-sustained. Joe: Right, so you want to grow the business, you didn't buy it and just collect a check every month, you're trying to grow it so you're putting in more hours. Nathan: Aside from just the business development, it's also providing that the one on one with these folks. I mean again, these are not contracted. These are folks that have certain benefits and they've liked that type of attention and focus from a leadership. So that's what I'm enable to do, I'm enable to gear about the product road map, provide my input to that where we want to go, instead of just kind of them doing whatever, it's done and just see that the money reach the bank, it's not really that. Joe: As far as much, one thing we haven't touched on is where they work from. You've got five employees, are they all working from an office or they're all remote? Nathan: They are all remote, they have been doing that for many years, so again, I tried to focus and know what side has all of you been doing, since Syed has 40 plus employees, they've been doing this for years, and I think Syed began and has been doing it for 14 to 15 years. So I liked that idea, and I liked the fact that they're able to do this with milestones. I don't know, there's no… You know a lot of times, I would just set a meeting yesterday, but some other guy, they own a company here in Houston, and they were like, how do you keep track? I was like, I don't. There's a lot of trust involved, and there's milestones that are set, and as long as these milestones are being set, I don't care where they're working that 40 hours. Joe: What's your favorite software? What system are you using to communicate and track what they do and work with them? Are you using Slack or what are you focused on? For people that are running remote staff that are having trouble with it, what would you recommend? Nathan: Yeah for Slack it's been awesome. I'm pretty new to Slack, I used Skype on my last business. Slack is way better than that so I highly recommend that. We use Zoom, we do a lot of this, the face to face meetings. I think that matters a lot with the remote staff, was getting at Facetime, and again, letting them know you're just not an employee behind the computer that's just in another state. We're talking to each other, we're going to do once or twice a year meet ups. So we do team building activities, that's super important too. Yeah I would say that Slack, the Zoom, and also Asana. Those things are big key to really help with the project management and the milestones we've set, and Github as well for the developers. Joe: Okay, awesome. Alright Nathan because we're running out of time, how do you see the future of the business? What are you looking over that 12, 24, 36 months? You're going to hold to stay, you grow at 10%, you're going to grow 50%, what are you predicting? Nathan: Yeah, you know, I hate to throw a prediction at it right now, I'm happy if we're over the double digits, anywhere in the double digits will do triple digits in over a year growth, I'm a happy, happy camper. I think when possible again, got a great business, great team in place, and there's nothing but upsides so, I'm looking forward to it. Joe: We'll going to have to check in, in the future and see how it turned out. You have any last minute thoughts for multipliers and sellers? You've been in both shoes, you sold, you offer your services, business, you bought one, any last minute thoughts in terms of what they should do or focus on? Nathan: Yeah, I would say the huge takeaway from this and for me has been, you know, when you're doing these buyer and seller conversations, no matter what side you're on, keep it conversational. It's great to have your question beside, but don't run through it like a machine gun and keep it just robotic and mechanical. Because there's a huge human element here involved and this was a prime example that actually happened. Joe: That's great. Nathan, pleasure doing business with you twice now, I'm looking forward to hearing some great news, great success, with Envira Gallery and so on and so forth. I hope that really works out and maybe we can check in, in the future and do another Podcast update and let the folks know how you've been succeeding. Nathan: Yeah, I would love to. Joe: Awesome man, thanks for your time today. Nathan: Awesome, talk to you later Joe. Links: Nathan Singh – LinkedIn GitHub Stephen Speer @ Bank United for SBA Loans Asana – Making Teams Work

Steve Nudelberg is a serial salesman & entrepreneur. As a product of his entrepreneurial spirit, he developed On the Ball - a company that focuses exclusively on sales & business development. Inspiration for the company name was derived from the feedback Steve received from business associates, claiming that he was always 'on the ball'. The core philosophy is rooted in that what we know and who we know can help your business grow. On The Ball's list of clients include Toshiba, BankUnited, AIG, Transworld Business Advisors., and Getaway2Give Steve's book "Confessions of a Serial Salesman" is a best-seller and is a very practical and easy-to-read book. He is a mover and a shaker as he partners with some of the biggest names in sports, business, and entertainment. Steve is high-energy and truly a motivating guy. In today’s episode, we discuss: Why Steve gets up between 3-3:30 each morning What makes his philosophy on sales different and so successful How to connect and build great relationships Website: www.nudelberg.com Twitter: @Nudelberg Instagram: @Nudelberg On The Ball Marketing website: www.ontheballmarketing.com Listen to Steve's On The Ball podcast, where he has had guests like John Salley and Brandon Steiner Get a copy of Steve's book "Confessions of a Serial Salesman"  The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe The World by Admiral William H. McRaven Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You'll Ever Need by Harvey Mackay Watch the Admiral McRaven University of Texas speech that Steve mentioned by clicking here. "My network determines my net worth." (Steve Nudelberg) Today's podcast is brought to you by audible - get a FREE audiobook download and 30-day free trial (new subscribers only) at www.audibletrial.com/SuccessIsAChoice. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.  Get a free audio book download from one of our past podcast guests such as Kevin Harrington, Micheal Burt, Lolly Daskal, Jeremie Kubicek, Kelly Roach, and Pat Williams.

Many larger deals are SBA-oriented. This is a better method for buyers because they get a 10 year repayment period, and it is better for sellers because they can get more money. In 2018, SBA lending limits are changing and they will be bringing 90% of the funds to the deals. It is really good for buyers and sellers. Today, we are talking with Stephen Speer who is the VP and Business Development Officer at BankUnited Small Business Finance. Stephen is a lender, not a banker. Bankers have a tendency to over-promise and underdeliver. We had a bank deal that took over 90 days to close. Both the buyer and the seller were beside themselves with frustration. With a transaction we recently did with Stephen, we got a commitment letter in 34 days which put us two weeks away from closing. This is an SBA transaction that will close in 30 to 45 days which puts us on the same playing field as cash buyers. Today, we are going to cover benefits of the new SBA guidelines and how they benefit both the buyers and the sellers. [Download Our SBA Starter Kit PDF] Episode Highlights: How the SBA aspect of buying and selling online businesses is becoming more prevalent. Stephan has been lending for 25 years and is now located in Tampa, Florida. He works in the ecommerce business acquisition space. He has been with BankUnited for the last two years. The SBA allows lenders to take a greater risk by guaranteeing 75% of that loan. The purpose is to encourage small business lending. Stephen has formed an ecommerce lending team around him. BankUnited is a preferred lender and everything is underwritten and funded in house, but the loan has the SBA default guarantee. Buyer qualifications include income, assets, assets after closing, credit, and collateral. Does the actual business cash flow based on the structure of the deal. Asking the right questions to make sure the buyer is the right fit for the ecommerce space and business that they are purchasing. Getting financials up front and looking at a solid year of tax returns and a ramp up year. How most sellers in ecommerce sell within three years because the trajectory is going up in large multiples. Profit and loss statement plus addbacks equal total earnings. Interest and one time expenses area add backs. Most people want to minimize their tax exposure. Do not commingle two businesses together when you are trying to sell one. Getting off of schedule cs and doing business tax returns. Having an independent third party do a business valuation. Have someone do ecommerce due diligence to poke holes in the financials. 25% injection or down payment with 10 or 15 from the buyer and 10 or 15 from the seller in a seller note. In 2018, the buyer will only have to come up with a 10% injection, and the seller won't have to come up with anything. This will have more sellers open to financing. BankUnited feels comfortable up to a $5 million loan. There are different variables, but with the right buyer they can go high. They will work with buyers on the SBA process. What does an SBA loan cost? There is a deposit for third party fees like business valuation, appraisal, titles, and attorneys. It's usually about $12,000 that is financed into the loan. Plus a 3.5% SBA fee. It the deal falls apart the money can be used on the next deal. Resources: BankUnited Small Business Finance 629 South Fort Harrison Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 813.382.7543 SSpeer@BankUnited.com BankUnited.com/SBF How To Buy An Online Business With A SBA Loan – Updated for 2017 Centurica

Confessions of a Serial Salesman The Podcast with Gerry Litrento, SEVP at BankUnited by Steve Nudelberg

"Duck farmer," asks host Michael Stoler, "what's a duck farmer?" So begins the conversation with John Kanas, named chairman, president and CEO of BankUnited, in 2009. Mr. Kanas grew up on Long Island, taught school and became a bank president at 29.

Uncle Sam seizes and sells Florida’s BankUnited. The dollar continues its decline. And the SEC takes a closer look at just how, exactly, Bernie made off with billions. In this week’s Motley Fool Money we tackle those questions, discuss whether U.S. stocks really are cheap, air some beefs, and offer up three stock ideas.