Pipe

Wiring money from the parking lot to get first into Pipe

Brianne tells how she chased an intro to Pipe founder Harry Hurst, finally tracked down his number on her birthday, met him at Soho House, committed on the spot and started wiring money from the parking lot — because she knew if she waited the deal would evaporate.

“I committed on the spot. I, you know, started the process to wire the money from the parking lot. Like, I'm sitting there on my birthday, late to my own birthday, laptop out, doing all of the things to get ready to wire money for this company because I knew if I waited, it wasn't going to happen.”

Steal thisWhen you find a deal you believe in, commit and start the paperwork on the spot — momentum dies if you wait.

Pipe: from $9M post-money to north of $2B

Brianne reveals she invested in Pipe at roughly a $9 million post-money valuation, and the company is now worth north of $2 billion — an example she uses to show how much capital is chasing strong founders before traditional milestones.

“when I invested in Pipe, it was at like a $9 post and now they're worth north of $2 billion. And so that's not saying like, wow, you're a world-class investor, like you've changed this company.”

Big League Advance made $30M off one Fernando Tatis Jr. deal

Shaan describes Big League Advance, which signs income-share agreements with minor leaguers (e.g. $350K for 8% of future earnings), betting analytically on who becomes a star. When Tatis signed a $340M deal with the Padres, BLA reportedly made $30 million.

“So he signed a $340 million deal with the Padres. And the interesting thing that came out of that was that this company that I had never heard of called Big League Advance made $30 million off of that deal.”

Pipe: turn SaaS contracts into a tradable asset class

Shaan explains Pipe's model: SaaS companies sell their recurring customer contracts upfront for non-dilutive cash, while banks and institutions buy bundles of vetted, investment-grade contracts for an ~11% return — making a SaaS contract a liquid asset class.

“They're just investment-grade vetted contracts. I'll just buy the bundle of these and I'm going to get my 11% return on these contracts. The companies get cash upfront with no dilution. I think it is genius to turn SaaS contracts into a liquid asset where there's a market for them.”

Steal thisPackage recurring revenue contracts into standardized, vetted bundles you can sell to institutional buyers for non-dilutive cash.

Pipe: sell your recurring revenue for cash up front instead of waiting monthly

Sam explains Pipe's model: a subscription business normally trades off more customers paying monthly vs fewer paying annually up front. Pipe looks at your historical churn, de-risks the future cash flows with a discount, and pays you the annual value now while you repay as monthly payments come in.

“What a lot of companies prefer to do, but this is actually a lot harder, is they say, alright, you signed a 1-year contract, let's get all of your payment up front. Now, here's the balance here, is do you want, or this is what people think, they can either get more customers and allow them to pay monthly, or they can get less customers but allow them to pay annually and get all of that cash flow up front.”

Steal thisIf you run a subscription business, you can sell your predictable recurring revenue to a financier like Pipe for cash up front instead of waiting for monthly payments.

Sam predicts Pipe becomes a multi-billion-dollar company

Sam notes Pipe had raised $70M, that his media business uses the equivalent (FastPay) for millions in credit, and predicts Pipe will be a multi-billion-dollar company because software is a far bigger market than media. (Pipe later hit a ~$2B valuation in 2021.)

“And Pipe has raised $70 million in funding. They're kind of stupid because we use them and we have millions of dollars in credit from them, and we won't leave them because it's a wonderful service. But the reason why they're kind of stupid is because the market's a lot smaller, right, than software, and the numbers are a lot smaller, right? I think Pipe will be a multi-billion-dollar company.”

A Pipe/FastPay for freelancers: advance invoices for a 5% cut

The podcast's producer pitches an invoice-advance product for contractors: give freelancers their invoice amount now and take ~5% when the client eventually pays. Shaan notes he's heard this idea repeatedly and turns it into a question to the audience: why does this seemingly obvious idea keep failing?

“He's like, why doesn't a, a sort of fast pay or pipe exist for contractors? Like, I have my invoice, um, just gimme the money now. And then you wait to like, when the company pays, you take it and you take 5%. That's a big idea off the thing. And, uh, I've actually heard this idea a few times before of like, you know, my, my wife was a, in, you know, a consultant for, you know, and so she always got paid like this on a 30 or 60 day cycle.”

Steal thisBuild invoice financing for freelancers: pay their outstanding invoices instantly and collect a ~5% fee when the client pays.