On this episode of the Athlete CEO, Erik dives into the debt side of Venture Capital with Founder, Operator, & current Chief Investment Officer of Trinity Capital, Kyle Brown.

Trinity Capital provides smart debt for high growth venture-backed startups. Trinity’s portfolio is packed with successful companies including the likes of Impossible Foods, Fingerprint Digital, Birchbox and Untuckit.

In a candid conversation Kyle shares his experiences ranging from nearly losing everything in 2008 to to leading Trinity through a global pandemic. While sharing how his family, faith and athletic background keep him focused on what matters most. 

Key Topics covered include:

• How should founders be thinking about venture debt?
• Trinity’s due diligence uniquely built by Operators and how they choose who to partner with?
• How venture debt can be the most effective and cheap way to accelerate growth
• How founders can sidestep the risk of dilution in a world of reduced valuations
• How to take advantage of the opportunities the global pandemic has created
• What was it like going through the recession of 2008 as an operator and what lessons did you learn that could be applied to our current situation?
• What have been some of the hardest lessons you’ve learned in your career and how have you grown from them?
• How to avoid the biggest trap that could destroy a partnership
• What advice would you give about partnering in business and leading teams based on what you’ve learned throughout your career?
• How have you juggled working to be excellent and accomplishing great things in business while also being present at home and working to be a great husband and father?
• How Trinity thought through a recent big shift in their business model
• Can you talk about how you think about making an impact and what that means to you?
• How does Kyle approach leading a team? What characteristics does a good leader display?
• Go to resources, habits, and advice for high performance leaders
• How Kyle defines success