At Highbeam we believe that D2C brands should have access to fair, responsible capital to fund their growth. Ampla was one of the earliest lending innovators in this space, with transparency around APRs (when most lenders focused on fixed fees) and revolving lines of credit (when most lenders only offered cash advances). Therefore it's unfortunate to hear about possible issues with ongoing lending operations at Ampla. We know how stressful a time this must be for Ampla team members and customers and hope things stabilize and resolve soon. Despite potential issues at Ampla, there is a robust ecosystem of well capitalized lenders and most brands we've worked with recently have had multiple options to chose from. As a banking partner in this space, our relationship led approach means we're committed to ensuring operators can access the right credit stack for their stage of growth. With Highbeam capital providing the flexibility needed, and insights built into the banking platform -- we can help find the right solution. If we can be helpful to you, please DM me and the team will take it from there.
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We are fortunate enough to be the financial platform for hundreds of brands and almost always the best performing companies have the best performing finance operations. This is true for most well run companies, but most brands have large daily cash inflows and outflows, high working capital needs and low margins. Even with large seasonal sales variation, lean finance teams and high growth there are some key things that every brand finance leader can focus on to better measure and prioritize for success. We're excited to share our latest deep dive into the five key areas brand finance leaders should prioritize for success. Here are a few takeaways: ✅ Accurate cash reporting and forecasting: Most successful brands once they hit eight figures have a weekly cash reporting and forecasting process - essential to maximize yield and plan for AP. Forecasting is hard but don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. ✅ Automation: Anything that requires hours every day or week to manage can be made more efficient - find the right finance stack across banking and accounting to help make this happen. ✅ Strategic Financing: Figure out how to match your capital demand with the supply in the market. This requires understanding your options, planning and building the right capital stack. For example your partner for short term working capital is probably not the right match for long term capital to open a store. ✅ Strong Banking Relationships: Find a partner that understands your business and is connected to the ecosystem of lenders, finance professionals and can scale with your growth. Knowing you have someone you can pick up the phone and call can be invaluable. Highbeam is committed to supporting brands with the tools and insights needed to boost cash flow and drive profitability. Feel free to DM me directly or email the team at connect@highbeam.co Link to the deep dive in the comments 👇
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Just got back from a great Seller Summit hosted by Steve Chou, and I realized it's been a while since my last in-person event. It reminded me that nothing really replaces the energy and learning that come from meeting in person and connecting as human beings. Here are some of my top takeaways: ✅ Profits over revenue- The most successful operators have always focused on profit, but it’s more important now than ever. Are you making decisions based on the impact on sales or profits? (By the way, if you’re looking at your sales in Shopify every day but your profits only once a month, we can help with daily and weekly live views.) ✅ Free cash flow over profits- Every dollar of sales passes through your bank account - keep it there longer and always generate yield. If you aren’t doing this, you’re missing out on a key lever. Large companies have entire treasury teams to optimize this. Our automated treasury product ensures instant liquidity and yield with no extra work. If you’re not using this, you’re leaving free money on the table. I love our customers - the people who start brands and businesses are optimists, energetic, and want to do good in the world. We started Highbeam to help support this journey and increase the odds of success through more effective financial tools. I believe in this mission more than ever, and we’re just getting started.
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2023 was a very exciting year for Highbeam - since our broad launch in Feb our banking suite has processed over 100K transactions representing ~$500M in flows for over a hundred customers - and we're just getting going. Personally the highlight has been being able to meet and build relationships with so many of our customers - the brand operators and founders trying to build something out of nothing. It takes so much time, energy and focus - and if we can be a small part of improving the odds of financial success for this group it's hugely meaningful to me. Our mission for 2024 remains the same - to provide brand owners with the best integrated banking, capital and cash planning platform to ensure they are profitable and achieve their financial goals. If interested in learning more please reach out directly to me or the team at hello@highbeam.co Also if you are (or know someone) who maybe a good fit for Highbeam in a sales role please reach out / forward etc. We're hiring across a number of roles but finding the right person to represent Highbeam as the first touchpoint with a customer is near and dear to my heart. https://lnkd.in/ewtycJJW
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Thanks to everyone for coming out and to all the participating brands! Looking forward to doing more of this in 2024
On December 13th, Highbeam hosted the first ever Nolita Night Market, a one night event showcasing 25 of NYC's best independent brands. All stores were open late and offered drinks, holiday deals, and warm hospitality. While the night was focused on celebrating New York's community of independent brands and stores, shops also saw a sizable increase in foot traffic and sales. We look forward to hosting the Nolita Night Market again and bringing similar events to other cities in 2024!
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Very excited for this! Please stop by and say hi to all the amazing independent brands that make Nolita the vibrant retail neighborhood it is. And thanks to Tally Thorén for making this happen - it went from: "hey it's interesting we have a lot of customers with stores really near each other" to over 20 brands signing up to participate very quickly - excited about doing more events like this in a lot more places next year...
Highbeam is hosting the first annual Nolita Night Market this Wednesday, December 13th 6-9PM! 23 of New York’s best independent brands and stores including Buck Mason, Guest In Residence, Tombolo, Still Here, Aesop, Sabah Shoes, Illesteva, and Zero + Maria Cornejo will all be open late for one night only. Each store will be serving drinks, tunes, and warm hospitality, not to mention a few holiday shopping specials. If you’re in NYC, we’d love to have you join. Grab a group of friends and stroll the neighborhood for a very fun night of shop hopping. Learn more and RSVP here: www.nolitanightmarket.com See you there!
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Thanks for having me Ben Sharf and Adrian Alfieri !
Samir Shergill is the Co-Founder and CEO of Highbeam, a Neobank for fast-growing Shopify brands. They’ve raised over $7 million dollars in funding from some leading early-stage venture funds including FirstMark Capital and Mayfield. In this episode of Turning Pro Podcast, Adrian Alfieri and I chat about Samir’s real-time fundraising journey, why eCommerce brands have been largely failed by traditional banking options, his internal process to make tough decisions, and taking a leap of faith to build Highbeam. [00:00] Family first, business layered in, prioritize joy. [04:54] Smartest people, unhappiest situation: 6 [07:47] Calmly push forward, don't be stressed. [10:30] Building relationships through understanding people. [13:28] Work with people who care. [18:00] Make decisions, don't lie to self. [21:29] Grinding leads to success: Appnexus example [24:02] Trust, product, network, timing, verticalization: Win. [27:19] Building trust with money online. [30:22] Building trust online: Investing in engineering, product. [32:34] Banking experience: hostage not customer. [34:54] Customer-first, knowledge-driven decisions. [36:58] Admit not knowing, learn, change opinions. [39:58] Changing opinions through dialogue. [43:12] Creative outlet for growth and learning [47:17] Explore different cultures, challenge assumptions. [52:23] Explore outside comfort zone. [56:12] Doers, not complainers. [58:48] Founders seek doers, not complainers. [01:01:57] Building relationships through shared values. Here’s a sneak peek. Full episode will be in the comments!
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My version of a LinkedIn quiz: I had my StillHere hat months before Taylor because a) I'm on the cutting edge of cool and thats how I (literally) roll b) Highbeam is fortunate enough to have Maurice Mosseri and StillHere as a long time member and he gave me one for free when I visited their store Obviously giving me free stuff is the foundation of a great Q4 marketing campaign :) Jokes aside - while we can get caught up in micromanaging ad campaign ROAS - there is really no substitute for hard work and authenticity when it comes to brand building for the long term. Nicely done StillHere team!
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Thanks Jim Jannuzzio - happy customers is pretty much our entire marketing strategy :)
eCommerce sellers — need capital for Q4? Don’t fall into the trap of Shopify, Wayflyer or Clearco financing with their “low fees”. Run the APRs on those options… Highly recommend looking into Highbeam. Just got an email saying they increased my line of credit by $25k. Current APR is 15% which is incredibly low compared to other alternatives. A+ team & product. Not a paid ad, just a happy evangelist 🙌
