Founder Notes with Nelson Chu and Prath Reddy

Nelson Chu
  • 5.0 (2)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

An unfiltered look at private credit, fintech, and the realities of building a disruptive platform. Join Nelson and Prath as they share insights, challenges, and wins from their journey bridging the gap between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Whether you're an accredited investor, a fellow founder, or just curious about the future of finance, tune in for raw, honest, and thought-provoking content delivered straight from the founder's perspective.

  1. 2D AGO

    I Can’t Keep Up

    Blackstone processes $3.8 billion in record redemptions while its executives write $400 million in checks to cover the gap. Another double-pledging scandal surfaces, this time in the UK. Nelson and Prath break down why private credit's credibility crisis is creating a window for differentiated players. Then Prath finally goes down the AI rabbit hole, building tear sheets with Claude to spinning up a traffic ticket attorney agent.

    35 min

  2. FEB 21

    Do The Work

    This week’s theme is simple: the people who didn’t do the work got caught. Nelson and Prath cover First Brands, double-pledging, and why relying on PDFs is not monitoring. They also get into the semi-liquid BDC squeeze, the software concentration shell game, and why secondaries are becoming unavoidable.

    27 min

  3. FEB 7

    When SaaS Breaks, Credit Blinks

    While Prath’s in Arizona and Nelson’s battling an AI agent back in New York, the duo unpacks the AI-driven software selloff and what it could mean for private credit. They dig into BlackRock TCP’s write-down and why public markets keep calling private marks’ bluff, then close with the policy wildcard of a 10% credit card cap and what it means for a consumer already under strain.

    33 min

  4. JAN 24

    When Private Credit Falls Apart

    We almost got caught up in the First Brands mess years ago, but declined because it didn’t pass muster. Now it’s a $2.3B black hole. This week, Nelson and Prath unpack what went wrong, why redemptions are spiking, and the absurdity of private credit ETFs. Also: our secondary market is getting real traction, Brex just sold for $5B, and the administration wants a 10% credit card cap that could do more harm than good.

    26 min

  5. JAN 15

    Good Things Happen Over Time. Great Things Happen All At Once.

    Prath’s favorite saying becomes the theme of the episode. In the first full week of 2026, Percent signed a new software client, activated white-label platforms, saw organic secondary market traction, and onboarded two new hires already closing deals. Nelson and Prath break down what’s actually clicking, where private credit is headed, and why contrarian bets are starting to pay off.

    28 min

  6. 09/13/2025

    Why We Built SMAs (and Who They’re For)

    In this episode, I sit down with Bryan Pham, our Head of Institutional Sales, to talk about the launch of our Separately Managed Accounts and why we built them. Bryan came from the other side of the table—JP Morgan, family offices—and he’s lived the exact frustrations we’re now solving. We dig into why institutional money moves differently than retail, the phone calls that made us realize Blended Notes weren’t enough, and how we’re making SMAs accessible at $100K instead of the typical $500K+. If you’re trying to understand how to scale upmarket in fintech, this is worth a listen.

    32 min

  7. 08/30/2025

    Back to Square One (On Purpose)

    We built a durable marketplace. Now the industry needs infrastructure, and that starts with me returning to square one. It won’t be forever, but six to twelve months of trench time will compound for years.

    7 min

  8. 08/16/2025

    Builders Wanted: Wiring the Future of Private Markets

    I sit down with Marc Andrew, who's become a leading voice in private markets by putting the right people in the right room together. We cover the slow decline of public listings, why firms can’t run on Excel anymore, and how AI, cloud, and interoperable data are opening real build zones. It’s a deep dive into the unsexy but essential plumbing for the future of finance.

    36 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
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2 Ratings

About

An unfiltered look at private credit, fintech, and the realities of building a disruptive platform. Join Nelson and Prath as they share insights, challenges, and wins from their journey bridging the gap between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Whether you're an accredited investor, a fellow founder, or just curious about the future of finance, tune in for raw, honest, and thought-provoking content delivered straight from the founder's perspective.

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