Start-Up Grind Prince William with focus on FIT tech

MANASSAS — A generous spread of chicken wings, cheese, and chilled wine greeted entrepreneurs who wanted to learn more about “FIT tech” at the very first Start-Up Grind chat in Manassas.

Dan Woerheide, a business coach and founder of Start-Up Grind Prince William, took to the stage at CenterFuse co-work space in Manassas on Wednesday, Nov. 14

He interviewed Mark L. Rockefeller, founder of Street Shares, a Reston-based financial technology firm,  or “FIT tech” firm that provides small business loans and financing to U.S. veterans.

The firm launched in 2014 now employs 58 people and solves a unique problem — helping returning service members find the cash for new business ventures when they can’t find it through traditional baking loans.

The firm specializes in loans smaller than $100,000, The application doesn’t have many of the requirements found at transitional banks, such as having to have lived at the same residence for years on end.

“I moved nine times when I was in the military, and I wasn’t paying a mortgage,” said Rockefeller, who served for nine years in the Air Force JAG Corps.

Much of the rest of what his business does is based on relationships.

“This is all about Veterans giving loans to vets, betting on that person will pay back, more so than some faceless bank,” he said.

Working in the loan industry is risky. And leaving a good job in a Washington, D.C. law firm to start his own business while was the sole breadwinner for his wife and three children (he now has four), wasn’t an easy choice, he said.

After he returned from service in Iraq in 2008 in the middle of the financial crisis, he said he saw that many banks that wouldn’t offer loans less than $100,000 to small businesses owners. They just weren’t profitable for the banks, he said.

After he launched his business, he planned to change the game.

“We were going to put banking out of business,” said Rockefeller.

The idea: No branch offices, and let applicants apply for loans after the phone  That didn’t happen, obviously

“We realized, ‘no,’ the banks have all the money and customers,” he said.

While he was trying to figure out a direction for the business, a voice told him “You’re lending, so get lending,” he said.

Rockefeller made 12 $100 loans. A consignment shop later became a customer, and the firm raised $1.2 million in new capital.

Four years later, Street Shares works with traditional to incorporate new technologies to serve their customers. In the end, Street Shares did the loans the larger banks couldn’t or wouldn’t do.

“Entrepreneurs solve great problems,” he said.

Start-up Grind is a monthly fireside chat that will be held at CenterFuse, located at 9071 Center Street in Downtown Manassas. Attendees are treated to food and wine.

Tickets for the event range between $20 and $40 and include admission and food.

The next Start-Up Grind meeting will be held at 6 p.m. December 6, when Woerheide will interview Les Trachtman, founder of Transitions, and author of Don’t F#*k It Up – how founders and their successors can avoid the clichés that inhibit growth.