What I Wish I Knew Starting Out in Commercial Lending
Authored by: Harrison Greenberg
In 16 years in commercial lending, I’ve funded thousands of deals across nearly every industry vertical you can name: restaurants, medical practices, auto shops, contractors, retail. I’ve enjoyed building fruitful relationships, and watched others fade over time. I’ve watched as new products came, and old products went. And of course, I’ve made expensive mistakes along the way. To sum it up: I’ve had a front row seat in watching the fintech space evolve from an unheard-of curiosity to an economic powerhouse.
If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it wouldn’t be about relationships or rate sheets. It also wouldn’t be about knowing your products. That all matters tremendously, but everyone figures it out eventually.
The real lesson took me way too long to learn: own your technology, or technology will own you.
We started as most people do
When I started out, I did what everyone does. I relied on other companies to support everything so I could focus on our core business. I used CRMs and origination tools that were already out there. I used basic, proven marketing channels. We had an off-the-shelf phone system, and a rudimentary website.
We’d delight when the powers that be rolled out new features we needed, but it was a disaster when others changed. Improvements to our systems took forever. Every time the system went down, we had to scramble to serve borrowers who needed funding right away. Ever decreasing customer service, often overseas, became impossible to navigate. And never-ending price hikes inflicted real damage to our bottom line.
It became clear that renting infrastructure could never get QuicLoans ahead of the curve.
So we made a commitment to ourselves
A few years ago, I made a decision: I was going to build my own platform from scratch. I don’t have a technical background. No CS degree here. Just the realization that I couldn’t keep depending on systems I didn’t understand and couldn’t control.
Within 12 months, I launched my own origination platform built entirely on cutting edge, hand-built technology. Every workflow is designed around how customers and their transactions move. Every page is optimized for speed and every integration is chosen deliberately.
The difference was immediate. We’re now free to be the best commercial lenders we can dream of being. When our customers need a feature, we build it. When I see a bottleneck in our process, we fix it. We’re not stuck waiting and hoping anymore. Our customers get a better experience. And by eliminating vendors, we can pass savings on to our customers.
This is only going to be more important
Customers today expect speed and transparency. They’re comparing their experience to every other digital transaction they’ve ever had. Those experiences are constantly evolving. So, if your tech isn’t delivering, they’ll go looking for something that does.
When you understand your systems at a base level, you can:
- Adapt instantly when market conditions change
- Build processes around your clients
- Spot and fix inefficiencies
- Scale with minimal complexity and expense
The companies who survive the next decade will be the ones who understand their tech and can meet their customers’ expectations.
The reality doesn’t have to be scary
I’m not saying everyone needs to run out and learn to code tomorrow. But I am saying that treating technology as someone else’s problem is a losing strategy.
At a minimum, you need to understand how your systems work, where your data lives, and what happens when something breaks. You need to be able to evaluate tools critically instead of just buying the lowest cost option.
Like other verticals, the lending industry is full of people who are great at relationships and product knowledge. But they’re often completely dependent on platforms they don’t control, and that dependency is a liability. It’s one that compounds every year as the world gets more competitive and customers get more demanding.
If I could start over, I’d invest in technical literacy from day one. I’d do it in small, deliberate steps. No need to jump in with both feet, just move at my own pace. Otherwise, you’re just building your business on someone else’s foundation.
Harrison Greenberg is the founder and CEO of QuicLoans (NMLS #2392918), a commercial lending provider specializing in fast funding for small and mid-sized businesses. With 16 years of experience in commercial lending, he built the QuicLoans platform from the ground up to deliver funding in as little as three hours.