The Credit Bubble with Derek Brunelle

In this episode of The Credit Bubble, I sit down with Charles Thor to explore his path from commercial banking at Union Bank to global roles with MUFG and HSBC, and ultimately into credit leadership at Silicon Valley Bank. We discuss how early underwriting experience shapes long-term judgment, what changes when you move from the deal team into the credit seat, and how global banking experience influences risk evaluation. We also get into how credit decisions actually get made in practice—and close with Charles’s “User Guide,” a framework for aligning teams around communication, consistency, and decision-making.

In this episode of The Credit Bubble, I sit down with Aznaur Midov to explore his career progression from institutional banking to independent entrepreneurship. Aznaur shares how his experience across venture banking, leveraged lending, and private credit shaped his views on underwriting, risk, and market cycles—and how that experience ultimately led him to build Debt Serious and launch Kior Lior, a business providing outsourced underwriting and portfolio management for private credit investors. We also discuss the role of content as distribution, the growing complexity of co-investing, and what it really takes to turn domain expertise into a durable business.

In this episode, I sit down with Marshall Hawks, author of Venture Debt Deals: How to Fund Growth with Less Dilution and former senior leader at Silicon Valley Bank, for a wide-ranging conversation on how venture debt actually works in practice. Drawing on more than 16 years inside the venture banking ecosystem, Marshall unpacks why venture debt is ultimately a relationship business—and why the choice of lending partner often matters more than headline pricing or structure. The discussion weaves through real-world case studies from Marshall’s career, including Twitch/Justin.tv, Airbnb, and Clearco, highlighting both successful outcomes and hard-earned lessons when incentives, timing, or expectations fall out of alignment. The conversation also explores how lenders evaluate risk, the often-misunderstood role of warrants and so-called “non-dilutive” capital, and what founders and CFOs should realistically expect from the debt process—from preparation and documentation to credit committee dynamics. Marshall and Derek reflect on the culture and institutional knowledge that shaped venture lending during the SVB era, as well as how today’s more fragmented lending landscape has changed borrower decision-making. This episode is particularly relevant for founders, CFOs, board members, and lenders seeking a candid, experience-driven view of venture debt—not as a theoretical product, but as a long-term relationship that can either support growth or amplify risk depending on how it is used.

Today’s episode features Ben Johnson, a longtime colleague and friend from the Silicon Valley Bank ecosystem whose career spans nearly three decades across private banking, commercial lending, venture debt, seed-stage ecosystem building, and now specialty finance at Celtic Bank. Ben walks us through his early life in Minnesota, the path that led him into banking, and how he ultimately found his way to SVB. We explore his evolution into life science and med-tech lending, his seven-year effort building SVB’s national seed-stage life science strategy, and his firsthand experience navigating the events of SVB’s 2023 collapse. Ben then shares what drew him to Celtic Bank, how industrial loan companies operate, and what makes them structurally unique in today’s financial system. It’s an insightful conversation about career pivots, leadership, and specialty finance.

In this episode of The Credit Bubble Podcast, I sit down with Matt Schwartz, Partner at DLA Piper, to talk about his path into law and how he became a go-to counsel for banks and private credit funds. We dig into the evolution of venture and growth-stage lending, the impact of SVB’s collapse, and the role of AI in credit. Matt also shares the story behind his “Law Dad” posts on LinkedIn and how opening up personally has resonated with thousands across the industry.

In this episode of The Credit Bubble, I sit down with Ryan Edwards, founder of Prospeq and partner at Lioncrest, to discuss his leap from SVB to launching a credit fund aimed at overlooked markets and founders. We explore Prospeq’s focus on businesses outside the traditional venture mold, the diligence required when institutional backers aren’t present, and why hands-on lending creates value beyond capital. Ryan also shares how his new partnership with Lioncrest brings debt and equity under one roof to deliver the right capital at the right time, and offers his perspective on AI’s evolving role in diligence and investing.

In this episode of The Credit Bubble, I sit down with Jake Bernstein, Vice President at Avenue Capital, to trace his path from Comerica to Oxford and now to Avenue’s growth lending platform. Jake explains how moving from a permanent balance sheet to a GP/LP fund model reshaped his approach to risk, structure, and upside. We dive into Avenue’s underwriting in life sciences, what makes an attractive med device or biopharma opportunity, and why management experience is often the most critical factor. Jake also reflects on today’s tight equity markets, the role of private credit as “the most popular kid in school,” and how certain AI tools are changing portfolio management.

Host Derek Brunelle speaks with Scott Aleali, Head of Private Equity Finance – New York Region at Citizens Private Bank, about how fund finance has expanded from simple capital-call lines to a full suite of solutions for private equity and venture capital firms. They explore the financing life cycle, NAV lending trends, underwriting uncalled capital, and how today’s market impacts fund formation and emerging managers.