EP 06Scaling an ISO to 100 Brokers with Carlos Rivera
Carlos Rivera · Stateline Funding GroupShow notes
Carlos Rivera built Stateline Funding Group from a solo broker operation to one of the Southeast's largest ISOs. He shares the systems, culture, and hard lessons that got him there—and his plan to hit 100 brokers by year-end.
Dana Reyes and Carlos Rivera (President, Stateline Funding Group) go deep on ISO and scaling — with the numbers, the war stories and the one thing Carlos would do differently.
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Dana ReyesHost
Welcome back to The Time in Business Podcast. I'm Dana Reyes, and today I'm sitting down with Carlos Rivera from Stateline Funding Group. Carlos, thanks for making the time.
Thanks for having me, Dana. Long-time listener, and honestly half my team gets their Monday reading from the Daily Line.
Let's start at the beginning. How did you end up in alternative finance? Nobody grows up wanting to do this.
No, definitely not. I came in sideways — I was on the operating side of a small business that needed capital fast, and I saw how opaque the whole process was. That stuck with me.
And the market you walked into then looks nothing like today's. What's the biggest structural change you've seen?
Data. Ten years ago an underwriter had a stack of PDFs and a gut feeling. Today we see deposit behavior in near real time, and the shops that use it well are just pulling away.
Which brings us to ISO. Everyone's talking about it — separate the signal from the noise for us.
The signal is that it rewards discipline. The noise is the idea that it's a shortcut. If your process is sloppy, better tools just help you make bad decisions faster.
Give me a concrete example. Something that happened on a real file.
Sure. Last quarter we had a restaurant group — three locations, great revenue on paper. The pattern in the transfers between locations told a different story. We caught it because we were looking at the right thing, not because we had more data.
That's the part I think a lot of brokers underestimate. What should a broker listening right now actually change this week?
Two things. Pre-qualify harder — read the statements before you submit, don't outsource that to the funder. And shorten your funder list. Depth of relationship beats breadth every time.
Let's talk regulation for a minute, because it's coming whether we like it or not.
It is, and I think that's fine. Clear disclosure is good for the honest operators. The pain is the patchwork — nine states, nine forms. A single standard would actually lower costs.
Where does this go in the next two or three years? Make a prediction you'll regret.
Consolidation. Fewer, bigger funders with real data advantages, and ISOs either specializing or getting acquired. The middle gets squeezed.
Lightning round. Best book you've read this year?
Probably something on credit cycles — which tells you exactly how fun I am at dinner parties.
Carlos, this was great. Where can people find you?
I'm in the Time in Business community most days — find me in #mca or the funder council. Always happy to talk shop.