Demystifying Venture Debt: Funding Growth with Less Dilution with Marshall Hawks

Episode notes

Venture debt might be the most misunderstood tool in startup finance. Ask ten founders to explain it, and you will get ten different answers, most of them wrong. In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Marshall Hawks, a 16-year Silicon Valley Bank veteran who structured hundreds of venture debt deals, including for Airbnb, Twitch, and Fitbit. After SVB’s collapse in 2023, Marshall stepped away to write the playbook founders had been missing: Venture Debt Deals: How to Fund Growth with Less Dilution. He breaks down what is actually happening in the 2026 venture debt market, including bigger facilities, new players in private credit, and what terms really look like today. They also get into when debt actually makes sense and when it does not, the biggest mistakes founders make on term sheets, and why the right lending partner matters more than squeezing out the lowest rate. If you want to grow faster without giving up more equity, or just understand how the full capital stack really works, this one is worth your time.

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