[JayBallentine]

The only thing I disagree with this thead is the assumption that OnDeck, Kabbage and the like are technology companies. Talk to the PE world and everyone will tell you at the end of the day they are in the specialty finance space. Cash flow, Ebitda, and profitability drives valuations and exit. CAN is not only the 800lb gorilla but reportedly highly profitable. CAN will monetize their business. OnDeck and others ultimately need to show a profit. There is no way that the value of their data competes with the value of the data that a CapitalOne or Visa or Experian or D&B has on small business with millions of small businesses in their dataset and years and years of history.

You may be right about OnDeck, I don't know 0.00000001% of what you know about finance, and running financial institutions. But, I personally see some things that make me really curious about where the money is really going to be made.

1. They've hired an "army of data scientists."

2. These data scientists are struggling to figure out how to make OnDeck money - whereas OnDecks competitors - the premium guys, are doing just that, making money. What if they weren't hired to make OnDeck any money on funded deals. I mean Yellowstone employs no data scientists and they make money...

3. They raised two Series D rounds. Usually Series D is like bridge financing until you exit. What was more interesting was who was in on those rounds. Google Ventures and Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel is a math / data guy, and I just have this hunch that he's up to something else...

[Chambo]

You may be right about OnDeck, I don't know 0.00000001% of what you know about finance, and running financial institutions. But, I personally see some things that make me really curious about where the money is really going to be made.

1. They've hired an "army of data scientists."

2. These data scientists are struggling to figure out how to make OnDeck money - whereas OnDecks competitors - the premium guys, are doing just that, making money. What if they weren't hired to make OnDeck any money on funded deals. I mean Yellowstone employs no data scientists and they make money...

3. They raised two Series D rounds. Usually Series D is like bridge financing until you exit. What was more interesting was who was in on those rounds. Google Ventures and Peter Thiel. Peter Thiel is a math / data guy, and I just have this hunch that he's up to something else...

"those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

This all sounds eerily familiar to the dot coms in the late 90's who all swore they were revolutionizing the business world and threw caution to the wind when it came to profitability.

Anyone over 15 years old knows what happened there