“What we like is that they have really good, skilled developers who also have good interpersonal skills. They know not just what we need done but why and how to do it in a better way.” – Matthew Dunlap
Serving the financial needs of creators
Gen Z brings with it new models of work, and that calls for new models for financing. Recognizing that, Karat Financial designed financial products specifically for content creators.
Banks don’t really know how to interpret creator incomes, especially when they’re just starting out, explained Matthew Dunlap, Head of Sales at Karat Financial. Consequently, creators have only received very low credit limits.
The products
Karat solved the income assessment problem with a unique underwriting process that takes the creator’s stats and social status into account rather than just looking at the current income level. That’s what underlies it fee-free and interest-free merchant advance cards.
Working on the basis of Karat’s familiarity with creators’ finances, it has also launched a taxes and bookkeeping service to serve their needs. The average accountant or CPA doesn’t necessarily know the best tax strategy for people in that situation, Dunlap pointed out.
The process
Both the Sales and Operations teams at Karat rely on Salesforce to capture and track data. They have mechanisms for underwriting, which could be particularly volatile when it comes to creators whose earnings can shift up, down, or out.
In addition to tracking, running, and managing the digital data related to the process, there’s the physical tracking involved. Karat doesn’t just issue a virtual card but a physical one that has to be shipped out.
The challenge
Karat started out tracking via spreadsheets. As the business grew, though, it became clear that it needed a better solution. Salesforce worked better than spreadsheets at managing data but introduced a new problem of managing a skills gap.
With so much to track on Salesforce while growing the company, the operational demands for sales exceeded what could be covered by in-house staffing. Salesforce support alone didn’t offer Karat the direction it needed to implement the right tools.
“The rep at Salesforce doesn’t know what you should do,” Dunlap said. ”They say it’s up to you to decide how you want to build it and set it up.”
Why Karat brought on Delegate
Kart found what it needed to grow with Delegate’s service. The expertise of the Salesforce administrations on the teams assured them that they would get the function they needed.
With someone deeply familiar with Salesforce capabilities, the sales and operations people could say what their goals were – say to introduce a new product – and then get the right set of tools implemented to make it happen.
“My COO and I just need peace of mind to have a plan of what to do without getting into technical debt,” Dunlap observed.
“I can say: ‘Here’s what I want. How do I get to that point?’ The Delegate then offers me options and recommendations.”
Trust and impact
“There’s value in using an organization that you could trust. It prevents us from going down the wrong path, building the wrong way.”
Businesses that contract with Delegate are not just tapping into the skills of a single individual but of a group of experts with the know-how to solve their problems. As the business scales up and needs change, the array of talent available at Delegate can rise to the occasion.
When Karat wanted to launch its new taxes and bookkeeping products, it brought in a new Delegate, Aaron, who pointed out that following the course they first considered would prove difficult down the road.
Aaron offered a different way, and that’s the one that they followed. Even for day-to-day automations, Dunlap says, he doesn’t have to take the time to check into it personally:
“If something weird happens, I just send it to Aaron. I can trust that Aaron will look at it and solve it for me.”
To learn about customer experiences in other industries, read the success stories from Probo Medical and Flashpoint.