Matt Byrne, CRO at OAREX, and Rich's old boss at FastPay, joins the FPC podcast to announce a new strategic partnership between FirstPartyFinance (FPC's debt arm) and OAREX. You can read about the partnership here: https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2026/05/13/oarex-firstpartyfinance-announce-strategic-partnership-to-expand-digital-media-companies-access-to-capital/.
The FPC Podcast timeline:
The FastPay reunion and what OAREX has built since (170 clients, ~$5bn of ad spend processed).
The $5M worked example - what a properly blended raise actually looks like on the cap table.
The hidden upside: with debt in place, founders pick the right investor, not just the highest bidder.
Ciarán on weaponising payment terms - AdSense, Trade Desk, and the bank inside every ad tech business.
The founder mistakes Rich, and Matt keep watching: waiting too long, signing the wrong contracts, and assuming “debt is expensive” without doing the maths.
