Carl Fairbank

Founder and CEO, Breakout Capital Finance

    
40 Under 40 Category: Business Development

Biography:

Carl Fairbank is the founder and CEO of Breakout Capital Finance. Through a decade of work as an investment banker in the alternative finance industry, he identified market inefficiencies and widespread industry practices that made it extremely expensive for many small business owners to secure funding. Typical small business credit products often carry additional costs frequently not fully understood by business owners. Carl founded Breakout Capital in an effort to bring affordable and fully transparent funding solutions to small businesses with a wide range of credit profiles.

Prior to founding Breakout Capital, Carl worked as an investment banker at FBR & Co. and in the Corporate Strategy Group at Capital One Financial Corporation.  Fairbank graduated from American University with a B.S. in business administration and economics. He was recognized in the 2016 Trending 40’s list of D.C.’s top entrepreneurs under 40 years old and is a member of the Forbes Finance Council.

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it?

The best advice I’ve been given is to be bold.  There are so many opportunities to pursue and you have to be able to seize them when they come your way.  The biggest risk to opportunity is that you spend too much time evaluating the options and in the interim, you lose the chance to pursue them.  Being bold led me to starting this company, investing in others’ new ventures, and pursuing my personal passions, like picking up a guitar for the first time at age 35 and learning to play!

How do you think the commercial finance industry can attract more young professionals?

Commercial finance seems unglamorous, until you get underneath the surface and understand how vital it is as a lifeblood for the economy.  I think young professionals are looking for careers that make a difference, not just a job that cuts a check.  It is vital that, as an industry, we explain that being a part of this industry is meaningful, and that it transforms people’s lives by growing businesses and other enterprises.  It is also important to highlight that the personal connections they can make by being a part of this industry are extraordinary and valuable as they build their careers.

How would you define what a good leader is, and what can you do to reflect those characteristics as you progress in your career?

Leadership is about creating a vision of the future and enticing others to join you on the journey to it.  The most important thing a leader can do is to live and breathe their vision.  I am always thinking about a compelling vision for the future and how I can communicate my vision to others in a way that really motivates and makes them feel a part of the team.  I also believe that you have to build a team that is as, or more, talented than you are, and your job as the leader is to provide that one essential ingredient of vision to drive cohesion and alignment.

What advice do you normally give to the junior talent you mentor/what advice would you give to forthcoming generation of talent aspiring to win this award?

My advice is the same advice I gave myself when I started this company – be Breakout!  I’m passionate about sports, and breakout players don’t just win the game: they change the game.  I ask my team every day, “how can we be breakout?” and that’s the advice I would give to anyone in this industry.  Don’t just accept the status quo, anticipate the future, and move in that direction.  As Wayne Gretzky said, “Skate to where the puck is going!”

When interviewing junior talent, what do you say to pique their interest on why they should accept a position in this industry?

I ask one question: “Do you want to change the world?”  Because that is what we are doing.  Our approach is the dual power of innovative lending and advanced technology.  The things we are doing to change the commercial finance industry through the power of advanced technology are the same things that are going to disrupt every single industry, everywhere around the world.  So what we’re doing is the first ripple of that wave, and it’s an exciting time to get in on the early momentum.