Intentionality and Wisdom; these are the two words Kurt uses when asked about his thoughts on leadership.
He defines the former as thought-through actions or decisions that are made in order to achieve the best possible results. On the other hand, he defines the latter as something that can only be grasped through experiences, experiences of hardships, challenges, and failures.
These profound ideas form the core of Kurt Nederveld’s astute leadership journey. Kurt gives credit for his personal and business achievements to his parents- Gord and Sherry for instilling a strong work ethic and a faith based business focus. He is also thankful for his Uncle Les, a retired commercial real estate developer, who mentored Kurt for many years and provided great support along Kurt’s entrepreneurial journey.
Exeleon proudly Covers this transformational leader and deep dives into the various experiences that has shaped Kurt Nederveld’s pathway towards success.
Seizing an Opportunity
In October of 2011, a young and determined Kurt Nederveld founded Rainstar Marketing. The name of the company was an amalgamation between a Rainmaker and Rockstar, further depicting the energetic and confident approach that has made the company a success.
Rainstar Marketing served over 100 clients in the capital market, which included banks, commercial real estate, and corporate finance lenders.
Kurt saw a burgeoning opportunity to build an all-inclusive lending platform for commercial real estate, small business, and equipment. He mentions, “Many other firms just do equipment or commercial real estate but there wasn’t a firm out there doing it all under one roof.”
Thus he started Rainstar Capital Group in January 2014 with a focus on solving the need for financing for business owner and commercial real estate borrowers. Over the years, the company has grown its portfolio to over 250+ registered lenders for clients with commercial real estate, corporate finance, small business, and equipment financing needs.
He further mentions, “We have become a national growth debt advisory firm helping clients grow their commercial real estate portfolios and businesses by accessing debt capital.”
Small Steps, Big Leap
Talking about the success of the firm, Kurt makes sure to not forget about the sacrifices and hard work that accompanied this journey. “A lot of hard work, early mornings, late nights, non-stop travel, speaking events, capital markets conferences and above all, we were focused on one thing: creating long lasting relationships.”
Rainstar Capital Group is one of the premier companies because of its diversified lending platforms, its streamlined processes, educational trainings teaching investors and owners on how to access debt capital for growth, and an accomplished team that has combined completed over $1B worth of transactions.
In addition to all these, Kurt’s long-term vision for the firm, providing accountability, and mentoring the team on success habits has collectively made Rainstar Capital Group to where it stands today.
Facing Adversities
Amidst the positives in Kurt’s journey, there have been multiple absolute low points as well. Among which, two of the most difficult phases was when Kurt was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 26 and the passing of his baby daughter in 2019.
These low points would be enough for someone to spiral; however, Kurt has always been one to fight; fight against any forthcoming adversities. And so he did. After undergoing two surgeries, Kurt became cancer-free. Today, he makes sure to be there as a form of support for others who are going through similar setbacks in their lives. “Grief has been very difficult to deal with, but I have tried to use the loss of our child to provide encouragement to others facing similar hardships that they can overcome.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Kurt has seen success in the form of his company completing over $1 billion in financing. Moreover, working with great clients and seeing growth and breakthroughs in his team further fills him with gratitude for the highs he has experienced over the years.
Talking about what he would do differently over this journey, Kurt mentions that he would be identifying it quicker that every business is about the people, and one needs to make the right hiring quick in order to grow their company faster. “Wrong people in your firm become a negative time suck of energy. Focus on boosting your recruiting processes to attract the best talent. Talent is what takes your company to new heights,” mentions Kurt.
Standing Out
At Rainstar Capital Group, a holistic approach is taken to understand the situation of a client and the transaction they are looking to complete. He adds “We have a very specific debt advisory process we follow that helps us understand all the assets that we can help the client leverage- cash flow, credit, commercial real estate, rental property, equipment, accounts receivables, luxury hard assets, inventory, purchase orders and accounts payables.”
Talking further about the approach followed by the company to ensure optimal client satisfaction at every step of the way, Kurt points out that an intentional process that walks each client through the process of accessing financing. “We have blueprinted it for our clients, so it’s an easy step by step process that they can follow to have the highest likelihood of success is securing growth capital.”
The Rainstar Capital Group platform boasts over 250 lenders for commercial real estate, company, and equipment financing. “Our team of accomplished entrepreneurial bankers guide our clients through the product lines we can finance clients with.”
The education tools of the platform further help explain clients the pros and cons of different debt products that they can use to access capital. Furthermore, the company’s branding, videos, webinars, social media presence, and client reach out strategies adds more to its credibility in the market. This all-inclusive service offerings and brand identity has made Rainstar a standout company since its formation.
Looking into the future and the upcoming projects, Kurt mentions that it is very bright for the company. “We have launched two sister companies Rainstar Development Capital and Rainstar Project Capital. We are working on a private equity fund to invest equity with our clientsand look forward to continuing the enhancement of our capital services to our clients.”
Leading by Example
Aside from his entrepreneurial acumen, Kurt Nederveld is highly recognized as an investor and consultant in the debt capital markets. He has personally advised over 100 marketing clients, including Fund Managers, Debt Funds, Investment Bankers, Fintech lenders and Specialty Finance firms
Graduating from Calvin College with a bachelor’s in business, Kurt always considered himself as a leader. His ideologies and philosophies shaped his decision-making ability, and it has only grown over the years amidst facing various challenges and mistakes. His maturity and growth level is reflected through some of his words, “Learning from mistakes and taking corrective action is what every business is all about. Trial/error and hard knocks are a part of every entrepreneur’s journey.”
He advises young and aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs with a simple yet effective statement, “Word hard, work smart, find the right talent, and enjoy the process.” He further continues saying, “Passion is what drives you, belief is what keeps you going through hardship, and always take the highs along with the lows as the latter teaches you to be grateful for every day.”
Visit Rainstar Capital Website.
Contact Kurt Nederveld on LinkedIn.
