We Understand Your Challenges Because We’ve Been There
Charis Media Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Midcap Business Credit. The business unit dedicated to Media Funding was created by and is still managed today by Bob Hanington. Bob knows a thing or two about the challenges of launching a successful product...
Here is his story:
In 1993, I was working at my future business partner’s health club when he came up with the idea that became the $1.0 Billion Ab Roller product category. We worked together day and night for well over a year to take the product from concept to market, and after being inundated with demand for our product, we decided to enter the mass market by producing an infomercial.
We invested every dollar that we had to produce our show and were euphoric when we received the results from our first airing showing that we had a huge hit on our hands. One big problem – we were basically broke and did not have the capital to fund future airings and keep up with inventory production. Banks would not lend to us based on infomercial results, and we simply did not know anybody rich enough to invest in a piece of bent steel designed to give you those washboard abs you desired. In the meantime, several of the largest names in the infomercial industry saw our product and thought that they should take up the slack (nice guys).
So, in addition to being cash strapped to grow our business, we also had to prosecute nearly 30 defendants for patent infringement. At that time, I started thinking that if only a media funding company could help us finance our advertising based on our media results it would be a huge advantage. None existed at the time.
Long story short, we had to license our product to grow the campaign and fund the legal bills for the patent infringement cases. In the end, it more or less worked out. However, in hindsight, so many things could have gone much better if Charis Media Capital had been around back then.
- First, we would have been able to quickly exploit our show’s success.
- Secondly, we would have been able to keep complete control of our business.
- Third, we would have prevented many of the knock-off products from entering the market.
- Lastly, we would have been financially rewarded more in line with the success of the product.
So, if any of you reading this have invented a time machine, please contact me right away so you can send me back to 1993.
Around the year 2000, I took the opportunity to start the media funding company that I’d often thought about. Since then, we have been able to fund over 300 different campaigns and over $250 million worth of media buys. We try to bring all our experience to bear to achieve one overarching goal for each of our funding campaigns – making our clients' campaigns as profitable as possible. However, before you nominate us for sainthood, understand that we are paid back as long as your campaign makes money. What I like to say is that you will have many vendors for your marketing campaign, but only your media funding company will ever be as interested as you in your success.
Over the past two decades, we have built a reputation as a reliable, honest, and fair financer. We look forward to continuing to grow our business along with those of our customers.
Charis Media Capital Company History
- Formed in 2000 (dba, Newtek Media Capital)
- Founded and managed by Bob Hanington, one of the original two founders behind the “Ab Roller” category of prominent products between 1995 – 1999 and accounted for over $1.0 Billion worldwide during that time period.
- Since 2000, Charis has funded over 300 direct response projects
- Since 2000, Charis has advanced over $300 million in media, inventory, and future installment payments for long- and short-form TV, internet, radio, and print marketing campaigns.