Brex Growth Playbook

Founders of venture-backed startups were often wealthy on paper but couldn't get a corporate credit card because they had no personal credit history in the US or no 'history' for the new LLC.

The 'Cash-Balance' Underwriting Innovation & High-Density Guerrilla Marketing: Brex tacticaly hijacked the startup ecosystem by ignoring FICO scores and underwriting based on venture capital in the bank. Their growth engine was 'The YC Out-Reach'—capturing high-growth companies at the literal moment of incorporation. By buying every billboard in San Francisco's SOMA district, they created an 'omnipresence' that made a 2-year-old startup look like 100-year-old bank. Their expansion relies on 'Software-as-a-Card'—integrating expense management so deeply into the plastic that the card becomes the 'Source of Truth' for all company spend.