I've been doing some private lending for a while now and one thing that surprises me is how many people assume you need a ton of cash to get started as a private lender — like you have to be able to fund an entire deal on your own before you can even Invest. I've come to learn that, that assumption keeps a lot of people on the sidelines who probably don't need to be there.

There's actually a much larger, quieter group of people — myself included — who have capital to deploy, believe in private lending as a strategy, and just aren't at a scale where they can fund an entire deal alone. And I've also learned, they don't have to fund the entire deal.

I've been thinking a lot about how smaller lenders might benefit from simply knowing each other — sharing deal flow, underwriting perspectives, and potentially collaborating on deals that would otherwise be out of reach for any one person.

Curious if others here are in a similar position. Are you doing private lending at smaller balances? Have you ever connected with other lenders to collaborate, or is that not something people do?

Would love to hear how others are approaching this.