Most SaaS founders reach for equity by default, even for costs that debt could cover in nine months. In this episode of The AI Revolution Show, Alex Theuma sits down with Paul Becker, co-founder and CEO of re:cap, the debt-funding platform helping SaaS founders raise capital without giving up equity. Paul breaks down the emotional cost of bad funding decisions, why gross margins still matter more than AI hype, and the two moments AI genuinely changed how his own team works, including one that turned a week of junior research into two hours and a good prompt.

In this episode, we explore:

(00:29) What re:cap actually does for SaaS founders needing capital

(02:01) The accidental origin story behind re:cap

(03:21) Bootstrapped vs VC-backed: why re:cap chose venture capital

(06:11) Why most revenue-based financing competitors disappeared

(09:00) Capital efficiency vs. growth at all costs in the AI era

(11:11) Is AI killing SaaS? Paul's take on the SaaS apocalypse

(14:18) Why 90% gross margin beats 70% every time for lenders

(16:48) re:cap's own AI journey, from machine learning to LLMs

(19:44) The event prep trick that saved Paul a week of junior work

(25:02) What Capital AI does inside the re:cap platform

(29:55) Direct advice for a founder at £3M ARR taking only equity

(31:15) The emotional cost of a bad funding decision nobody asks about

Links mentioned:

Paul Becker's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulbckr/

re:cap: https://www.re-cap.com/

The AI Revolution Show is the intelligence podcast for B2B software founders navigating the platform shift, the founders building through it, and the founders already on the other side. Hosted by Alex Theuma, founder of SaaStock. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode.