All Systems Go: Inside Wingspire Capital’s First Year and Rapid Ascent

“Wingspire was conceived as a late-cycle business. We knew that should the credit cycle turn, we would be in a strong position as an asset-based lender,” Wisen says. “You don’t want to be building this in the middle of a maelstrom. You want to already have built your structure and be ready.”

Liftoff

“[David] and I met when he was putting the platform together,” Rosin says. “I have a history of building ABL and ABL structured platforms. I helped do it for Foothill and for Midcap, and it was right in my sweet spot.”

“We wanted to enter into business and show prospective clients what we can do. We wanted to let our actions speak for themselves,” Wisen says. “However, because of the reputation of our teammates, the resonance of our messaging and delivery, and the quality of Owl Rock, we were getting calls from the beginning.”

No Egos Allowed

“When we started, before there was even the name Wingspire, one of the first things we talked about was creating a positive company culture. We wanted a flat work structure and the ability to engage in collective decision-making so that individuals could disagree and discuss ideas freely,” Wisen says, noting that such a makeup has helped Wingspire remain nimble and responsive in the current environment. “I think it would have been much harder if we decided to have a hierarchical structure. What helped us was the very nature of what we were trying to build.”

“We do what we say, and we say what we do. It is important that we really mean that,” Wendler says.

“When someone we’ve been recruiting is considering joining our team, they know us already,” Rosin says. “They know what we’re about and in many cases, they want to come on board because of our personal relationship that we already have.”

“We’ve all worked at a job where the leadership has lost sight of why they are in business,” Wisen says. “We’re in business to provide solutions to middle market companies. When individuals lose sight of that and are thinking about themselves, that’s the minute the team loses and shouldn’t be in business anymore.”

Another distinguishing feature for Wingspire is the company behind it: Owl Rock. Wisen notes that Wingspire operates entirely independently, crafting its own credit authority and operating budget. However, as a portfolio company of Owl Rock, Wingspire benefits from several of its parent company’s strengths.

Just because Wingspire can work on its own doesn’t mean opportunities to collaborate with Owl Rock never crop up.

Having Owl Rock as a sponsor when Wingspire launched also helped with visibility and, more importantly, credibility, according to Wisen. Beyond lending credibility, Owl Rock is interested in the scaling potential of Wingspire.

Hitting Their Stride

“We have flexibility in how we structure,” Rosin says. “We don’t have to adhere to the way it has always been done. We have the opportunity to be innovative, creative and nimble.”

“We’re not burdened by regulators or by looking at assets and determining whether they’re criticized or classified assets,” Wendler says. “We pass our own tests around the borrowers in terms of are we getting the right return and are we providing a solution that works for borrowers. That to me is what’s fun about lending.”

“This is distinctive for us because we can focus nearly 100% of our time through the windshield and not through the rearview mirror,” Rosin says.

“The world has clearly changed and with that, deals have changed,” Wendler says. “We will continue to evolve to reflect the needs of the marketplace.”

“We’re going to grow. We’re going to add people. We’re going to compete for loans and we’re going to win business, and then we’re going to diversify,” Wisen says. “And we’re going to do all that keeping an eye firmly trained on what’s going on in the world.”