Brandon Arner

Founder & CEO

Brandon Arner is the founder and CEO of BuildUp Capital, an asset-secured hard money and bridge lender based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a finance operator who spent five years inside corporate turnarounds before founding BuildUp to bring fast, real-estate-secured private credit to business owners.

Before BuildUp, Brandon worked inside corporate turnarounds — Skillz, CoinCloud, CGM, BMG, and Acadea — where he watched the same lesson play out repeatedly: capital deployed correctly can save a company, and capital deployed recklessly can bury one.

As lead underwriter at Key Business Strategies he saw a gap no one was serving well: private credit that actually works for small businesses. He founded BuildUp Capital to fill it — underwrite the asset and the operator, move fast, and say yes when both are right. He writes most of BuildUp’s guides on bridge loans, hard money, cash-out refinancing, and how to vet a private lender.

Brandon holds an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business and a BS in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of San Diego, and is based in Salt Lake City.

Career & credentials

  • Founder & CEO, BuildUp Capital
  • Former lead underwriter, Key Business Strategies
  • Corporate turnaround finance: Skillz, CoinCloud, CGM, BMG, Acadea
  • MBA, USC Marshall School of Business; BS Finance, University of San Diego

Elsewhere

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