iBank Matches Small Biz Owners, Lenders

If you're looking for an injection of cash, whether you're General Motors (GM Quote) or Joe the Plumber, you're scrambling to find money.

While GM has no problem asking the government for a check, Joe has burned that bridge, or it's safe to say there's no rush to pull his paperwork from the bottom of the pile. Tom Markel, the 53-year-old founder of iBank, has been there.

Markel is a third-generation entrepreneur who made his first chunk of cash selling an invention that turned Adidas shoes into roller skates in the late 1970s. Two decades later, he was hired by Gary Tharaldson, a hotel proprietor with over 200 properties, to consolidate debt into a single loan with one lender. Markel immediately recognized the inefficiencies with the repeated paperwork and processes and also understood the struggles other businesses must be facing. ...