Those are two ways to phrase the same thought, yes, but there are things about raising corporate debt which don't necessarily line up 1:1 with expectations consumers might have about borrowing money.
One example, which is de rigeur for raising debt via bond issuance or for very large loans from banks, is "covenants" (restrictions on your future behavior for the duration the debt is in place), which may foreclose your ability to do things you'd otherwise want to do or may cause those things to become more costly than you'd otherwise expect them to be.
A few trivial examples of covenants: "Here's $50 million, but if you ever have less than $5 million in the bank, you're in default." or "Here's $50 million, but if your net cash burn ever exceeds $5 million in a quarter, you're in default." or "Here's $50 million, but if you need any more money, it has to come from us at whatever pricing we decide to make available. If you issue debt or equity elsewhere, you're in default."
You very urgently do not want to default.
One can imagine other features. Historically, the downside protections for debt investors in startups were extremely toothy [0]. This is one reason startups have been askance about raising debt historically. (Another reason is that VCs, who invest to get equity, tell founders "Please don't get money from my competitors", generally not in exactly those words.)
[0] This is a polite way to say "They routinely were written to wipe out all common equityholders like e.g. employees and founders."
It’d be very interesting to learn what covenants are attached to DigitalOcean’s new credit facility. Their press release [4] lists the lenders but does not discuss the terms, which will probably stay confidential until they file to go public.
Is there a hypothetical situation where I could broker a deal where some new investor with extremely deep pockets makes that loan go away and gives me extra money all in one transaction?
'default' means 'pay us back now or give us your collateral', right?
US consumers generally expect there to be no pre-payment penalty. That isn’t a universal feature of all loans. As to particular features of particular loans ask the really expensive lawyers or investment bankers who negotiated them, but plausibly “I owe you $45M; here’s a new equity investor; we’re done after the wire clears right.” might lead to “We agree you owe us $60M.”
I remember when I was just out of college, I was warned that there was such a thing as a mortgage that did not allow for extra payments, and that you should check for that when applying.
If you couldn't, or even if you did the payment incorrectly, anything extra would just be treated as if you sent your payment in for the subsequent month a little early. I've heard of the latter happening to friends, but I've never seen or heard of the former.
Many loans you have to be careful that you don't pay them like that. If you don't specify that you're paying down principal with the extra, it just goes toward next month's payment. So next month you might only owe $50 instead of $500.
So 'going into default' just means that you've triggered a default clause in the contract, usually when you fail your side of the bargain.
So it's not necessary collateral you have to give up when you go into default. It could be, but it's going to be specific to that particular loan contract. It could be collateral, or extra fines, or you agree to sell off your assets and give a percentage back to the lending bank.
I don't know the standard details in these types of clauses that are used in big loans like this, but the vast majority of the time the bank is going to want to sit down and send in advisers and consultants and that sort of thing to help bring your company back into profitability.
So when you go into default the first thing that happens is that you are going to lose a lot of autonomy as the bank is going to want to start to take a more active role in managing the company so that they can recover their money.
Look at it this way:
If a bank makes a 10,000 dollar loan to you and you fail to pay it back... That's your problem.
However if a bank makes a 100,000,000 dollar loan and you fail to pay it back... That's THEIR problem.
This points to the major difference in consumer debt (credit cards, mortgages, student loans, car loans) vs business debt.
With business debt there is a shared liability. It's a business arrangement in which both parties.. the lender and the borrower face significant risks. So when 'shit hits the fan' they will try to work together to figure something out. They can't depend on the government to step in and try to force the other party to assume all the liability.
This is why for large businesses it's kinda silly NOT to be in debt as long as risk is carefully managed. As long as they make more money from the capital investment then the interest rates they need to pay on that laon then it's a win-win situation.
Consumer debt is vastly different. When you get a personal loan or other type of consumer loan then you have almost 100% of the liability. The banks have arranged the loan details, monitor activity via credit reporting agencies, and influenced the laws regarding personal debt so they face almost no risk.
The goods you buy with the loan don't increase in value (only common exception is home mortgages)... instead they depreciate. You are going into debt to buy future landfill.
There is very little shared liability. Because of the lack of risk on the side of the lenders then consumer debt is much more predatory.. much more dangerous to the borrower.
When it comes to student loans there is NO shared liability. You assume 100% of the risk. The banks that lend the money usually make MORE money the worse you are at paying them back.
So you can't really apply your personal experience with credit cards and car loans try to apply it to business logic.
One example, which is de rigeur for raising debt via bond issuance or for very large loans from banks, is "covenants" (restrictions on your future behavior for the duration the debt is in place), which may foreclose your ability to do things you'd otherwise want to do or may cause those things to become more costly than you'd otherwise expect them to be.
A few trivial examples of covenants: "Here's $50 million, but if you ever have less than $5 million in the bank, you're in default." or "Here's $50 million, but if your net cash burn ever exceeds $5 million in a quarter, you're in default." or "Here's $50 million, but if you need any more money, it has to come from us at whatever pricing we decide to make available. If you issue debt or equity elsewhere, you're in default."
You very urgently do not want to default.
One can imagine other features. Historically, the downside protections for debt investors in startups were extremely toothy [0]. This is one reason startups have been askance about raising debt historically. (Another reason is that VCs, who invest to get equity, tell founders "Please don't get money from my competitors", generally not in exactly those words.)
[0] This is a polite way to say "They routinely were written to wipe out all common equityholders like e.g. employees and founders."