The alternative business funding landscape remains hindered by manual underwriting workflows, disconnected lender networks, and inconsistent communication channels, even as it serves as a vital capital lifeline for business owners. To tackle these hurdles, entrepreneur Ali Jozani established The Funded Method under JZNI Holdings LLC, functioning as an AI-enabled training framework for individuals entering the alternative financing sector.
Background and Early Ventures
Jozani’s path to the financial industry departed from traditional expectations. Born in Iran and relocating to the United States at age ten, he faced standard familial pressures to pursue law or medicine, initially undertaking pre-med coursework. However, two distinct business initiatives shifted his trajectory.
An initial Amazon FBA enterprise failed, which was followed by a period of strong returns—and subsequent steep losses—trading digital assets. These experiences underscored a central lesson: sustainable enterprises demand disciplined operational structures rather than speculative reliance on short-term gains.
Subsequently, Jozani spent more than five years directing operations at a seven-figure alternative funding brokerage. In that role, he managed approximately 95% of the firm’s overall deal flow, coached over 200 remote sales professionals, structured the internal underwriting division, and cultivated connections with more than 200 independent lenders.
This hands-on tenure provided deep exposure to merchant cash advances, business lines of credit, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), and zero-percent credit card stacking. More importantly, he learned that understanding financial products is insufficient; a successful broker must comprehend lender risk criteria, identify which funders align with specific businesses, and maintain a seamless paperwork pipeline.
“There are more than 200 lenders in this market,” Jozani noted. “Most new brokers know ten of them, and they wonder why their approval rate is low.”
Implementing Intelligent Workflows
Drawing on that extensive background, Jozani designed The Funded Method to address structural shortcomings in alternative finance. He points out that alternative business funding is among the last financial sectors where essential processes are conducted manually, with brokers often parsing bank statements by hand and submitting paperwork individually, leading to avoidable transaction failures.
“This industry is one of the last places in finance where a person still reads a bank statement by hand,” Jozani stated. “That is not tradition, that is a gap.”
The 12-week program addresses this gap by combining fundamental underwriting education with an AI-driven operational stack. Participants learn company evaluation, funder requirement analysis, client intake coordination, application submissions, lender relationship management, and automated follow-ups.
The educational sequence prioritizes core mechanics before automation deployment, ensuring brokers understand the principles behind the tools they use.
“AI should do the underwriting math. The broker still has to understand the decision,” he explained. “Skip that order and you have built a very fast way to be wrong.”
The curriculum is structured to help new brokers complete their first funded deal within roughly 90 days, cutting through months of trial and error.
Prioritizing Process Over Pitching
Jozani emphasizes that longevity in the brokerage sector relies on reliable systems instead of aggressive sales tactics. “Every broker fails the same way,” he remarked. “Not from a lack of hustle, from a lack of process. The deal dies in the follow-up, not the pitch.”
In addition to the core cohort, The Funded Method offers self-paced resources and releases educational materials like The 2026 Broker Stack, an annual guide highlighting market technologies, financing instruments, lenders, and operating systems.
By automating routine tasks while preserving human insight and thorough training, Jozani’s model offers a systematic entry corridor into an industry historically characterized by informal networks and steep operational hurdles.