Venture debt lending is a form of start-up financing that lies at the intersection of venture capital and traditional debt. We analyze the lending decision criteria of 55 senior U.S. venture debt lenders (VDLs) using a discrete choice experiment in order to understand how VDLs overcome barriers that traditionally hamper start-ups’ access to debt. We find, first, that the provision of patents as collateral is as important as the provision of tangible assets to lenders. Second, VDLs showed a marked preference for start-ups that offered warrants. Third, venture capitalists' backing substitutes for a start-up's positive cash flows.