Making Better Loans

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[00:02:54] - [First question] - Lessons learned about adopting speed as a habit

[00:05:39] - Knowing which decisions require your attention and are worth it as a CEO

[00:07:00] - What slows down decision-making execution and overcoming it

[00:09:34] - Ways to persuade partners to move as fast as you do

[00:10:44] - One of his most valuable lessons learned from his time at Google

[00:12:20] - The key insight that first lead him to the idea of creating Upstart

[00:15:10] - The early days of learning about the financial lending space

[00:16:49] - Figuring out how to improve on an age-old rigid and regulated system 

[00:18:42] - Credits scores, what drives them, and why they’re suboptimal

[00:20:57] - Overview of building an AI learning model and applying it to loans

[00:23:24] - Surprising findings on predictions and evaluating loan applicants

[00:25:16] - Machine learning algorithms and interwoven programmer bias

[00:26:49] - The role interest rates play in their business model

[00:28:34] - Revenue model and transactions that fund Upstart 

[00:31:43] - Who the typical customer is and their user experience

[00:33:09] - Ways in which they can compound their AI models for other services

[00:35:10] - The biggest hurdle encountered when building Upstart

[00:36:55] - How he’s seen the FinTech space in his area change over time

[00:38:39] - A pie chart on revenue for financial services today

[00:40:24] - Why there are more profits in lending than payments 

[00:41:25] - Major loans types and how they might change in the future

[00:44:12] - Disruptive aspects of the buy now pay later consumer movement

[00:46:09] - How much Upstart could change the future of lending over a decade

[00:48:17] - Inefficiencies of the lending space that still exist today

[00:49:43] - The most important decisions he’s made while building Upstart

[00:51:59] - Things to know when building a business that sells to banks

[00:52:49] - How it feels to interact with hired CEOs versus founder CEOs

[00:55:05] - Thoughts on cryptocurrency and AI writ large

[00:57:00] - Areas that have his attention and get him excited lately in FinTech

[00:58:58] - State of the art AI growth and what lingers over the horizon

[01:00:36] - What he’s learned about being a public market CEO versus a private one

[01:02:38] - Differences between public market and private market investor philosophies

[01:03:53] - Major battle scars from raising capital for Upstart

[01:05:12] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him