Apr 2, 2016 · 26m · top-founders
$70m Loaned in One Click Mortgage Lending Business with Jason van den Brand of Lenda.com EP 220
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Jason Vandenbrand, co-founder and CEO of Lenda, discussing how online automation and prime underwriting streamline the mortgage refinancing market to scale over $70 million in originated loans.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 40.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 4.5 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 3.3
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:50 Guest hesitates on financial disclosure
Jason pushes back against sharing revenue numbers on air, questioning whether he is permitted to disclose financials as a private startup.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:53 Host rejects private company privacy pleaNathan rejects Jason's hesitation by asserting that the top guests are transparent, name-dropping Tim Draper to demand revenue figures.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 18:29 Correcting 30-year mortgage assumption to 6-year averageWhen Nathan assumes loans are serviced for 30 years, Jason corrects him with the 6-year average turnover metric and calculates the resulting 1.5% servicing economics.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 7:17 Host presses on balance sheet risk and subprime parallelsNathan demonstrates financial acumen by challenging Jason to clarify how sliced debt sales differ from the catastrophic repackaging depicted in The Big Short.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analyzing Quicken Loans Controversy and Underwriting Standards | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Nathan introduces the Quicken Loans Super Bowl controversy and links it to housing bubble fears. Jason clarifies modern underwriting standards and explains Lenda's automated documentation engine, while Nathan shares his personal real estate buying perspective. | |
| Warehouse Lines, Prime Borrowers, and Future Servicing Plans | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | Nathan asks if Lenda is packaging opaque debt similar to the narrative in The Big Short when Jason mentions not knowing the ultimate servicer. Jason educates Nathan by breaking down prime borrower statistics (736 credit score, 28% home equity, liquid reserves). | |
| Seed Funding, Warehouse Facilities, and $70M Loan Milestone | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | Nathan inquires about convertible notes and warehouse lines, questioning why Lenda does not obtain a $100M line immediately. Jason details the operational mechanics of credit facility velocity over 21 monthly business days and equity leverage limits. | |
| Revenue Breakdown, Cost Advantages, and Vertical Integration | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | When Jason hesitates to share revenue as a private entity, Nathan pushes back firmly by citing venture capitalist Tim Draper's transparency. Jason complies, disclosing $500k revenue and explaining their margin structure versus commission-heavy competitors. | |
| Servicing Economics and Purchase Mortgage Expansion | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | Nathan attempts to calculate mortgage servicing economics assuming a 30-year duration, but Jason corrects him with the industry standard 6-year holding average. Jason explains how servicing rights generate residual income and expand gross margins to 4.5%. | |
| Social Channels and Direct Contact Information | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A brief, standard social wrap-up segment where Jason shares his Twitter handle and LinkedIn contact information. |
Statements from this episode (13)
Quicken Loans miscalculated its Super Bowl ad by targeting millennial consumerism
“I think that Quicken went out there and is trying to target millennials. And I think they quickly forgot that millennials are really not into consumerism.”
Mortgage underwriting standards have normalized to sane levels, preventing another crash
“Underwriting standards. For mortgage for buying home loans are actually back to normal levels. All income is validated. Credit criteria is actually sane. So things that happened in the noughties you know, oh one to oh seven it doesn't exist today. So that kind…”
Traditional online mortgage borrowers pay upwards of $7,500 in hidden interest fees
“You're paying upwards of 7500 dollars in fees and fees that are baked into your interest rates.”
Lenda mortgage borrowers average a 736 credit score and 28% home equity
“Our clients are prime credit borrowers. Average credit profile is a seven 36 credit scores. They have equity in their homes. Average equity amount is 28% in the home. These are people that are making on average our demographic making over 75,000 dollars a year…”
Lenda has raised $3.8 million in seed capital to date
“We've raised 3.8 million dollars in seed so far.”
Lenda has maintained a zero percent default rate on its originated mortgages
“They know we've had zero percent defaults. These are prime candidates.”
Lenda predicts it will lend $54 million per month by late 2016
“So we'll be able to lend 18, 36, fifty four million dollars per month by the end of this year.”
Lenda is surpassing $70 million in cumulative originated loans since its launch
“We're about to pass seventy million dollars this month.”
Lenda generated just over $500,000 in total revenue during 2015
“We did just over a half a million dollars in revenue last year.”
Lenda earns 1% to 1.5% gross margins on its $300,000 average loans
“If you take our average loan amount, 300,000 dollars we make on average about one to one and a half percent of that as a margin. That's our gross margin.”
Traditional mortgage lending models offer about a 4.5% total margin per loan
“In traditional mortgage, you're talking about four and a half percent margin per loan that's available.”
Lenda will triple margins to 4.5% by selling directly to Fannie Mae
“We vertically integrate. We start selling ultimately directly to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And when we start doing that, we'll also be able to service loans and we'll get upwards of four and a half percent in gross margin. So we're going to three X our gross…”