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Feb 7, 2016 · 21m · top-founders

His company has lended $400m via unique canadian model with Jeff Goldenberg

Jeff Goldenberg · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Nathan Latka interviews Jeff Goldenberg, Head of Growth at Borrowell, exploring how the Canadian fintech marketplace scales prime-credit unsecured personal loans through agile growth marketing, proprietary acquisition channels, and institutional debt capital.

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 33.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.3 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 2.2 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:0020:000:27–4:42 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Contest Winner Announcement and Podcast Promotion Latka introduces Jeff and immediately begins probing Borrowell's customer acquisition costs and funnel definitions. Goldenberg is cooperative but deflects answering specific cost-per-offer figures due to fundraising.4:43–7:57 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Capital Structure and Canadian Lending Regulations Latka probes the mechanics of Borrowell's $5.4M round and asks about capital reserve regulations. Goldenberg educates Latka on marketplace lending models and Canadian peer-to-peer regulations.7:58–10:34 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Homepage Conversion Widgets and Underwriting Challenges Latka explores Borrowell's homepage rate calculator widget and demands exact 2015 user and conversion volume. When Goldenberg refuses to share proprietary data, Latka playfully tells listeners to attack him on Twitter to get the figures.10:34–12:45 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Engineering as Marketing and Proprietary Growth Channels Latka tries to deduce Borrowell's conversion rates through percentage questions, but Goldenberg playfully calls out the trap. Goldenberg then outlines growth hacking strategies like engineering as marketing and the law of shitty click-throughs.12:45–15:28 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Borrowell Revenue Model and Series A Fundraising Latka presses into the exact revenue economics per loan originated and asks for Series A target size. Goldenberg confirms origination fee ranges and clarifies that the Series A equity portion is under twenty million.15:29–20:30 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Connecting with Jeff and 'The Growth Hacker's Guide to the Galaxy' The conversation shifts to Goldenberg's upcoming book and standard 'Famous Five' rapid-fire questions. The dialogue is lighthearted and conversational, touching on Zapier and founder sleep habits.0:27–4:42 · Guest teaching 2/10 Contest Winner Announcement and Podcast Promotion Latka introduces Jeff and immediately begins probing Borrowell's customer acquisition costs and funnel definitions. Goldenberg is cooperative but deflects answering specific cost-per-offer figures due to fundraising.4:43–7:57 · Guest teaching 6/10 Capital Structure and Canadian Lending Regulations Latka probes the mechanics of Borrowell's $5.4M round and asks about capital reserve regulations. Goldenberg educates Latka on marketplace lending models and Canadian peer-to-peer regulations.7:58–10:34 · Guest teaching 2/10 Homepage Conversion Widgets and Underwriting Challenges Latka explores Borrowell's homepage rate calculator widget and demands exact 2015 user and conversion volume. When Goldenberg refuses to share proprietary data, Latka playfully tells listeners to attack him on Twitter to get the figures.10:34–12:45 · Guest teaching 5/10 Engineering as Marketing and Proprietary Growth Channels Latka tries to deduce Borrowell's conversion rates through percentage questions, but Goldenberg playfully calls out the trap. Goldenberg then outlines growth hacking strategies like engineering as marketing and the law of shitty click-throughs.12:45–15:28 · Guest teaching 3/10 Borrowell Revenue Model and Series A Fundraising Latka presses into the exact revenue economics per loan originated and asks for Series A target size. Goldenberg confirms origination fee ranges and clarifies that the Series A equity portion is under twenty million.15:29–20:30 · Guest teaching 2/10 Connecting with Jeff and 'The Growth Hacker's Guide to the Galaxy' The conversation shifts to Goldenberg's upcoming book and standard 'Famous Five' rapid-fire questions. The dialogue is lighthearted and conversational, touching on Zapier and founder sleep habits.0:27–4:42 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Contest Winner Announcement and Podcast Promotion Latka introduces Jeff and immediately begins probing Borrowell's customer acquisition costs and funnel definitions. Goldenberg is cooperative but deflects answering specific cost-per-offer figures due to fundraising.4:43–7:57 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Capital Structure and Canadian Lending Regulations Latka probes the mechanics of Borrowell's $5.4M round and asks about capital reserve regulations. Goldenberg educates Latka on marketplace lending models and Canadian peer-to-peer regulations.7:58–10:34 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Homepage Conversion Widgets and Underwriting Challenges Latka explores Borrowell's homepage rate calculator widget and demands exact 2015 user and conversion volume. When Goldenberg refuses to share proprietary data, Latka playfully tells listeners to attack him on Twitter to get the figures.10:34–12:45 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Engineering as Marketing and Proprietary Growth Channels Latka tries to deduce Borrowell's conversion rates through percentage questions, but Goldenberg playfully calls out the trap. Goldenberg then outlines growth hacking strategies like engineering as marketing and the law of shitty click-throughs.12:45–15:28 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Borrowell Revenue Model and Series A Fundraising Latka presses into the exact revenue economics per loan originated and asks for Series A target size. Goldenberg confirms origination fee ranges and clarifies that the Series A equity portion is under twenty million.15:29–20:30 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Connecting with Jeff and 'The Growth Hacker's Guide to the Galaxy' The conversation shifts to Goldenberg's upcoming book and standard 'Famous Five' rapid-fire questions. The dialogue is lighthearted and conversational, touching on Zapier and founder sleep habits.0:27–4:42 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Contest Winner Announcement and Podcast Promotion Latka introduces Jeff and immediately begins probing Borrowell's customer acquisition costs and funnel definitions. Goldenberg is cooperative but deflects answering specific cost-per-offer figures due to fundraising.4:43–7:57 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Capital Structure and Canadian Lending Regulations Latka probes the mechanics of Borrowell's $5.4M round and asks about capital reserve regulations. Goldenberg educates Latka on marketplace lending models and Canadian peer-to-peer regulations.7:58–10:34 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Homepage Conversion Widgets and Underwriting Challenges Latka explores Borrowell's homepage rate calculator widget and demands exact 2015 user and conversion volume. When Goldenberg refuses to share proprietary data, Latka playfully tells listeners to attack him on Twitter to get the figures.10:34–12:45 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Engineering as Marketing and Proprietary Growth Channels Latka tries to deduce Borrowell's conversion rates through percentage questions, but Goldenberg playfully calls out the trap. Goldenberg then outlines growth hacking strategies like engineering as marketing and the law of shitty click-throughs.12:45–15:28 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Borrowell Revenue Model and Series A Fundraising Latka presses into the exact revenue economics per loan originated and asks for Series A target size. Goldenberg confirms origination fee ranges and clarifies that the Series A equity portion is under twenty million.15:29–20:30 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Connecting with Jeff and 'The Growth Hacker's Guide to the Galaxy' The conversation shifts to Goldenberg's upcoming book and standard 'Famous Five' rapid-fire questions. The dialogue is lighthearted and conversational, touching on Zapier and founder sleep habits.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 61.7% · guest 38.3%0:00 · Nathan 61.7% · guest 38.3%3:00 · Nathan 18.2% · guest 81.8%3:00 · Nathan 18.2% · guest 81.8%6:00 · Nathan 29.4% · guest 70.6%6:00 · Nathan 29.4% · guest 70.6%9:00 · Nathan 25.4% · guest 74.6%9:00 · Nathan 25.4% · guest 74.6%12:00 · Nathan 28% · guest 72%12:00 · Nathan 28% · guest 72%15:00 · Nathan 33.9% · guest 66.1%15:00 · Nathan 33.9% · guest 66.1%18:00 · Nathan 39.1% · guest 60.9%18:00 · Nathan 39.1% · guest 60.9%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:41 Guest Spotlights Reverse Engineering Trap

Goldenberg directly pushes back on Latka's attempt to extract conversion percentages, pointing out that Latka is trying to trick him into revealing proprietary volume numbers.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:35 Host Threatens Twitter Barrage for Metrics

Latka rejects Goldenberg's refusal to share exact funnel numbers and jokingly incites his listeners to swarm Goldenberg's Twitter to force disclosure.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:05 Clarifying Marketplace Balance Sheet Realities

Goldenberg corrects Latka's assumption regarding liquid capital regulations, explaining that marketplace lenders hold no loans directly on their balance sheets.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:15 Breaking Down Loan Revenue Per Deal

Latka breaks down Borrowell's business model step-by-step to calculate the exact revenue generated on a hypothetical $10,000 personal loan.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Contest Winner Announcement and Podcast Promotion 3223 Latka introduces Jeff and immediately begins probing Borrowell's customer acquisition costs and funnel definitions. Goldenberg is cooperative but deflects answering specific cost-per-offer figures due to fundraising.
Capital Structure and Canadian Lending Regulations 4614 Latka probes the mechanics of Borrowell's $5.4M round and asks about capital reserve regulations. Goldenberg educates Latka on marketplace lending models and Canadian peer-to-peer regulations.
Homepage Conversion Widgets and Underwriting Challenges 3235 Latka explores Borrowell's homepage rate calculator widget and demands exact 2015 user and conversion volume. When Goldenberg refuses to share proprietary data, Latka playfully tells listeners to attack him on Twitter to get the figures.
Engineering as Marketing and Proprietary Growth Channels 4544 Latka tries to deduce Borrowell's conversion rates through percentage questions, but Goldenberg playfully calls out the trap. Goldenberg then outlines growth hacking strategies like engineering as marketing and the law of shitty click-throughs.
Borrowell Revenue Model and Series A Fundraising 4325 Latka presses into the exact revenue economics per loan originated and asks for Series A target size. Goldenberg confirms origination fee ranges and clarifies that the Series A equity portion is under twenty million.
Connecting with Jeff and 'The Growth Hacker's Guide to the Galaxy' 2212 The conversation shifts to Goldenberg's upcoming book and standard 'Famous Five' rapid-fire questions. The dialogue is lighthearted and conversational, touching on Zapier and founder sleep habits.

Statements from this episode (10)

Disclosure
Goldenberg: Borrowell runs marketing on 1-to-2 week cycles without advance buys
“We do our marketing on a one to two week basis. So we have a highly experimental marketing regime where we're always, you know, we're not buying three or six months in advance. We're studying all the metrics and finding out what converts the best and the corre…”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 2:39
Insight
Goldenberg: Fintechs should optimize cost per offer, not cost per application
“I think an interesting point in the funnel to focus on is a cost per offer, how much it costs us to generate an offer to someone that we're able to do business with. Because if you measure it at the application level, it takes into account all those people who…”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 4:03
Disclosure
Goldenberg: Borrowell raised $5.4M seed round mixing debt and equity
“So we've raised at the end of last year, we raised 5.4 million. And Series A? It was actually it was actually sort of a seed on steroids. It included both the debt capital that we lend out and equity to build the business.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 4:44
Disclosure
Goldenberg: Equitable Bank invested in Canadian fintech Borrowell
“We have a small schedule a bank in Canada called equitable who's invested money in us as well.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 6:55
Assertion Supported
Goldenberg: Peer-to-peer lending is not yet legal in Canada
“What is interesting in Canada that's different is that in Canada peer-to-peer lending is not legal yet.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 7:27
Opinion
Goldenberg: US lending market is 7 to 8 years ahead of Canada
“Currently, like I said, the American market is probably seven or eight years ahead of the Canadian market.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 7:44
Insight
Goldenberg: Relaxing fintech underwriting for growth risks destroying the company
“We have a very difficult growth challenge because not only are we trying to grow fast month over month, and not only are we trying to reduce our CAC customer acquisition cost month over month, we also have this pesky algorithm that kicks away a lot of my leads…”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 8:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Goldenberg: Borrowell Nears $500M in Canadian Loan Applications
“We're closing in on, on half a billion dollars of loan applications in Canada.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 10:04
Disclosure
Goldenberg: Borrowell charges between 1% and 5% in origination fees
“We have origination fees between one and five percent.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 13:24
Disclosure
Goldenberg: Borrowell is raising under $20M in Series A equity
“Less than twenty million. In terms of equity capital, but a significant amount, especially for a Canadian raise the Canadian VC scene is vastly different than the American VC scene.”
Jeff Goldenberg Feb 7, 2016 ▶ 14:52
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