bsims
Joined 14 years ago
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Member since
Oct 18
@bryansims
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Comment · 10 years ago
Hi Trevor and Jared, we have been building financial predictions on data from marketplace lending platforms. Curious to talk to you about where you see the business models of prediction going, examples other YC companies who are selling prediction and ML as a service, pricing strategies etc.
Comment · 12 years ago
Any other Sunset start-ups out there?
Comment · 12 years ago
Agreed on the institutional side. However LC also invests in their own loans from time to time, both directly or through LC Advisers.
In the early days LC invested their own capital more heavily to make sure loans were fully funded, and to ensure the community was active enough.
This is why they have "funded_amnt" and "funded_amnt_inv" to denote how much of the loan was funded by investors vs. internally.
Comment · 12 years ago
A part of this article is false.
"LendingClub doesn't loan out its own capital and collects fees of loans that are originated on its platform from both individuals and more sophisticated investors alike."
Lending Club owns a subsidiary fund that invests in the platform as well.
Investors should be aware that LC is both a platform, and an investor in it's own platform which, if not monitored closely, can be potentially dangerous.
[Source] http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lending-club-announc...
Comment · 12 years ago
My friend has been working on a TV series for years which finally was picked up last season by Esquire Network featuring craft breweries across the country. Awesome to watch it go from custom videos for the Craft Brewer's Association, to pilot, to first and second seasons. Super proud of them.
Brew Dogs. http://tv.esquire.com/shows/brew-dogs
Comment · 13 years ago
In 2007 I was in the midst of uncovering a pump and dump scheme while communicating with the SEC (who were incredibly non-responsive and incompetent).
While trying to learn more about white collar crime, I uncovered a website, sharesleuth.com. The owner was writing stories on stock fraud/white collar crime, and we exchanged a few emails.
A few weeks later I found out Mark Cuban was backing him, and short selling the companies he found to be fraudulent. Cuban was doing this for two reasons: #1 To bring attention to white collar crime and #2 If the SEC wasn't going to shut down the companies, he might as well make money while doing it...inevitably bringing it back to #1. It looks like he was successful in drawing their attention.
A previous Wired article on Sharesleuth: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-10/mf_shares...
X-post from HN thread on the pump and dump I uncovered: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5236372
Comment · 13 years ago
I've worked with several hundred regional banks and credit unions.
One thing people forget is that there are over 14,000 banks and credit unions across the country, not including the top 10. The challenges of regional FIs is dramatically different than that of large organizations. (Note, most comments on HN are from large banking backgrounds, very few from the other 14,000).
FWIW, the two themes I have seen emerge are:
1) Regional banks outsource a lot of their technology, often times leaving them with the inability to quickly adapt.
2) The regulatory environment drives technology and has created a gun shy approach to tech.
3) Most CEOs of banks and credit unions tend to have some type of finance background as opposed to technology.