NerdWallet

NerdWallet
Type of business Private
Founded August 2009 (2009-08)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Founder(s) Tim Chen
Jacob Gibson
Key people Tim Chen (CEO; Co-founder)
Employees 285[1]
Website nerdwallet.com

NerdWallet is an American personal finance website that helps people make and manage financial decisions by comparing various products available from various banks and insurance companies.[2] Founded in 2009, the company by 2016 had a valuation of $550 million and projected revenue of about $100 million.[3]

History

NerdWallet was founded in August 2009 by CEO Tim Chen and Jacob Gibson, with capital of $800 and the aim of producing a website to advise consumers on personal finance.[4][5] An inspiration for NerdWallet came after Tim was asked by family members about personal finance decisions and found advice online to be unsatisfactory.

Its first product was a web application that gave comparative information about credit cards being offered by banks.[6] The website has sought to distinguish itself from competitors by having a "newsroom" of journalists who write journalistic type articles on personal finance that help the website appear in search engine results, and also listing unsponsored credit card options.[1][7]

In exchange for new customers, the sponsoring banks paid NerdWallet a success fee.[6] CNNMoney listed NerdWallet on its Top 20 Best Money Sites in 2010[8] and a 2010 The New York Times article described the website as "worth a look".[5]

In March 2014, former LinkedIn VP Dan Yoo replaced co-founder Gibson, as chief operating officer. Flo Thinh joined as VP of Talent[9] and the company drew 30 million users to its website.[6] By 2015 the company had 200 employees and added Vikram Pandit and James D. Robinson III to its board of advisors.[10][11] That year it raised $64 million in its first round of funding at an estimated valuation of $500 million[6][12] and acquired a $36 million revolving loan.[13][4] By May 2015 the company had developed business relationships with eight banks and a dozen insurance companies.[12] Co-founder Chen reported that the company was profitable by virtue of the fees it earned matching users with financial products and services.[13]

Products and services

The company's goal is to provide information that educates consumers in making financial decisions.[12] Its web site is directed towards millennials[6] and its comparison tools provide information on credit card selection, college loans, banking, mortgage loans, stock trading and insurance policies.[10][12]

Tim Chen

Tim Chen
Born Houston, Texas
Residence San Francisco
Education Stanford
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known for NerdWallet

Tim Chen is an American entrepreneur of Taiwanese descent. He co-founded and is Chief Executive Officer of NerdWallet.[3]

He was born to Taiwanese parents, who were computer scientists that immigrated to the US to study at the University of Oklahoma.[1] He grew up in Atlanta and went to the same high school as childhood friend Jake Gibson, who would go on to co-found NerdWallet. He went to Stanford for undergrad and after worked for Perry Capital, a hedge fund. In New York, Chen lived in the same Murray Hill neighborhood as Gibson, at the time another finance professional.[1] During the 2009 global financial crisis, Chen lost his job during a wave of layoffs on Wall Street.[1]

A feature piece by Inc. magazine on Chen and his management style called the organizational culture he created "transparent, glaringly self-critical, not always comfortable."[1]In the initial days, Chen looked to "hire smart people; let them figure it out".[1] This meant hiring other former Wall Street professionals who resembled the co-founders but Chen found the result to be a company with shaky teamwork.[1] To reset his company, he fired 20% of his workforce at the end of 2013, calling it an "extremely gut-wrenching" decision.[1] Chen then restructured the management organization to move away from silos to a matrix that "requires near-constant communication among NerdWallet's leaders".[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Aspan, Maria (February 2016). "The $520 Million Company That's Solving All Your Financial Needs". Inc..
  2. ↑ "Compare Best Credit Card Offers | Car Insurance | CD Rates | Savings". www.nerdwallet.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  3. 1 2 "NerdWallet". Crunchbase.
  4. 1 2 Shieber, Johnathan (May 11, 2015). "Scorching FinTech Market Keeps Attracting New Players As NerdWallet Raises $64 Million". Tech Crunch.
  5. 1 2 Schultz, Jennifer. "A New Way to Shop for Credit Cards". Bucks Blog. The New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Tansey, Bernadette. "NerdWallet's Big Ambitions". Xconomy. Xconomy. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Interview with Tim Chen, Founder of NerdWallet". Good Financial Cents. April 20, 2010.
  8. ↑ "The Best 20 Money Web Sites". Money.CNN.com. CNN. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Former LinkedIn VP Dan Yoo Joins NerdWallet As COO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. 1 2 Shieber, Jonathan. "Scorching FinTech Market". Tech Crunch. Tech Crunch. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  11. ↑ Halloran, Michael (May 15, 2015). "The Street". The Street. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Hall, Gina (May 12, 2015). "Contributor". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  13. 1 2 McBride, Sarah (May 11, 2015). "Reuters". Reuters. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
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