Session 16 of the Lend Academy Podcast features Charles Moldow, a partner at the venture capital firm Foundation Capital. His firm has made several equity investments in the p2p lending industry, the most notable of which is their investment in Lending Club last year alongside Google.
Moldow’s presentation at LendIt 2014 was one of the most talked about at the conference. There he introduced the new term for our industry: “marketplace lending” that is starting to gain traction. He also laid out in detail why he believes that marketplace lending will be a $1 trillion opportunity by 2025. Right before LendIt Moldow released this groundbreaking new white paper titled A Trillion Dollar Market By the People, For the People. Everyone interested in this industry should download and read this white paper.
In this interview we go in depth into his white paper and discover why Moldow is so bullish on this industry. Here are some of the things you will learn by listening to this episode:
- Why Moldow first decided against investing in Lending Club in 2009 and what changed his mind.
- The thinking behind their large investment in Lending Club with Google last year.
- Why it is not necessary for a new platform to get on their radar screen.
- Why Moldow decided to create his groundbreaking white paper.
- Why the peer to peer industry needed a new name.
- How and why Moldow came up with the prediction of $1 trillion by 2025.
- Why large banks are unable to improve their cost efficiency.
- Why data and underwriting is really important for all marketplace lending platforms.
- The importance of the lender side of the marketplace lending equation.
- The sustainable competitive advantages for a company like Lending Club.
- Why it is important for this industry to not just disrupt but to permanently displace.
- Why he thinks that no bank with acquire one of the leading marketplace lenders.
You can subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast via iTunes or Stitcher. There is an audio player directly below or you can download the MP3 file here.
