SmartHippo’s new advisory board; plans to foster an online community (16)
SmartHippo has announced an advisory board, with Lori Collins, former VP and General Manager for LendingTree, Bill Rice, CEO of Kaleidico, and John Philip Green, Founder of LearnHub.
The first 2 advisors are in the same vertical as SmartHippo, while the last one has created an online community for education, and also advises community lend.
Finance, and especially finance services for consumers is a black area for me, especially since the financial crisis. I still find incredible that some big wall street investments banks can claim billions of new revenue streams every year, out of some *creative* financial schemes. Turns out that those were made of thin air while we still have governements still planning to save those institutions.
I’ve had a quick email exchange with George Favvas, SmartHippo’s founder on how exactly he positions his startup in this turnoil, and especially if it makes any sense to launch a service around mortgages.
Again, I am no finance major, but I understand from his replies that in the mortgage industry, a lot of money is made by mortgage brokers, companies, and intermediairies by the fact that they get access to privileged information while consumers and individuals don’t. SmartHippo’s mission is then to enable free, open access on data, provided and corrected by the community. Prior to the subprime crisis, if consumers had used the SmartHippo website, they would have known for instance about mortgages that looks like great deals but would be ultimately ripping them off after the first years.
Of course, it’s easy to say so when the crisis has already erupted, but it gives nonetheless a better light on SmartHippo plans. I like the idea of a free, open market. Have a look for instance at the new SmartHippo’s homepage, which features now daily blog posts from its members and partners, plus other new features like bank reviews and comments. The previous version looked like more a search engine for mortgage rates, while this gets now SmartHippo closer to the community/destination website as George Favvas described it.
Furthermore, George Favvas says the optimal time to launch a disruptive startup is when the industry is in crisis. With new advisors giving him valuable advice on key areas where SmartHippo is playing, this means good news for SmartHippo for the future.
Hi Heri,
Thanks for the writeup. Just to clarify that Lori Collins is the *former* SVP & GM at LendingTree Exchange. She left the company last year.
Heri,
Quick note, I think George Favvas is co-founder of SmartHippo.
Congrats to George and the SmartHippo team.
This is good news for them. Major industry players advising them and supporting their plans is a big vote of confidence.
-Austin
Hello I’ve recently joined your boards and a member is constantly disstresing me. What could I do about this problem?
Regards,
Brooke
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