SoFi’s Helena Team Serves 150,000+ customers, $10 Billion in Loans: Q&A with Megan Smith, Human Resources Manager

September 29, 2016 Montana High Tech Business Alliance

Launched in 2011, SoFi is a San Francisco-based financial technology (fintech) startup that raised $1 billion in 2015 and has financed $10 billion in loans. SoFi’s core software engineering team is based in Helena. Directors of Engineering David Thompson and Matt Conroy plan to grow their Montana team to 100+ developers.

Quick Facts:

Company: SoFi

Location: Helena and San Francisco

Industry: Financial Technology

Founded: 2011

Employees: 587 across the company, 82 in Helena (and expanding!)

Key Leaders: Mike Cagney, co-founder and CEO; Matt Conroy and David Thompson are the Directors of Engineering for SoFi, Inc. They helped the initial team to get SoFi up and running in Montana as well as a more recent office in Salt Lake City that is continuing to grow. June Ou, VP of Engineering, is located in SoFi’s San Francisco office.

“Montana is such a great place to live with so much to do no matter what your interests are… Helena really portrays what Montana has to offer, and its central location is perfect for exploring the state; you can drive an hour or so and visit a new city, enjoy nature in the mountains, or even explore an old ghost town… There is a strong sense of family and community, which is great to be a part of.” - Megan Smith, Human Resources Manager, SoFi

How did SoFi get started?

SoFi was founded in 2011 by a team of Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) students who recognized that traditional banking institutions left certain population segments, especially young professionals, underserved. Mike Cagney, co-founder and CEO, knew there was a problem with financial services and wanted to fix it by creating a model that didn’t revolve around high fees and poor customer service. Our model initially connected alumni and institutional capital directly with alumni borrowers – by leveraging the interest fellow alumni have in seeing graduates of their alma mater be successful, the founders hoped SoFi could provide more affordable options for those taking on debt to fund their education. SoFi has since moved away from an alumni-funded model to a nontraditional underwriting approach focused on lending to financially responsible individuals, and has surpassed more than $10 Billion in loans funded across its products: student loan refinancing, mortgages and personal loans.

What does your company do?

SoFi is a new kind of finance company taking a radical approach to lending and wealth management. From unprecedented products and tools to faster service and open conversations, we’re all about helping our members get ahead and find success. Whether they’re looking to buy a home, save money on student loans, ascend in their careers, or invest in the future, the SoFi community works to empower our members to accomplish the goals they set and achieve financial greatness as a result. Our current product offerings include student loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loan and mortgages, and our members benefit from great additional free services like access to our career strategy team, free member events around the country and an entrepreneur program.

Who are your customers?

SoFi members are a group of people who have a drive for success – they’re the type who will give it their all to get where they want to be. We like to think of them as financially responsible individuals who are proud make investments in their future, such as taking out student loans to finance their education or buying a home.

Who do you hire?

We look for people who share our mission to empower people to achieve their financial goals, and who share that spirit of ambition. As a fast-moving startup, we also look for employees who are creative, collaborative and results-driven in their work style.

What is special about your company?

SoFi received the largest funding round for any fintech company to-date in a 2015 $1 Billion Series E, and we’ve been on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list for two years running. Our 600+ employees are committed to providing an unparalleled experience for our 150,000 members while always striving for new ways to better serve them through our products, online experience, as well as offline engagements. We also pride ourselves on a culture of transparency and accountability - our CEO addresses the full SoFi team in weekly all-hands meetings.

What are your plans for the future?

Our plan as a company is to continue to develop new ways to help our members achieve their financial goals - our upcoming wealth management tool, currently in beta for our members, is one example of that, and you can expect to see more in the near future.

What do you like about Montana? Your community?

Montana is such a great place to live with so much to do no matter what your interests are. There are some incredible places to visit and so much culture and diversity. Helena really portrays what Montana has to offer, and its central location is perfect for exploring the state; you can drive an hour or so and visit a new city, enjoy nature in the mountains, or even explore an old ghost town. Helena is also very culturally diverse, which is a wonderful complement to the gorgeous natural scenery found here – it’s really the best of both worlds. There is a strong sense of family and community, which is great to be a part of.