The Times Tech Podcast

Empower's Warren Hogarth: "Giving credit to 100 million people"

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Warren Hogarth, founder of Empower, to talk about solving the credit score quandary (3:20), how his struggle to buy a car planted a seed for the company (6:20), tapping in to bank account data (8:05), his first job shoveling poop (13:00), trying his hand at fuel cell technology (14:40), then doing a fintech startup (15:50), joining the legendary venture firm Sequoia Capital (18:00), not investing in Lyft (19:55), launching Empower (21:50), the problem with credit scoring (28:05), learning how fintechs got built at Sequoia (31:10), raising $150 million after staying lean for years (34:10), completely automating credit approval (34:30), keeping an eye on employment amid economic turmoil (36:35), and operating remote-first (39:50). Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

As The Sunday Times’ West Coast Correspondent, Danny Fortson has witnessed the technological whirlwind coming from Silicon Valley first hand. The Times' Technology Business Editor Katie Prescott has reported on how digital technology is transforming businesses and society around the world. Now, 'Danny in the Valley' meets 'Katie in the City', with a podcast presented from San Francisco and London. Each week sees a fresh interview with pioneers in tech, from the brightest start-ups to the tech giants, as Katie and Danny chronicle the AI revolution. Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.