Lessons learned: How Credit Karma CEO Ken Lin built a billion-dollar brand
With Credit Karma, Kenneth Lin (CAS’98) tackled a challenge with a sense of mission rooted in his own childhood. Lin founded the company in 2007, with the goal of creating a customer-friendly alternative to trickster credit score services. He has since raised $386 million, vaulting Credit Karma into the ranks of Silicon Valley’s startup unicorns, and figured out how to turn a profit while helping nearly 70 million Americans discover financial services products that meet their needs. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the company has become his most successful venture, by far.
John Byers, Associate Dean of the Faculty, Mathematical & Computational Sciences will interview Kenneth Lin about his educational and career path to create a multi-billion dollar company. Ken will provide insights on education, taking a nonlinear career path, and making the most of every opportunity.
About the presenter: Kenneth Lin (CAS’98), Co-Founder & CEO Credit Karma
Kenneth Lin, is co-founder & CEO of privately held Credit Karma, based in San Francisco, CA. The company provides customers with free credit scores and credit monitoring, as well as free tax preparation software and filing. It makes recommendations on credits cards and loans an applicant is likely to be approved for, and collects referral fees from lenders. Intuit Inc., the software firm behind TurboTax, is in the process of buying Credit Karma for approximately $7.1 billion in cash and stock.
Mr. Lin came to the US from Guangzhou, China, at age four, growing up in Las Vegas. He earned his degree cum laude from CAS in 1998, majoring in economics and mathematics, the first in his family to complete college. After graduating, he sold extra computer parts, opened an internet café in Harvard Square, and started his own marketing agency. He started Credit Karma with two friends.
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