The Free Toaster

Rich Walker is back! After our first direct mail episode became the most popular episode on the show, we're back for round 2. The 10 DM Pitfalls We Discuss 1. Attribution Nightmares People get your mail, then go to Credit Karma to respond. Your CFO freaks out about "paying twice" but that's just how the channels work together. Rich breaks down holdout testing and why you need to stop thinking abou...

I sat down with John Henson, a fintech-savvy lawyer who formerly worked at LendingTree (both as an attorney and a general manager). He unpacks the regulatory chaos swirling around lead generation in 2025 — what’s changed, what’s still risky, and how fintech marketers can navigate it without getting burned. In today's discussion: The CFPB Rolled Back Rules: Credit card and personal loan lead gen ju...

I explain positive and adverse selection in lending using recruiting as an analogy. If you've ever hired someone, you'll instantly understand why your channels, pricing, and process determine your loan portfolio quality. Key Takeaways The Big Idea: Attracting great borrowers works exactly like hiring great people. The parallels... 1. Channel Quality Inbound (website traffic): People actively searc...

I talk about a surprising case study where a lending product thrived in one affiliate marketplace but completely flopped in another. We explore the key differences between marketplaces that can dramatically impact performance and provide actionable insights for fintech marketers. Key Insights Don't assume success transfers between marketplaces: A product that works well with one affiliate partner...

Marketers sometimes like to enter new channels gradually, conservatively even. This works in many channels like paid search, social, and direct mail.  But for fintechs, entering new affiliate channels like this can have catastrophic consequences.  In today's Podcast, I share why entering into new affiliate marketplaces "cautiously" can be dangerous for new entrants. As an alternative, I'll walk yo...

We chat with Colin about how AI is changing marketplaces. His thesis: “The rise of agentic AI will transform marketplaces from passive aggregators to active facilitators of transactions.” To learn more, check out Colin’s take on how AI will revolutionize marketplaces: https://www.gardinercolin.com/p/ai-and-marketplaces-agent-led About Colin Gardiner Former economics/statistical researcher that now...

We sit with credit card expert Jason Steele about what's happening behind the scenes in the industry. Jason shares how he went from tech work to becoming a respected credit card authority who writes for major publications and runs CardCon, the credit card industry conference.   We discuss: The "Coupon Book Problem" - Premium cards are becoming more complex with endless small benefits ($6 at Dunkin...

LendAPI lets you create application flows, credit decision engines, and complete lending products through simple drag-and-drop tools—all without hiring engineers or spending millions. You can build and launch lending products quickly and efficiently, then use a working product to raise venture capital. Even non-financial businesses like boat dealerships are using it to replace clunky Excel-based a...

In this episode, I catch up with my old Columbia PhD classmate Guru Sethupathy , founder of FairNow, an AI governance platform for financial services. About AI Governance: Involves three key components: Monitoring AI performance, explainability, and bias Ensuring compliance with financial regulations Establishing clear AI policies and procedures Why It Matters for FinTechs: Often viewed as a cost...

In this episode, we speak with Greg Cox , CEO of Monevo, to discuss their recent acquisition by TransUnion and how they're transforming credit offer distribution. Greg explains how Monevo serves as a technology layer connecting lenders and publishers, allowing lenders to distribute highly qualified credit offers to third-party websites and aggregators. The platform helps lenders target the right c...

Rich Walker is a 35-year industry vet who’s been responsible for over 10 billion pieces of Direct Mail. Rich has led direct marketing teams at Capital One, the Winterberry Group, Deluxe Corporation, 2nd Order Solutions, and more recently, Aven. He also ran his own consulting shop - Pilot Performance Marketing - focused on helping lenders solve Direct Mail. So we jumped at the opportunity to get hi...

What is Congruence? Aligning messaging from your ad, to your landing page, to your final conversion steps creates lift in your marketing funnel, reducing your CACs and increasing your customer acquisition volumes. It sounds elementary. Yet many organizations forget to do it. Today we dig into examples of marketing from Wells Fargo and Discover to illustrate what it means to be Congruent across you...

We chat with Kevin Bennett, a successful entrepreneur who helped grow Caribou to a billion-dollar company. Now, he's back with Further, a platform focused on helping people afford their first homes. Kevin shares important lessons for early-stage founders and gives practical advice for growing a business.   We Discuss: Product vs. Distribution: Kevin explains why both product development and gettin...

We sit with Tomas Campos, CEO at Spinwheel. Spinwheel’s product caught my attention because affiliate marketers could use their product to reduce the friction in their application processes.    Timestamps: (00:00) Meet Tomas Campos, CEO of Spinwheel  (02:30) Ideal customers and use cases (06:30) Success metrics (12:35) Challenges building the business (15:37) Partnering with lenders (22:41) Uplift...

We sit with David Nohe, CEO of FinGoal, to discuss the CFPB’s Rule 1033 on Open Banking and the implications it has for bank marketers.   Timestamps: (00:00) David Nohe, CEO of Fingoal (01:59) The 101 on CFPB Rule 1033 (09:32) Consumer consent (18:04) Future of subscription models (22:52) Funnel dynamics / friction (24:09) Credit bureau vs. open banking data (26:43) Why be concerned or optimistic...

Personal finance platforms (like Credit Karma) are now at scale, with the ability to recommend products at the 1:1 user level. Further, they’re incentivized to recommend niche products that are highly customized to each user. Lending products, however, are designed for mass audiences. This disconnect presents a huge opportunity for lenders.   Timestamps: (00:00) Why personalization matters (04:06)...

Today we chat with Tim Hong, the Chief Product Officer at MoneyLion. He walks us through a partnership they’ve built with Plaid and other data providers to offer cash flow data at the marketing stage to lenders in the Engine marketplace.   Timestamps: (00:00) Tim Hong, CPO at MoneyLion (04:06) The Engine marketplace (12:02) Open banking and UX (22:48) User permissioned data (25:15) Sharing bank cr...

I’m starting to worry that we don’t have an economically viable way to distribute cash flow underwriting (CFU) products to consumers. In today’s episode, we discuss the opportunity and challenges CFU lenders will have in distributing their products through direct mail, paid search, and of course affiliates.   Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction to Fintech and Cashflow Underwriting (01:21) The Article...

Today, we discuss the backstory behind my marketing agency, New Market Growth. I’ll share my background working in affiliate marketing at a connected home startup, my experience working on credit cards at Capital One, my 4 years at Credit Karma, and how my experiences came together to form a services business for lenders.   Timestamps: (00:00) What is New Market Growth (01:30) Early years in affil...

Today, we discuss high-level principles for your affiliate measurement (analytics) strategy. We’ll cover the 2 big questions your dashboards should be answering, we dig into 9 metrics you might not be watching, and we hit on the importance of connecting marketing stage and performance stage data.   Timestamps: (00:00) True North (01:34) Driving questions (01:53) Delivering for your partners (04:26...

Today, we discuss the most common reasons that lenders don’t hit their volume, account quality, and growth goals in the affiliate channel. Based on Carlos’ experience talking to lenders in his affiliate marketing agency, New Market Growth.   Common struggles: Cross-functional dysfunction Model misalignment (Non)compliance  Application friction Mispricing Access to big affiliates Concentration Cold...

Today, we continue to discuss the 4 levels of Operational Maturity in affiliate marketing for lenders. We’ll go deep on 301 and 401 levels and wrap up with some tactical things you can do to land at the 401 level.   Summary of the 4 levels:   𝟭𝟬𝟭 - 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹  We're focused on the volume of leads and the cost of acquisition. The rest of the operation looks a lot like affiliate programs in other...

Today, we introduce the 4 levels of Operational Maturity in affiliate marketing for lenders. We’ll go deep on 101 and 201 levels. The 301 and 401 levels will be covered in our next episode.   Summary of the 4 levels:   𝟭𝟬𝟭 - 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹  We're focused on the volume of leads and the cost of acquisition. The rest of the operation looks a lot like affiliate programs in other industries. There's not...

Episode 005: Today, we discuss the marketing levers lenders have at their disposal to improve the performance of their affiliate marketing campaigns.   We’ll discuss levers in the following categories: Eligibility Impressions/placements Click-through rate Application rate Approval rate Funding rate CPA/Payouts   Timestamps: (00:54) Recapping previous episodes (01:50) A big misconception (03:02) Ke...

Episode 004: Today, we tackle two simple, but important questions. The first: “What affiliates should I partner with?” And the second, “Where should I host my targeting model?”   We cover: How to build a list of potential affiliate partners Why “getting in” isn’t an easy as you think How to build a pitch for potential partners Where to host your targeting model Guiding principles for targeting mod...