I’m Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma and This Is How I Work
Your credit score is indeed a manifestation of your financial karma, isn’t it? Good and bad behavior is reflected in this ominous number. This is why Credit Karma offers a free way to track your credit and monitor your financial health.
This is one of our favorite credit monitoring tools and also helps keep your identity safe with weekly reports so you know if anything suspicious is happening to your finances. Ken Lin co-founded the company in 2007 when checking your credit score was an awkward routine. We got in touch with Ken to find out a little about why he started the company and how it works.
Location: San Francisco. Current place of work: Co-founder and CEO of Credit Karma. One word that best describes how you work: batch work. (The times I work alone come in waves, so I have to make the most of it.) Current mobile device: I have a OnePlus One Android phone. Current computer: Thinkpad.
First of all, tell us a little about Credit Karma and why you started the company.
I founded Credit Karma in 2007 to try to reorganize consumer finance and help consumers take control of their personal loans and financial health. When our site was launched in 2008, our first offer was a free credit appraisal, while getting a credit card was a complicated and expensive process. We have grown significantly since then, now offering credit ratings from two bureaus, free credit reporting and credit monitoring, and a credit counseling center. In 2015, we have over 35 million members, over 250 employees and a long-term vision of creating a platform that both helps consumers manage their finances and serves as a one-stop center for financial services.
What apps, software or tools can’t you live without? Why?
For me it starts and ends with Excel. I’m just a numbers and data freak and it serves that purpose so well. It is known that I even wrote business plans in Excel.
How is your workplace arranged?
I have an office at Credit Karma headquarters. There are monitors, monitors and other monitors on my desk. I think they are the best. Computers are so powerful these days that monitors mean I can display five different things on the screen.
What’s your best time-saver or life hack?
If there is a long line for taxis at the airport, take one of the departure points.
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
Evernote.
What device, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
My wristwatch. It’s kind of old school and dumb to admit, but there aren’t many hours in my house and after the baby was born I would wake up all the time and never knew what time it was, if it was one in the morning. , or 5:30 in the morning and I had to get up in a few minutes.
What are some of your best everyday activities? What’s your secret?
Procrastination. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a way to streamline your workload. I always have time to do what is important. Over time, habitual procrastination has become a tool for me to understand the really important things.
What do you listen to while you work?
I listen to a bit of everything. Now I listen to 80s pop music, especiallyQueen .
What are you reading now?
On the hook . This is a book about behavioral economics. It’s intriguing and helps me perform better.
Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
I am an introvert who has learned to be more outgoing.
How do you replenish?
Video games. I play for about half an hour every night before bed. It clears my mind. If I don’t play, I usually dream about work.
What is your sleep pattern?
I wake up early. I haven’t used an alarm clock in years. I only use one to wake up if I need to get up around 3am.
Fill in the blank: I would like _________ to answer these same questions.
Obama. I just think it would be interesting to see how he organizes himself.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I think that in business everything is not as good as it seems, but it is never as bad as it seems. It may seem awful at the moment, but it is passing.