Dan Snyder - CEO & Co-Founder of Lower: Launching a B2C Line, Growth through Acquisition, and Building an Entrepreneurial Culture

Dan Snyder 00:00

That customer population is not going online as much. They’re already super connected to their financial advisor or their realtor. They’ve already bought a house, so they’re going to their realtor, and then the realtor goes to the number one or a top lender in the city, county, or municipality.

Callan Harrington 0:20

You’re listening to “That Worked,” a show that breaks down the careers of top founders and executives and pulls out the key moments that led to their success. I’m your host, Callan Harrington, founder of Flashgrowth, and I couldn’t be more excited that you’re here. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of “That Worked.” This week, I’m joined by Dan Snyder. Dan is the CEO and co-founder of Lower, a multi-channel home lender he has helped build and grow over the last decade into the 28th largest lender in the country.

Lower operates both an online, direct-to-consumer business and an offline retail business, with over 150 offices nationwide. Many of you may know Lower for raising the largest Series A in Ohio’s history at $100 million. Dan has also been named to the Smart 50 Class of 2022, the 40 Under 40, the Future 50 Class of 2021, and was ranked the number four CEO of all CEOs by Glassdoor. This was a really fun and interesting conversation. Even just kicking the episode off, talking about how Lower secured the naming rights for the Columbus Crew Stadium was fascinating. It was intriguing to hear how they built brand recognition almost overnight by doing that. We also dove into how they adapted from being a B2B company to adding a B2C side of the business, which I found really interesting.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was Dan’s mindset around acquisitions and how they continued to grow in a down market by being very strategic with their acquisitions. Dan shared insights on mistakes they made early on and how they refined their acquisition process over time. If you’ve ever been through an acquisition or considered one, this is fantastic advice.

With that, let’s get to the show.

Dan Snyder 03:19

Callan, I’ve been excited. Anybody who’s been in Columbus has seen Lower.com. You’ve made a huge splash with the naming rights for the Crew Stadium. I’d love to hear the story of how you got those.

Dan Snyder 03:30

Yeah, it’s been a wild run. The Crew – from the naming rights to now, how they just keep winning and winning – it’s been phenomenal. It’s an interesting chapter in the history of our company. We were a bootstrapped company; in other words, we approached things a bit atypically. We didn’t raise money until our ninth year.

Right when we were raising what became the largest Series A in Ohio’s history – $100 million – we were approached, just kind of out of happenstance, to be the naming-rights partner of the Crew. I knew they were building the stadium, I knew it was going to be state-of-the-art, and other CEO friends were telling me, “Hey, have you locked down your suite? Have you locked down your tickets? It’s the hottest ticket.”

I remember asking my assistant at the time, “Where are we with this?” She said, “Oh, someone from the Crew called, so I set up a meeting.” I went to the meeting expecting ticket brokers, but they were like, “No, we’re not ticket brokers. We’re selling the naming rights for the entire stadium.” At first, I thought, “No way.” But they threw out a low number, and it got me interested enough to see it through. Ultimately, we won the deal, and it’s been a phenomenal experience.

It also happened to align with our Series A. These events occurred back-to-back: we were about to get funded, and we were negotiating this naming-rights deal, which was a big decision. As a CEO and founder, you start second-guessing, like, “Should I do this now?” But we stuck to our guns, did the deal, and it’s been fantastic. Our venture capital investor supported the decision because they understood we were already in the process.

Callan Harrington 06:10

What goes into a decision like that? It must be hard to attach a direct ROI to naming rights, especially for a brand-new stadium. How did you evaluate whether this was worth doing?

Dan Snyder 06:20

Look, we’re headquartered in Columbus, and we’re a fairly large company. But for being as large as we are, we were really unknown locally. We’d done some sponsorships before – with the Columbus Blue Jackets and others – but this was different. The stadium is downtown, and the Crew has incredibly passionate fans. The community’s passion for saving the Crew added to the appeal. They wanted a local business with a national scope, and we fit the bill. It’s hard to measure ROI, but our brand skyrocketed locally. You could attribute much of our success to the stadium partnership. It’s hard to measure for sure, but our brand has certainly skyrocketed locally, and you can attribute a lot of the success we’ve had to the stadium.

Callan Harrington 7:05

As an unbiased observer, I felt like it was almost night and day. I knew who you guys were because I’ve been in the space for a while, but I started hearing other people ask, “Who is Lower.com?” That means they were looking you up. So, I want to pull this back a little bit. You’ve talked before about buying a house right out of college for $200,000, selling it for $300,000, and at the time, you were making $50,000 a year at your job. Was that the moment you thought, “I don’t know if it’s now or in the future, but I have to do my own thing”?

Dan Snyder 07:40

At that point, it wasn’t even about starting a company. It was just the realization that housing, home finance, and real estate were really, really interesting. The fact that, over time, home prices continue to go up – historically around 7 or 8% annually – was eye-opening. What’s fascinating is that you can put down a small amount of money and reap the benefits of that equity growth. That was a lightbulb moment for me. I realized what cash-out equity can do for a customer. Most people think it’s all about the interest rate, which is important from a payment perspective, but home equity is, arguably, the most beneficial asset class for U.S. consumers. That realization kept me in the industry and ultimately led to me starting Homeside, which later became Lower, with my co-founder.

Callan Harrington 08:25

You spent some time in the corporate world – five years at Wells Fargo and another seven years at American Bank. During that time, did you know you wanted to start a business? Were you acquiring skills for that purpose? Or were you flipping properties on the side? What did that period look like?

Dan Snyder 08:45

I always had a hard time with side gigs. If you really want to be the best, you almost have to put all your chips into one thing. Not that you can’t learn or make side investments, but flipping houses, for example, can take a lot of time, energy, and effort. At Wells Fargo, I was 100% focused on building my business within the company. I hustled, but it’s a corporate environment – to get promoted, you have to move around. I wasn’t willing to move across the country, so I took a position at a regional bank that allowed me to stay in Columbus.

That role gave me the autonomy to build a business within a business. I always felt I’d be better at owning a company than working for one because of my personality.

Callan Harrington 09:30

What was the defining moment that made you realize you needed more autonomy?

Dan Snyder 09:35

At Wells Fargo in 2006, we had eight branches in Columbus. These branches were old-school, with 12 desks, one bathroom, and high turnover because the job was tough. I made a proposal to consolidate five branches into the remaining three to create fuller, more vibrant offices. The culture and feedback loops would improve, and it would be more efficient. When I presented the idea, my manager said, “That’s a good idea. Let me ask above.” At that moment, I realized, “If this simple idea needs to go up the ladder, I need more autonomy.” That experience, along with conversations with my co-founder Mike at American Bank, pushed me toward starting our own business. We wanted to create our own destiny together.

In 2013, Mike and I decided to take the leap. At American Bank, they didn’t dislike mortgages, but they didn’t believe in the business enough to invest in it. I kept pushing to open more offices and expand, but the bank saw mortgages as “not sophisticated.” That didn’t sit right with me. Housing is the largest asset class in the country. I was passionate about educating consumers on tapping into their equity and helping them buy homes, just like I had done. I also wanted to provide career paths for my team. When I realized the bank wasn’t going to support that vision, it became clear: we needed to create our own opportunity.

Callan Harrington 11:10

So, at Lower, you’ve worked hard to create an entrepreneurial culture. How do you foster that in such a large company?

Dan Snyder 11:20

As a leader, your main job is allocating resources, and your number one resource is people. You have to understand who’s good at what, identify high performers who can’t be controlled, and build opportunities for them – whether it’s a spinoff, a new project, or something else. At the same time, you have people who want a more structured career path – “If I do X, I’ll get Y.” Over time, the business has adapted to accommodate both. Some people get promoted internally, while others may leave for outside opportunities. If you develop talent well, other companies will notice and recruit them. You just have to reload and keep going. It’s exhausting, but it’s part of the journey. You have moments where everything clicks, but then someone gets recruited, the economy shifts, or something unexpected happens. That’s when you get back to the grindstone.

Callan Harrington 12:15

How do you navigate those challenging moments?

Dan Snyder 12:20

It depends on the severity of the moment. Thankfully, we’ve built a strong mix of long-term team members and new talent, which creates a balance of trust and fresh perspectives. In our industry, you typically have seven good years, one bad year, and two okay years in a 10-year cycle. For us, the good years coincided with COVID, when interest rates were at historic lows. But that was also emotionally challenging and burned people out. Then came the fastest rise in interest rates in U.S. history, which bankrupted many mortgage companies and forced over 50% of licensed loan originators out of the business. It was worse than 2008, by an order of magnitude. Nothing can fully prepare you for that. You get scared, you get worried, and you go back to first principles: What do we need to survive? How do we keep the team intact? We made tough decisions quickly, but it paid off.

Callan Harrington 13:30

That’s incredible. Given the tough environment, how has Lower performed recently?

Dan Snyder 13:35

We’re up over 100% in every category year over year. Our market share has grown 5x in the past 24 months. That’s all due to persistence and resilience from our team. The housing market is still in a tough spot. Inventory is low, rates are high, and it doesn’t favor the 25-year-old first-time homebuyer. It favors the 35- or 45-year-old who already owns a home, has equity, and can trade up. For us, it’s about being strategic. We focus on acquiring customers online and through local markets, meeting them where they are, and offering the best service possible.

The strategy is simple: drive as many people to the business as possible, whether online or in the markets we serve. Once they’re in the funnel, we focus on speed and efficiency. For example, we aim to complete home equity loans in 15 days or less – which is two to three times faster than the industry average. For home purchases, we’re tracking at around 18 days. Speed makes the process easier for the customer, benefits the loan officers, and allows us to do things more cost-effectively. That’s where we excel – creating a better experience for everyone involved.

Callan Harrington 14:55

You mentioned acquisitions earlier. Thrive was a significant one, and I know you’ve done others. How do you decide when to acquire versus when to build internally?

Dan Snyder 15:05

Unless you’re a technical founder – which I’m not – you should focus relentlessly on business development, sales, and marketing. That’s where I spend my time. In a down market, the question becomes: How do you grow? For us, acquisitions made sense because we have a strong balance sheet, a solid platform, and a long-term vision. We’re not selling anytime soon. We look for well-run companies where the owners may be retiring, don’t have the cash to weather tough times, or see the value in joining a larger vision. Thrive was a strategic acquisition. They had a strong presence in Texas, a market we wanted to grow in, and valuable banking relationships. Acquisitions can also be opportunistic. If we find a good fit with like-minded leadership, we’re open to it. We’re not private equity-backed or doing a massive roll-up. We’re simply looking for strategic ways to grow.

Callan Harrington 16:10

That makes sense. Was there a learning curve with your first acquisition?

Dan Snyder 16:15

Oh, absolutely. In our first acquisition, we made the classic mistake of over-accommodating the seller. We said “yes” to too many things – like letting them keep certain processes or systems – which put a strain on our team. We learned from that experience. Now, we set clear expectations from the start. We let the team know, “Here’s how we operate. We’re open to feedback, but after nine months, you’ll be fully integrated into our system.” This approach has worked much better. Change management is hard, but honesty and clarity go a long way. Instead of over-promising or pretending everyone will fit in perfectly, we’re upfront about the challenges and the plan.

Callan Harrington 17:05

I’ve been through similar situations, and it’s tough to balance being accommodating with maintaining consistency for your existing team.

Dan Snyder 17:10

Exactly. If you’re not transparent, people feel it. Since our first acquisition, we’ve had several successful ones. We’ve learned to say, “This is who we are. If that aligns with you, great. If not, this might not be the right fit.” We also focus heavily on communication. With over 1,200 team members, we hold monthly stand-ups, weekly calls, and have various collaboration committees. If someone wants to be involved, they have a voice.

Dan Snyder 18:00

We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring that everyone on the team feels heard and understands the direction we’re heading. But at the same time, we emphasize that joining Lower means aligning with our mission and way of working.

Callan Harrington 18:15

One thing I’ve been personally impressed with is how you’ve scaled as a CEO. Often, founders struggle to transition into professional CEOs, but you’ve done that exceptionally well. You’ve mentioned before that you look at old journals to reflect on your growth. Do you still do that?

Dan Snyder 18:35

I do. That practice started when I randomly opened an old notebook and thought, “Why did I write all this down if I was never going to look at it again?” Reading through it, I realized how much time I wasted worrying about things that, in hindsight, didn’t matter. Now, I try not to over-prescribe my day or be too rigid with journaling. I usually keep a OneNote to stay organized. If I miss a day or two, that’s okay. The key is to occasionally go back and reflect.

The perspective it provides is invaluable. It reminds me of how far we’ve come and helps me appreciate the progress we’ve made. It’s not just about looking back at challenges but also recognizing accomplishments. It’s a great way to maintain motivation and clarity.

Callan Harrington 19:20

That’s such a powerful perspective. I imagine it’s not just helpful for you but also for your team.

Dan Snyder 19:25

Absolutely. For example, at town halls, we used to get questions like, “Are we ever going to have a brand presence in Columbus?” People felt like no one knew who we were. I’d always tell them, “The opportunity will come, and we’ll be known.” Now, we have the naming rights to the Crew Stadium, and everyone in Columbus knows Lower.

Reflecting on those moments shows that big goals are achieved through a series of small, consistent steps. It’s important for the team to see that as well.

Callan Harrington 20:00

If you could go back and have a conversation with your younger self, what advice would you give?

Dan Snyder 20:05

I’ve always embraced the concept of having no regrets. You make the best decisions you can with the information you have at the time. As you learn more, you have the right to change your decisions.

If I could talk to my younger self, I’d say: Be resilient. Keep pushing. You don’t have to be perfect, and it’s not always going to be fun, but stay focused on the long-term goal.

There’s a quote I love: “Our chief want in life is to have someone make us do what we can – and nothing more.” For me, that means pushing myself to my full potential while staying grounded in what’s important, like family and friends.

Callan Harrington 20:50

I love that quote, and I’ve heard you share it before. It’s such a profound way to think about potential. Having someone push you to realize what you’re truly capable of can be transformative.

Dan Snyder 21:05

Exactly. I’ve had mentors and coaches who’ve challenged me to think bigger and not impose limits on myself. That kind of encouragement can make a huge difference, and I try to pay it forward with my team.

Callan Harrington 21:20

Dan, this has been an incredible conversation. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Dan Snyder 21:25

Thank you, Callan. I really appreciate it.

Callan Harrington 21:30

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Dan. I loved diving into all things acquisitions and learning from his experience. If you want to connect with Dan, you can find him on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love to hear from you on LinkedIn as well. And if you’d like to support the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you next week.