Tim Chen is the CEO and founder of NerdWallet, a service that un-clutters the world of money and helps people make smart financial decisions. He’s also one of the most humble and prudent founders in Silicon Valley. In this opening episode, Tim and Ashish discuss Tim’s evolution from unhappily working at a hedge fund to launching and scaling NerdWallet to a team of 600 and over $200M in revenue. Tim also shares the often overlooked gift of being a child of immigrants, how to avoid burnout, and building a brand and culture that is future proof.

Show Notes

3:10 - Why consumer trust is the cornerstone of business.

4:55 - How being the child of immigrants is a gift.

8:01 - The moment NerdWallet transitioned from an experiment to a real business.

11:25 - Building and scaling the NerdWallet business

15:35 - Why you need both hubris and humility to launch a business.

17:50 - How you prevent burnout?

22:22 - Building the culture at NerdWallet

24:34 - The hurdles NerdWallet faced that shaped the brand today

26:35 - Tim’s prediction on the future of work

33:01 - The Sprint: Apple vs Google? Strategy or speed? People or process? And more…