1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.470 Johny Fernandez: There's some news out there regarding a 2 00:00:01.470 --> 00:00:05.970 company called LendEDU and some legal issues involving the FTC. 3 00:00:05.970 --> 00:00:09.510 Sean, can you go ahead and break that down for us? 4 00:00:09.510 --> 00:00:12.030 Sean Murray: Sure. Yeah. So LendEDU is essentially a loan comparison 5 00:00:12.030 --> 00:00:15.600 website where they were ranking student lenders from like, 1 to 6 00:00:15.600 --> 00:00:18.780 10. The problem is that consumers were allegedly made to 7 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:21.300 believe that the rankings were based on an objective review of 8 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:24.270 the lenders, when in fact, the lenders are paying them for a 9 00:00:24.270 --> 00:00:27.300 certain spot on the list. So if you couple that with the 10 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.480 allegation that the testimonials on the website itself were fake, 11 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:33.720 that's what got LendEDU into trouble with the Federal Trade 12 00:00:33.720 --> 00:00:34.260 Commission. 13 00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:36.420 Johny Fernandez: So what's the takeaway here? 14 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.240 Sean Murray: The takeaway, that LendEDU's business model is not 15 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:43.150 really one of a kind. I think there's probably other websites 16 00:00:43.150 --> 00:00:46.480 out there that employ similar tactics, where they're ranking 17 00:00:46.480 --> 00:00:49.870 lenders to potential borrowers for other kinds of loans or 18 00:00:49.870 --> 00:00:52.690 products. And, you know, the borrowers they don't really know 19 00:00:52.720 --> 00:00:54.820 that the rankings are pretty much like completely 20 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:58.510 disingenuous. So the takeaway is that what happened with LendEDU, 21 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.930 it should be a wake up call to anyone that ranks loans or 22 00:01:01.930 --> 00:01:03.220 lenders online. 23 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:05.800 Johny Fernandez: So some big news here, the acquisition of 24 00:01:05.800 --> 00:01:08.560 the DailyFunder, Sean go ahead and talk to me a little bit more 25 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:09.190 about that. 26 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:12.030 Sean Murray: Sure. So, you know, a lot of the terms of it are, 27 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:14.580 they're confidential, but I can tell you that it's an online 28 00:01:14.580 --> 00:01:17.910 forum, that I had been a partner in since the website launched in 29 00:01:17.910 --> 00:01:20.940 2012. And we recently had the opportunity to acquire the 30 00:01:20.940 --> 00:01:24.570 entire thing. And you know, we did, it's a message board for 31 00:01:24.570 --> 00:01:28.140 financial professionals with more than 100,000 posts on it, 32 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:30.870 and it's going to fit really, really well into our ecosystem. 33 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:33.510 Johny Fernandez: That's awesome. And with the change, are you 34 00:01:33.510 --> 00:01:36.990 going to be changing the name of it or absorbing it into debate? 35 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:39.330 Sean Murray: Yeah, we're not going to change the name, we're 36 00:01:39.330 --> 00:01:42.690 not going to absorb it. The DailyFunder has had its own 37 00:01:42.690 --> 00:01:46.050 unique following. It serves a purpose that deBanked has never 38 00:01:46.050 --> 00:01:48.750 really touched on. And I don't think there's any reason to, 39 00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:51.990 like, you know, like, disrupt it or mess it up. So the 40 00:01:51.990 --> 00:01:54.450 DailyFunder will remain an independent website and keep its 41 00:01:54.450 --> 00:01:54.810 name. 42 00:01:54.990 --> 00:01:56.850 Johny Fernandez: Sean, with the caucuses wrapping up. What do 43 00:01:56.850 --> 00:01:59.760 you think about what's going on with the Democratic primaries? 44 00:01:59.970 --> 00:02:02.190 Sean Murray: Well, it's pretty wild out there. I mean, I think 45 00:02:02.310 --> 00:02:04.800 Bernie Sanders has gotten off to a pretty strong start. It'll be 46 00:02:04.800 --> 00:02:08.070 interesting to see how he continues to perform but you 47 00:02:08.070 --> 00:02:11.160 know, I'm not a presidential polling expert, but if people 48 00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:13.290 are interested in that sort of thing, we actually have Scott 49 00:02:13.290 --> 00:02:16.200 Rasmussen have the rest of us and report. He is an expert, and 50 00:02:16.200 --> 00:02:19.500 he'll be speaking at Broker Fair on May 18th in New York City, so 51 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.200 if you're interested in coming, just go to brokerfair.org. 52 00:02:22.380 --> 00:02:24.180 Johny Fernandez: sounds exciting. Sean, thank you so 53 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:24.570 much. 54 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:25.440 Sean Murray: Thank you.