Kristy Kim, TomoCredit | Founder Interview

In this From the Founders interview, we talk to Kristy Kim from TomoCredit about her passion to open credit markets for young generations and immigrants like herself. Kristy shares her journey from first-generation American with no credit score, to investment banker, to startup founder, now leading one of the most diverse teams in fintech. Read on below.

E: To kick us off, can you give us a brief introduction of you and your company?

K: We started TomoCredit about four years ago with a mission to help immigrants and students without access to credit to get started. We issue a credit card that is designed to help you a build credit score as fast as possible.

I'm originally from Seoul, South Korea. I'm first-generation American. I moved to San Francisco when I was 11. My parents are small business owners in South Korea, so they had to stay in Korea. I always thought that no matter if your first generation or second generation or something else, the need to build credit is universal. At Tomo we help young people to get started.

E: What sparked this idea? What’s the story behind it?

K: I was actually trying to invest in a company that is doing what we’re doing now—helping immigrants build credit—because
I saw a big need for it. I was hoping that someone would do that and I could simply invest personally or through the firm that I was at. But I couldn't find it. I thought, “If no one is doing it, then I will." I understand my audience really well, so I thought it would be definitely worth it.

E: It sounds like it was idea-first for you, rather than knowing you wanted to be a founder first and coming up with an idea.

K: Definitely. It was the idea first. I'm a big fan of doing it that way and not the other way around. It's so hard and sometimes so frustrating that unless you are so married into the idea and the mission, it's really, really easy to be tempted to give up. I thought, “Let's say I fail. I have no regret because this is the idea that I really want to give a shot.”

E: Did you go directly from investment banking to starting TomoCredit? Or were there other stops along the way?

K: I worked at tech companies before starting Tomo. Looking back, it was not intentional. It's not like I thought, “After banking, I should start a company.” One led to the other. I remember my dad telling me that it's not good to hop around too much. But the benefit of switching and trying different things for me was that no matter how long the stint was, I worked really, really hard on every single job I had. Because of that, I got to learn very fast. I got to see how a Series A or B company operates, how an IPO works. I saw the whole circle. I thought, “Investors are not special. Founders are not special. The IPO process is not special.” One biggest takeaway is that none of us are superheroes. We’re all regular people doing our best.

At Tomo, it feels like everything clicked together. Doing what I do is 100 times more fulfilling than being an investor. Being able to build a really diverse team of people who truly understand our mission is way more meaningful than being a partner at a consulting company. I'm very grateful for the entire experience and people who taught me through the process.

E: You’ve had an eventful four years. There's been a lot of fast growth. You have millions of users and millions in funding. What were some of the most pivotal moments?

K: Personally, the turning point for me as a founder was gaining the ability to stay calm. The first two years it felt like a headless chicken running around. There are so many people who think smart and try to give you well intended advice and send you in different directions. Each year I feel more calm knowing that we’re making the best decision that we can. I have less doubt and feel less influenced by the noise from the market. I feel like I'm able to see things clearly.

I have this mentality that we are working on really big mission and it's going to take time. So I don't have to worry about every small thing that comes my way.

E: Is there a secret to your growth?

K: I believe that it goes back to a strong mission. In the past couple of years, the market was very hard. There are like five copycats of Tomo. They might have more money and do fancy marketing, but we were able to differentiate by being so authentic on why we are doing what we do.

We’re a very diverse team. We design the product thinking how it could have benefited me years ago when I was in my 20s and in school. We've been through the journey of not having a credit score at all and then building a 600, 700, 800 credit score. Through the journey we learn so much, and we're turning that learning into our current product. I think that really resonates with our audience. They can tell that we are building product for them.

E: How many employees do you have?

K: We have about 45 people.

E: I would love to hear more about your philosophy around hiring and what it means to you to have a very diverse team building this product.

K: When it comes to hiring, I always feel like a company is giving a chance on a person and vice versa. I always think that we are trying it out and giving opportunities to each other to work together. When it comes to keeping the team diverse, it was not well planned from day one. Because of our mission, I think we attracted certain type of people who resonate with our ideas, especially when we are small and there’s a lot of risk of joining us.

In the first two years it was very uncertain what the product would look like and if people would want it. People who joined during that time definitely cared a lot about mission. Mission was the reason why they joined us despite the uncertainties. I think because we had a strong early team members, they are bringing people like them. Whenever I talk to other founders or go to tech conferences, it reminds me that Tomo probably is the only fintech company with female CEO, female CFO and female chip risk officer. It's unheard of. Usually when you look at fintech companies, the CMO and HR are female. For us it's the opposite. It's not planned. It happened to be that way and it's very very interesting.

Now, during this downturn, tomorrow is shining even more because we were able to control our cost. We're very disciplined in our spending. I see all these companies blowing up. I was like, “OK, it isn't it true that men manage money better."

E: What advice would give to other founders who are just getting started or those who think about doing their own thing?

K: For founders my advice from my own experience is definitely finding a mission that speaks to you. It's not about what the market trend is or what investors are looking for, because these things come and go. There's so much noise in the market.

When I came up with idea for Tomo, it was a lot of looking inwards. I know how frustrated I was when I was getting rejected despite being in a job, despite money in my bank account. Auto loan companies rejected me like five times, plus and I couldn't rent an apartment in San Francisco. I remember being so hopeless and remember the things that I had to do to overcome that. I remember trying to look inward and remember the feelings. As long as I know that there are enough people like me that I can serve and I know that that segment is growing, it's worth a shot, right? And then after a couple of years, credit building became a hot topic and now everyone else wants to come in. I found it very funny how people are swayed by the hot topic from the market.

If you are founder, you want to do it for a long time period. You don't want to do it for just one or two years. In that sense, it's important to see what's most meaningful to you. It's got to be something you are uniquely passionate about. I think that would be the best way to find something you actually enjoy and can turn into a good business.

E: When you think about the future of Tomo, what's your vision? How do you see it influencing the world one day?

K: I want to build a brand that resonates with ambitious young immigrants and international students and beyond, meaning any young students aspiring talent. If you look at the financial industry, all the major players have been around for a really long time. They’re happy when you don't pay your bills on time because they want to make money from you. They want to charge you APR. For Tomo, our identity is more like we want to nurture our customers. We want them to drive. And as our customers drive and make more money, they’ll spend more money on their Tomo credit card.

We make money from the merchant whenever they swipe the card. So our incentives are actually in long term financial health of our users. Our incentives are aligned. I want to make this amazing case study, that as a financial credit card company we can be an amazing brand and company by putting users first and putting their long-term financial health first.

I see the credit card as a starting point. I want to do auto loan. I want to do mortgage. Eventually, younger people without credit score can get a credit card, an auto loan, a mortgage powered by Tomo. That's my ultimate dream. In this way, then, immigrants or young people are not hindered by not having a credit score.

E: What have been the happiest moments of running Tomo?

K: I will say yesterday because it's very fresh. We had three people turning their one-year and two-year anniversaries at Tomo, and we had a cake. One guy said, “I wake up happy going to work every day.” It's so nice to hear that people are genuinely enjoying what they are doing, especially in this market. It's so crazy. Every day you wake up to layoff news. But at least I know that people who've been with us for awhile are saying that they are genuinely happy. That really makes me happy.