The $13T U.S. mortgage market serves 50M homeowners but still runs on decades-old software. In this episode, a16z GP Angela Strange hosts Tim Mayopoulos (ex-CEO of Fannie Mae and ex-president of Blend), Mike Yu (co-founder and CEO of Vesta), and Andrew Wang (co-founder and CEO of Valon) to unpack why standardization and regulation slow change, and how modern loan-origination and servicing platforms, cleaner data, and AI can cut costs, boost transparency, and reduce errors. They also discuss policy levers that could speed innovation and what a true one-tap mortgage could look like.
The $13T U.S. mortgage market serves 50M homeowners but still runs on decades-old software.
In this episode, a16z GP Angela Strange hosts Tim Mayopoulos (ex-CEO of Fannie Mae and ex-president of Blend), Mike Yu (co-founder and CEO of Vesta), and Andrew Wang (co-founder and CEO of Valon) to unpack why standardization and regulation slow change, and how modern loan-origination and servicing platforms, cleaner data, and AI can cut costs, boost transparency, and reduce errors. They also discuss policy levers that could speed innovation and what a true one-tap mortgage could look like.
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
00:59 The Scale and Structure of the US Mortgage Market
01:33 Why Mortgage Tech is Slow to Change
02:00 Challenges of Standardization and Regulation
03:41 The Human Side of Home Buying
07:43 Old Software and Its Impact on Homeowners
11:16 Data Transparency and Capital Markets
13:17 Building New Mortgage Infrastructure: LOS and Servicing
16:22 Operational Challenges and Opportunities in Servicing
22:04 Driving Digital Adoption at Fannie Mae
25:15 Modernizing Data and Appraisals
28:27 Core Replacement vs. Wrappers: Tech Strategies
35:29 AI in Mortgage: Today and Tomorrow
40:42 AI, Regulation, and the Future of Compliance
43:54 Advice for Lenders Preparing for an AI Future
47:49 Visions for the Future of Mortgages
Resources:
Find Angela on X: https://x.com/astrange
Find Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-j-mayopoulos-56972a45/
Find Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangandrewd/
Find Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyu1/
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