In this episode, host Timothy Li (CEO, LendAPI) welcomes back Carlos Caro — consumer lending founder, creator of The Free Toaster newsletter, and now the organizer of a new invite-curated event bringing lenders and publishers together in San Francisco.
Carlos spent seven years at Capital One before building Credit Karma's Lightbox targeting platform from zero customers, then went on to found NewMarket Growth, which advises lenders on affiliate partnerships with the likes of Experian, LendingTree, and Credible. Now he's channeling everything he's learned about the industry's biggest conferences into something smaller, sharper, and far less exhausting.
What You'll Learn:
Why Carlos built a 150-person, highly curated alternative to 10,000-person mega-conferences like Money20/20
The two-day format: a TED-talk-style day of talks, off-the-record Q&A, and debate-format sessions at San Francisco's Exploratorium, followed by a day of wine tasting and structured networking in Sonoma
Who should attend: CMOs and heads of partnerships at lenders, and senior leaders at publishers like Experian, Credit Karma, Engine, and Prism Data
Why panels are being replaced with debates — two speakers arguing opposite extremes of an issue, judged by no one
How ticket pricing (under $1,000 for day one before August 1) compares to Money20/20's $4,000+ price tag
Carlos's philosophy on event pricing, ratios, and why he'd rather have 100 of the right people in a room than 300 of the wrong ones
What "success" looks like for attendees: one new partner relationship worth more than the ticket price ten times over
About The Free Toaster
The Free Toaster is a newsletter and podcast covering the intersection of marketing and lending, with roughly 2,500 subscribers and interviews with leaders across the fintech ecosystem. Its latest venture is the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders and Publishers — a two-day, invite-curated event running September 23 (San Francisco) and September 24 (Sonoma), with early-bird pricing through August 1. Sponsors confirmed so far include Experian, Engine, Prism Data, SoFi, Chime, Credit Karma, LendingTree, Bankrate, Rakuten, and Avant. Learn more and register: https://events.thefreetoaster.com
Explore the LendAPI Marketplace: https://www.lendapi.com/marketplace
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