Ongoing focus, customer-centric employees and the right acquisitions have all contributed to Ellie Mae Inc’s success, according to its chief executive officer.
Since its founding in 1997, the Pleasanton, California-based company’s staff has grown to 800 employees. Ellie filed an initial public offering in 2011.
In its second-quarter earnings presentation, Ellie reported 1,500 lender customers, including seven of the top-25 lenders, and 127,000 active users.
At last week’s Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Conference in San Diego, Ellie Mae President and CEO Jonathan Corr talked with Mortgage Daily about the company’s phenomenal success.
Since Ellie’s founding, the focus has been on automating everything between the consumer and the investor, Corr explained, and that hasn’t changed.
“The world has changed. The winds have changed. The tides have changed,” he said. “And we’ve adapted.
“But we kept going at it.”
Another big factor in Ellie’s success is engaging its employees.
Employees are very focused around the customer, and they listen to everyone they interact with — including customers, their employees and partners.
Employees are willing to adapt and to embrace change, Corr continued.
He said that the executive offices have glass walls to foster an environment of openness.
“You can always see me in my office,” Corr said. “And I did that for a purpose; I want people to feel everybody’s approachable.”
Corr noted that either he or Ellie Mae Founder and Chairman Sig Anderman meet with all new employees.
And Ellie has seen changes since it started.
Corr said that when he started at the technology firm, they were providing mortgage broker websites and mortgage broker software.
But Ellie moved on to providing products for mortgage lenders. Corr noted that mortgage bankers have the same entrepreneurial spirit as brokers — but they just have more responsibility.
“So we listened to what they need,” he said.
The CEO also acknowledged that Ellie has been lucky with some of its strategic decisions.
One example was how they looked to grow their lender customers prior to 2006
when brokers still dominated the market.
“Did we know at the time that brokers would be decimated, that they would be vilified,” he asked, rhetorically. “No.”
Corr admits that Ellie was fortunate to be in the lender space ahead of the change.
They have also had good fortune with their acquisitions.
The company recognized the importance of compliance before the market changed.
“And so we
said, ‘let’s buy a dot com,'” Corr explained. “Let’s buy a compliance company.” (after the publication of this story, a spokeswoman clarified that Corr actually said: “And so we
said, ‘let’s buy a doc company,'”)
Ellie made such an acquisition while the valuations were low.
In all, Ellie has completed eight acquisitions since Corr has been on board — roughly half which have been done since the IPO.
Corr — who graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford University — indicated that he and Anderman
are a good combination.
Anderman has new ideas coming at a “mile a minute,” while Corr has to say, “‘We can’t do everything; let’s figure out what makes sense.'”
He has to interpret Anderman’s messages.
But, according to Corr, it’s tougher to maintain
the ability to change as companies grow larger and more successful.
“As you’re successful, people see success and go, ‘I’m successful, we should do what we’re doing,” he said.
“But you also want to keep moving forward,” Corr continued. “Because if you’re successful, someone’s always looking at what you’re doing.”
