Upstart is thrilled to celebrate the 10-year anniversaries of three exceptional team members: Grant Schneider, Natalia Mirgorodskaya, and Kate Sutcu. They have been with Upstart through it all with unwavering commitment to our mission while exemplifying an important Upstart value: Don’t assume it can’t be done.
Grant Schneider, VP, Machine Learning
Start date: August 25, 2014
While Grant Schneider’s current role is to find opportunities for AI use cases within the company and help bridge the gap between the Machine Learning team and the rest of the business, his journey with Upstart began when he was procrastinating on the “boring part” of completing his dissertation - writing it.
“I read this article about Upstart using all these creative approaches to underwriting. I thought it sounded really interesting and so I sent a cold email to the team. One thing led to another and I flew out to California, did the interview, and was just blown away by the team, both by the intensity and the quality of thought. There's a real focus on what mattered, none of this pretension that felt like it came with some of the other interviews I was doing.”
Shortly after, Grant made the move from Ohio to California and joined the Machine Learning team. To this day, his first project remains one of his most memorable, not because of how complicated it was, or the vast amount of analysis it required, but because of how quickly he was able to make a difference for our borrowers.
“I sort of expected in my first few weeks here that I would hand in this report and then the more senior data scientist and Paul [Upstart’s cofounder] would redo that work or go and do the real thing after I'd proven it was worth their time to look at.
“But instead, it was like, ‘Oh, okay, cool. Let's schedule a meeting. Talk about it. Make sure things are good.’ And then, ‘Okay, go implement that thing and make it reality.’ A couple of weeks out of grad school I pushed code to production and was lowering interest rates for hundreds of people. [I was] able to lead that project rather than just be the guy who does the initial stuff and then the grown-ups take it over.”
As a principle, we trust the people we hire. We are looking for smart and humble people who are willing to jump in together and stay scrappy. This, Grant says, is part of what has kept him at Upstart for 10 years.
For new hires joining the team now, his advice is to take initiative and live the value of Don’t assume it can’t be done.
“I think the person who does best at Upstart is comfortable moving quickly and being in this state of continual improvement. Perfection rarely exists in the world and so we can strive for consistently getting better, but expecting to ever wrap something up and be done and rest is unrealistic. It means that to consistently improve you've got to be perpetually dissatisfied with the state of things. You also have to manage your perpetual dissatisfaction with an appreciation for how far you’ve come.”
Natalia Mirgorodskaya, Chief Accounting Officer
Start date: September 2, 2014
Natalia Mirgorodskaya’s journey with Upstart began with an at-the-speed-of light hiring process. In a singular week she sent a cold inquiry, visited the office, met the team, and had an offer in hand.
The choice of where to take your career is an important one and can involve a range of factors. In this case, it was Natalia’s belief in the mission and the connection she felt with the Upstarters she met - people who had all joined the team to do their life’s work - that encouraged her to make a decision based on emotion vs. logic.
“I remember thinking: Even if it's not going to pan out, I'm going to go with it. I'm going to take a leap of faith. I think I'm going to have an incredible time working with these people trying to build something.”
She accepted the offer the next Monday, and Upstart gained its first full-time accounting hire.
The speed at which she joined the company was a telltale sign of what was to come.
In her current role, Natalia works closely with a broad group of internal and external partners as well as Upstart's independent auditors and is responsible for supervising accounting functions, managing financial reporting, and overseeing internal audit and procurement functions. While one major milestone of Natalia’s work at Upstart has been completed, the reasons why she stays at Upstart are not far from the reasons why she joined a decade ago, with one new addition: It’s been fun too.
“I love who I work with and not just my team, but whoever I meet and whatever teams I look at there are incredibly talented and dedicated people. So I think it gives me a very deep appreciation for being part of this journey and doing it together.”
For new team members joining Upstart now, Natalia’s advice is to make the most of onsites and digital resources to build relationships with other Upstarters.
“As much as you can, participate in onsites and make the best of the time together. Reach out to people who you would love to spend time together with and put it on calendars. Set aside time for whiteboard exercises on topics that are new or complex. You will be amazed how much you can learn and get done! Use opportunities to get together with people who live nearby, come to TGIFs [our virtual all-hands meetings], join a club if there is a topic that you're interested in, or start your own and see who comes. Knowing who you're working with, and feeling comfortable and feeling part of that group goes a very, very long way.”
Kate Sutcu, Director of Fraud and Financial Crimes Risk
Start date: September 23, 2014
Kate Sutcu first joined Upstart as the second hire on the Operations team before becoming the second hire on the Compliance team. Because of Kate’s previous experience in mortgage servicing, Kate was inspired by Upstart’s mission to expand access to credit and her desire to help others improve their financial stability. In her role on the Operations team as an Operations Associate and first dedicated customer support agent, she was the voice of Upstart as we launched our personal loan product.
Her time on the Operations team, speaking directly to applicants and borrowers, has had a lasting impact on how she approaches her work today.
“I really enjoy talking to customers. And in those early days, I loved answering the phone, asking them how they were doing. You learn a lot about what is motivating them. Why are they interested in Upstart, why do they need this product? Conversely, sometimes Upstarters share an idea and because of my work, I can say ‘Our average customer may struggle with that.’ So I just love that kind of customer service, delighting, helping people, and making an impact in that way.”
In her current role, Kate focuses on managing Upstart’s fraud and financial crimes risk program, developing strategy and program governance for improving our system of controls to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. While it may be unexpected to some, Risk and Compliance is another space where the team keeps Upstart’s value of Don’t assume it can’t be done at the forefront.
“A lot of our success is that we don't just say, ‘Well, it's never been done before,’ or, ‘It's going be so hard to do.’”
For new hires, Kate’s advice is to stay curious and engage with all of the information that is available to understand the big picture of what Upstart is working on to achieve our mission.
“I think having a healthy amount of curiosity and challenging the status quo. It’s pretty rare that we do something and we're perfect. Upstarters continue to push ourselves until we’re better.”
“The other advice I would have is to absorb as much as you can and engage. There's a lot of information and content that's made available. Use that. Read it. Talk about it. Attend TGIF. I think that's really helpful for understanding what's happening at Upstart and then you can start to see the bigger picture and support or suggest ideas, or raise your hand and say, ‘I want to work on that, too.’”
Grant, Natalia, and Kate represent just a few of the talented minds who love working at Upstart. We invite you to learn more about our Values or read more about Our Story if you think Upstart might be a fit for you!
- culture
- digital-first
