Max Levchin had just taken his company public and was looking to also go for a spin. On the heels of a PayPal deal that swiftly made him a multimillionaire, Levchin sought to deliver on that classic “making it big” purchase that many dream of—a car. But his credit card debt pumped the brakes ever so slightly on his goal.
“Borrowing was really difficult,” Levchin tells Fortune, noting that he was told to pay cash because his credit card score was too low. “I thought there was a better way to do payments and lending,” he says of his venture that came down the line.
