LendingClub founder & CEO On The Company's IPO

LENDING CLUB CORP. LC made a spectacular debut today, opening more than 60% than its issue price. The company has garnered a lot of interest from influential investors because of its unconventional business model.

Renaud Laplanche, LendingClub founder & CEO, was recently on CNBC to talk about his company and the journey to the IPO.

“No it’s about right. We filed for the first time on August 27. So, it took us about three months to clear the SEC comments, which was pretty smooth process,” Laplanche said.

“I think what we are focused on really is building the company for the next decade. I really think we have an opportunity to transform the entire banking system, make it more transparent, more cost-efficient, more consumer friendly, that’s what we are focused on.”

When asked about whether the company is prepared for times when the US economy won’t be in a great shape like it is now, Laplanche replied, “We are lucky to start in 2007. It didn’t felt like the [ideal ]time, but it was good to  get there from 2007 or 2008 or 2009, when the employment rate went from 5.5% to 10.5% in just 18 months and really that test the credit model. Since then we have continued to get on more data, credit models got even better. That’s one of the benefits of a marketplace model, you get a lot of network effect, more data as you keep going and keep getting better.”

“[…] I think what characterizes LendingClub and the marketplace model is that we can operate at a lower cost than the traditional banks […]”