Inside the $13T Mortgage Machine

The $13T U.S. mortgage market serves 50M homeowners but still runs on decades-old software.  In this episode, a16z GP Angela Strange hosts Tim Mayopoulos (ex-CEO of Fannie Mae and ex-president of Blend), Mike Yu (co-founder and CEO of Vesta), and Andrew Wang (co-founder and CEO of Valon) to unpack why standardization and regulation slow change, and how modern loan-origination and servicing platforms, cleaner data, and AI can cut costs, boost transparency, and reduce errors. They also discuss policy levers that could speed innovation and what a true one-tap mortgage could look like.   Timecodes:  00:00 Introduction  00:59 The Scale and Structure of the US Mortgage Market 01:33 Why Mortgage Tech is Slow to Change 02:00 Challenges of Standardization and Regulation 03:41 The Human Side of Home Buying 07:43 Old Software and Its Impact on Homeowners 11:16 Data Transparency and Capital Markets 13:17 Building New Mortgage Infrastructure: LOS and Servicing 16:22 Operational Challenges and Opportunities in Servicing 22:04 Driving Digital Adoption at Fannie Mae 25:15 Modernizing Data and Appraisals 28:27 Core Replacement vs. Wrappers: Tech Strategies 35:29 AI in Mortgage: Today and Tomorrow 40:42 AI, Regulation, and the Future of Compliance 43:54 Advice for Lenders Preparing for an AI Future 47:49 Visions for the Future of Mortgages   Resources:  Find Angela on X: https://x.com/astrange Find Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-j-mayopoulos-56972a45/ Find Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangandrewd/ Find Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyu1/   Stay Updated:  Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z  Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z  Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX?si=3E8B3qT9TyiwAHJ7JnaKbg Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Stay Updated: Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg   Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.