Ellie Mae founder and CEO Sig Anderman is a true technology pioneer, entrepreneur and industry visionary.
With more than 30 years in the mortgage industry, Anderman is an expert on a variety of issues affecting brokers, lenders and service providers, ranging from mortgage automation to eMortgages.
As founder of Ellie Mae, Anderman leads the company’s vision and strategy. Under his direction, Ellie Mae developed and now hosts ePASS, the main “Internet switch” used in the mortgage industry. More than 21,000 mortgage brokerages use ePASS to connect to and exchange data with 45 wholesale lenders and more than 90,000 settlement service providers.
Ellie Mae also offers loan origination software to mortgage originators under the brands Encompass, Genesis and Contour.
Twenty years ago, Anderman founded CompuFund, the first computer-based mortgage banking network in the country, and coined the phrase “CLO” for computerized loan origination.
Ellie Mae is Anderman’s fourth successful business venture over the past 30 years. In addition to CompuFund, which was sold to a major financial institution, he co-founded American Home Shield, a home warranty company that is now a division of ServiceMaster, and Inspectech Corp, a home inspection company that is now a division of LandAmerica.
Anderman will speak during Real Estate Connect in San Francisco, July 27-29, 2005.
Here are his answers to a set of questions posed by Inman News:
Panel or session at Connect: Mortgage Technology Innovation.
What type of home did you grow up in and where?
An old brownstone, walkup (since demolished) in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.
What worries keep you awake at night?
None, I always get a good night’s sleep.
Describe your dream home?
I own it. My ranch in Forestville, Calif., on 90 acres, with a big garden, and a small lake.
What lesson did you learn in the last year?
I learned not to give my grown children advice, even if they ask for it.
What was your first job?
I was a delivery boy in my father’s dry cleaning store.
What’s the strangest thing you ever packed in a suitcase?
A pound of pastrami from Carnegie deli.
What would your second career choice be after real estate?
A teacher.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Classical.
Who is your hero?
Bill Gates. He made a fortune using innovation and imagination, and is spending the rest of his life giving it away.
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