Student Loan Hero CEO overcame lack of experience with hard work

Student Loan Hero CEO Andy
Josuweit.
Student Loan
Hero

• Student
  Loan Hero, a financial planning company, was acquired by
  LendingTree last week for $60 million.
• CEO Andy Josuweit managed to turn his startup into a
  success despite not having an MBA or experience in the
  corporate world.
• Josuweit managed to both get his startup off the
  ground and pay off more than $100,000 in student-loan debt by
  putting in long hours and making personal
  sacrifices.

It takes hard work, patience, and a willingness to make
sacrifices to pay off more than $100,000 in student-loan debt.

As Andy Josuweit learned, it takes the same three qualities to
get a startup off the ground. 

Josuweit sold his company, the financial-advice site Student Loan Hero, to
LendingTree for $60 million last week, two years after he paid
off the last of his $107,000 in student-loan debt. 

The CEO recently spoke with Business Insider and explained how
he was able to overcome a lack of business experience to find
success.

Josuweit founded Student Loan Hero in 2012 with funds from the
incubator program Startup Chile, after
dramatically changing the idea for his business after the
program had already begun.

Under immense pressure to succeed from his parents, who were on
the hook for some of his debt, Josuweit made a number of
sacrifices: He worked 14-hour days, he biked everywhere instead
of owning a car, and he even moved from New York City to
Austin, Texas, so he could pay less in taxes and living
expenses.

Josuweit made his final loan payment in September 2016, and

preaches financial education on his site every day. Student
Loan Hero offers financial comparison tools and personalized
advice on paying off debt, and the company claims it’s helped
wipe out more than $1 billion in student debt.

Josuweit never earned an MBA. He compared his rise in the
startup world to his wrestling career in high school, when he
went from a “pretty terrible” athlete to a district champion,
and even went on to coach the University of Texas wrestling
team.

“I view business as the same path. You’re going to fall on your
face a few times, you’re going to screw up and fail. You’re
going to learn from the failures. It takes time,” Josuweit told
Business Insider. “But if you are willing, have the
determination, have the grit, ultimately it’s inevitable you
will succeed.”