Courtesy of Danny Eng
- Danny Eng was poached by Affirm to build a buy now pay later card in 2021.
- Eng previously worked at Credit Karma, where he led key projects and had a positive experience.
- Affirm offered Eng a senior role with a pay rise, and he’s happy with his decision to move over.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Danny Eng, a 29-year-old product manager in San Francisco. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
I’ve been in tech for over a decade, starting as an intern. I’ve worked at companies such as Nvidia and EA, in health tech, gaming tech, and AI, and even sold a startup to Airbnb. I had no idea I would end up in fintech .
My first foray into fintech was a friend referral to Credit Karma , which hired me as a product manager in 2019. I’m Canadian and didn’t even have a credit score when I started there. I quickly learned the US operates on credit and that financial literacy is a problem…