Archive for December, 2007

The last release of 2007 was a special release… It was officially known as R103 (*we will improve the names of all future releases*). It was a short release cycle, but it was important.

First and foremost, our engineering team is world class. I appreciate each and every one for their hard work and dedication to building an amazing product.

Over the last few releases and going into 2008 we are continuing to focus on product improvements specifically a better user experience, better collections, better fraud detection, less time in post-funding verification, better customer service, and better overall site performance.

Here is a link to the release announcement.

There will be consolidated tax forms this year. That means you’ll get one form summarizing all your loans instead of one form for each loan. Who wants to do any more work for taxes then you have to?

The webservice API added a new object: Marketplace. This object makes it easy to grab summary data. As an example, it is now possible to build a featured listings rotator (hint hint!). Have you done something cool with the API? Let us know so that we can feature it on the blog.

There were a number of platform performance changes that no one will notice — they were done correctly. The most noticeable change for website users will be the speed of the Marketplace Performance Page.

Lenders now have a more detailed breakdown on the lender page for several key stats. The numbers are more thorough, which is good.

Borrower’s now have payoff guidance, increasing awareness of the effects of both early and late payments.

Also, we simplified the borrower referral by making it a $35 flat fee; making it easier to understand.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. And here’s to hoping that 2008 is the year of P2P lending for everyone.

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John Witchel is the CTO and Co-founder of Prosper.

Prosper was nominated for a Crunchie in the category of Best Business Model.

The Crunchies is a collaboration project between GigaOm, Read/WriteWeb, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch. 

The 2007 Crunchies is our first annual competition and award ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year.

Prosper is honored by the nomination.

You can vote once a day. Vote early, Vote often. 

TechCrunch: The Crunchies: Finalists Are Up, Vote For the Winners

VentureBeat: Voting begins for the Crunchies. Awards, party Jan. 18

Debt is a fact of life for many people, and while debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing, bad credit card and debt habits are. When you are burdened with substantial debt, you probably wonder how you can effectively reduce that debt. Here are a few things that can help you get things under control.

Stop Borrowing

You need to stop borrowing. Does that sound obvious? It is, but unfortunately that can be easier said than done. The fact of the matter is that you will never climb out of debt if you continue to borrow money. Resist the temptation to use your credit cards and remove them from your wallet or purse. Put them in a lock box at the bank, or freeze them in a block of ice. Do whatever it takes to make them harder to get to.

Consolidate Your Debt

Many credit cards have very high interest rates, and these high rates make your monthly payment larger. Not only does it increase the monthly payment, but you will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest while repaying the debt. If you can, you want to negotiate a lower interest rate or consolidate the higher interest debts into a more favorable rate. Editor’s Note: Using Prosper to get a loan is an excellent way to consolidate debt – use the Loan Calculator to view a summary of your loan’s overall cost.

Break the Minimum Payment Habit

Once you have stopped borrowing more money and have obtained reasonable interest rates on your debt, you need to break the minimum payment habit. Did you know that on a typical credit card, if you only make the minimum payment, it can take over ten years to pay it off? In addition, over that time period you will likely pay more in interest than the original balance was.

The minimum payment may be affordable, but you are on the long road to financial freedom if that is all you pay each month. Minimum payments are typically just a few percentage points of the outstanding balance, which usually just barely covers the interest payment.

Get into the habit of paying more than the minimum. It doesn’t matter if it is an extra $10 or $100 a month, but by paying more than the minimum, you will be applying that directly to the principal and can shave months or years off the debt. Not only do you pay the debt off quicker, but you’ll save a great deal of money as well.

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Jeremy is the author of the personal finance blog Generation X Finance, which aims to help a unique generation achieve financial independence. Jeremy also writes for the Financial Planning topic over at About.com. He currently works as a retirement plan specialist with a focus on employer-sponsored plans.

Prosper:

“Prosper is pleased to announce that as of today, RateLadder will be the new Editor-in-Chief of the Prosper Blog.” — Prosper Marketplace

RateLadder:

I would like to thank Prosper, my wife, my daughter, my parents, my in-laws, my dogs…

*queue the exit stage music*

Just kidding… Seriously though… I have a passion for p2p lending. I have been a lender since July 2006. I have been running my 3rd party sites since right after reading about Prosper. These sites are still my own and are not part of the contract for Editor-in-Chief of the Prosper Blog: RateLadder, ProProsper, and P2P No Bank.

Full disclosure: I am not an employee of Prosper Marketplace, Inc. I am managing the Prosper Blog as an independent contractor as such I have agreed to a non-disclosure agreement and all of my activities as Editor-in-Chief of the Prosper Blog are owned and copyright by Prosper Marketplace, Inc.

I love the idea that with Prosper you can help people and make a better return than a normal savings account.

“But LendingStats says your ROI is currently ~4%: http://www.lendingstats.com/lenders/RateLadder_com ” –Informed Reader

Yes, but my Eric’s Community Credit ROI is ~9%.: http://www.ericscc.com/lenders/Rateladder_com

Without getting into the details of the ROI calculation at these 3rd party sites, I will just say this…

I have been lending since July 2006. I, like many, made some early mistakes in my lending strategy. Even though I was bidding on the better credit grades I didn’t pay close enough attention to other extended credit parameters… I continually adjust my bidding strategy and expect that my ROI (as estimated by both sites mentioned above) will continue to show improvement in the future.

The beauty of the Prosper Marketplace is that you can adjust and adapt. I started the RateLadder blog in December 2006 for exactly those reasons: to keep myself honest, pay attention to the marketplace, and evolve into the best lender I can be.

I hope you can see that I have a passion for p2p lending and I will bring that passion to the Prosper Blog as Editor-in-Chief.

We are always looking to share experiences of Prosper success with the readers of the Prosper Blog… If you have had a positive experience as either a lender or borrower, we encourage you to submit that story as a post for the blog. We even like rigorous math (but we like charts better as they are easy on the eyes).

I hope everyone enjoys reading and commenting on the Prosper Blog.

Here’s to our Prosperous success,

RateLadder

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RateLadder is the Editor-in-Chief of the Prosper Blog.  He is a Prosper lender and has been since July, 2006.  He has a passion for p2p lending.  He owns RateLadder — My Prosper.com Journey and other P2P Lending Adventures, P2P No Bank the P2P Blog Aggregate, and ProProsper — Professional Tools for Prosper Lenders featuring SQL access to Prosper data.

Many people would say this is an easy question to answer. However, I believe the answer depends on the life experience of the person giving the answer. I have asked this very question to many people and the answer is almost always a resounding “yes” or a resounding “no.” I don’t think I’ve ever gotten back an answer of “maybe.”

I’m going to be the one giving back that answer of “maybe.” By many people’s financial standards, I have done very well without ever establishing a budget. In fact, to this day, I don’t know how to balance a checkbook. I have had a healthy income which is part of the reason, but it’s not the main one. I simply evaluate each purchase I make and do my best to determine the value that it represents. I ask myself if I really need the item or service that I’m purchasing. Often, I’ll just put it in the back of my mind for later. If it keeps coming back to the forefront, then it’s worthy of consideration.

A few years back I wanted a Sony Aibo. It was a robotic dog that retailed for thousands of dollars. It was something that failed the “do I need it” test. It also failed the “do I still think about it every day after 20 days” test. Just recently, I noticed that some are available for around 20% of the original price. They are even more advanced than the one I originally wanted. I thought about purchasing one once again, but I haven’t found it for the value that I think an Aibo is worth – probably around $300.

I don’t think my idea of the anti-budget will work for everyone.

There are many people that may be best served by adhering to a strict budget. Some of these people may include those who live on more of a fixed income or saddled with significant debt. However, some of these people might be just the opposite like my best friend. I would estimate that he and his wife have a combined income of roughly $300,000 a year – yet he can boot up his Quicken software and show you exactly how much he has budgeted for vacations this year.

In short, I think that budgeting can help many people maximize their wealth. However, it is important to remember there are often multiple avenues to the same destination. I encourage you to explore each of them to determine which route suits you the best.

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Lazy Man has been a lender at Prosper since February 2006. His lending has been written up in the Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest national newspaper. He is the author of the personal finance blog, Lazy Man and Money. He enjoys watching Boston sports while sipping diet cola.