There is $1.8 trillion of student loan debt out there today. It is the second-largest category of consumer debt behind mortgages, and it’s the fastest-growing.
A lot of people who end up in default on their student loans didn’t have to be. There were options they could afford but didn’t know about or understand.
But I will say, where there is confusion, there is opportunity.
—Michael Scully
Listen to The Way of Product: Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Michael Scully reviewed all 1,000 applications personally when he posted a product manager role last August. Every. Single. One.
That same obsessive attention to overlooked details drove him from coding in his dorm room to leading product at Summer, a public benefit corporation tackling America’s $1.8 trillion student loan crisis.
In our conversation, Michael discovered something shocking: The majority of people defaulting on student loans qualified for affordable payment plans—they never knew these options existed. During the pandemic payment pause, borrowers’ loans got sold, addresses changed, and autopay broke. Prime credit scores tanked overnight through no fault of the borrower.
“We’re not dealing with edge cases,” Michael explains. “These are normal people who did everything right, caught in a system that’s complex for what should be simple.”
Topics covered include:
→ Diverse teams catch problems homogeneous ones miss (hire for “culture add” not “culture fit”)
→ Where there’s confusion, there’s opportunity to help at scale—and how to spot opportunities.
The episode covers student loan solutions, but it’s really about building products that meet people where they struggle most—and the leadership philosophy that attracts top talent to mission-driven work.
Connect with Michael Scully on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelscully https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelscully
Explore Summer (student-loan benefits): meetsummer.com
Timeline:
03:01 FinTech Trends and Student Loans
04:07 Challenges in Student Loan Management
05:58 Summer's Approach to Solving Student Loan Issues
10:48 Employer Benefits and Financial Wellness
14:45 Navigating Regulatory Changes
17:37 Product Management Insights
20:09 Proactive Messaging and Customer Experience
29:06 Hiring and Team Building
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