Introducing Maxwell’s Brian McCarthy, 2023 HousingWire Tech Trendsetter
This year’s HousingWire Tech Trendsetters stand out not only for their ongoing leadership in the mortgage space, but for their inventive problem-solving during today’s tough market cycle. These honorees have made their names as resilient innovators who leverage technology and forward-thinking ideas to help lenders and home buyers overcome major challenges.
We’re proud to announce that Brian McCarthy, Maxwell’s Director of Product Management, is included on this year’s list as a 2023 HousingWire Tech Trendsetter. With more than a decade of experience developing new products and features for B2B applications, Brian takes a hands-on role shaping and guiding Maxwell’s product roadmap to ensure it drives efficiency, cost reduction, and profitability for local lenders.
“My job at Maxwell is to understand the biggest challenges that our lenders’ teams and their borrowers face in the day-to-day operations of originating loans,” says Brian. “Then, I collaborate with our design and engineering teams to determine the most important problems our software can address. From there, we use a mix of art, science, and data to build better experiences for both lenders and borrowers.”
Improving the mortgage process for lenders & borrowers
Since joining Maxwell, Brian has led multiple initiatives that improve the borrower experience while allowing lenders to offer value to a wider range of home buyers. He has dramatically enhanced Maxwell’s loan application experience, for instance, making it as easy for borrowers to complete documentation requirements from their phone as their laptop. Brian also created loan templates for specific products including HELOCs and home equity loans, helping lenders tap into market demand at a time when traditional loan volume is lacking. As a result, Maxwell users scored the loan application 4.6 out of 5 in a recent survey, with 91% ranking it 4 or 5 out of 5.
To further help lenders serve current market demand, Brian recently spearheaded Maxwell’s Spanish-language loan application. Recognizing that Spanish speakers—set to represent 56% of all new homeowners by 2030—often encounter obstacles during home-buying, Brian led the effort to create a welcoming loan application experience for borrowers with limited English proficiency. The result is Maxwell’s Spanish loan app, which provides an immersive Spanish language experience. Automatically detecting the borrower’s language settings on their desktop or mobile device, the loan application renders in Spanish or English with the ability to switch back and forth while accounting for all URLA and MISMO 3.4 requirements.
Reflecting on the impact of Brian’s forward-thinking projects, Maxwell SVP of Product Paul Wetzel comments, “His leadership is central to our next generation product offerings.”
Building a culture of innovation
Beyond simply contributing to individual projects, Brian fosters a culture of innovation and rigorous research that ensures the technology Maxwell undertakes addresses the everyday realities of lenders. To achieve an effective feedback loop, he meets regularly with customers to openly talk through issues and ideas for improvement. Brian then leverages his position to advocate for customer needs, integrating their insights into feature improvements and the product roadmap.
“When a successful start-up like Maxwell transitions into the growth phase, it needs product leaders who can also make that shift,” says Paul. “Brian has shown a talent for everything from organizing the backlog and facilitating the prioritization process to working closely with Engineering, Sales, and Marketing teams, and, of course, listening directly to our customers.”
As he continues to help lenders tackle ongoing market obstacles, Brian intends to lean into the team-first ethos that has allowed him to bring successful solutions and features to market.
“As a Product Manager, I can’t create anything meaningful on my own,” says Brian. “It’s truly a team effort that requires gathering client feedback, iterating on ideas, and developing high quality code. Those efforts span across Sales, Customer Support, UX Design, and Engineering, so I share this award with them.”
Want to learn more about the forward-thinking technology Brian and his team help innovate? Click here to schedule a call with our team.
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