Tate Hackert spent the majority of his adolescence working on fishing boats in Vancouver, Canada, socking away the surprisingly impressive income he made into his savings. By the time he was 16, he’d saved up enough money to take out a second mortgage for a friend who needed it, but didn’t have the means to get one for themselves.
Hackert quickly realized that he was able to help more people who had fallen on hard times — so he did. Between the ages of 16 and 23, he lent out approximately $300,000 in short-term, small dollar loans to customers that he found online. Within the hour of publishing a Craigslist advertisement, Hackert would have over 300 emails from people asking for $1,000 to $2,000 to get them through the month.
