Movers and Shakers: Lynne Laube, President and COO, Cardlytics Inc.

By Robin Madell, San Francisco

Tradition may come to mind before innovation when thinking about the financial services industry. But for Lynne Laube, president and COO of Cardlytics, Inc., innovation has consistently come first. “I have always been excited by innovation and knew that was where I wanted to focus my career,” she explained.

After starting her career at Bank One and then spending 13 years at Capital One, most recently as vice president and COO, Laube decided to take a more entrepreneurial route. She co-founded Cardlytics, which offers targeted advertising within banking, in the summer of 2008 with Scott Grimes, Cardlytics CEO. Yet even while serving in her earlier roles in banking, Laube was always on the lookout for opportunities to innovate—and found several.

Over the years, Laube worked on products that have since become ubiquitous in the industry, but at the time were cutting-edge, such as balance transfer, micro-business lending, and private-label lending. “I love creating new products, building new businesses, and trying new models,” she said. “When I joined Capital One, they were at the forefront of innovation within consumer and business lending.”

Toward the end of her tenure, she began focusing on payment innovation, and played a major role in the creation of decoupled debit, a groundbreaking and controversial product. While the product ultimately was unsuccessful, Laube’s work in this area helped her see the potential for other innovations with financial services. “I suspected it would be easier to innovate from a new company rather than within the walls of a very large bank, and that is when I left Capital One and started Cardlytics,” she said.

From Concept to Reality

At the beginning of the venture, all they had was an idea. Laube and her co-founder spent much of the summer vetting the vision with banks, trying to convince venture firms to provide funding. “It was a scary time as the economy was taking a serious nose dive and many VCs were not funding,” Laube recalled. The pair managed to secure about $2 million from two venture capital firms, which gave them the money they needed to test drive their solution.

Over the next year, Laube concentrated on trying to land the first client who would be willing to try out their new business model. She also focused on working with developers to build the technology. “Selling a new idea in the financial services industry is not exactly a fast process, and can often be very trying,” Laube said. But in the fall of 2009, Cardlytics launched with about 400,000 customers. “Building a new business requires a great idea, a ton of hard work, a bit of luck, and the fortitude to work through the many near-death experiences that happen when you are trying to get it off the ground.”

Growth and Challenges

With the start-up phase comfortably in the past, Laube’s team is now in the process of building what was a small business into a big business. The company’s revenues increased six-fold in 2011, as more than 170 banks now use their product with nearly 20 million households. She expects the upward trajectory to continue into 2012, as Cardlytics prepares to launch with one of the largest banks in the United States. “Leading a company through this type of growth is incredibly rewarding and challenging, but it is exactly what I hoped would happen when we started the journey,” Laube said.

The biggest challenge Laube currently faces is scaling the company. While keeping hiring as a top priority and staying vigilant to find talent, she also worries about maintaining innovation. “We created this industry, and to maintain our leadership position we must innovate better and faster than others,” she said. “It is a constant balance to make sure the core business needs do not take all our time, and we are still creating new products and business models.”

Defining Balance

Like all top execs, Laube’s responsibility list is long and time is short. The biggest thing she has learned over the years is that she is the one who defines her own balance, which she recognizes will be different from how others define their balance. And she feels comfortable with the decisions and tradeoffs she makes when it comes to work and family.

“I will never be the homeroom mother for my children’s class because I don’t have time, and that is OK,” Laube said. “However, I will leave meetings, even critical ones, to make sure I am at their soccer games when I promised.”

Laube notes that while her children know that her work is important to her, they also understand how mom having perks like diamond frequent flyer status benefits them as well. “At least once a month my kids and I go somewhere new for free by using my points,” Laube said. “They have been to more cities and even countries than most people I know, and they are just 10 and 12.”

Advice from the Top

Those who aspire to leadership roles can learn much from Laube. In addition to becoming adept at defining her own balance, her years in the industry have taught her to be herself. Unlike earlier in her career, she now trusts her own instincts, spends time asking people how they feel, and isn’t afraid to show emotion. Laube emphasized that all of these things help her to stay true to herself.

“I spent the first many years of my career trying to act like all the men around me. I would dress conservatively and talk about football,” Laube said. “While I still do those things, I also sometimes wear pink heels and discuss the best place to get a mani/pedi. I have learned to embrace the things that make me who I am and use those in the workplace.”