Andrew Housser

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

Andrew Housser built Achieve around a simple idea: everyday people deserve an advocate in a financial system that too often overlooks them. He co-founded the company in 2002 with Brad Stroh, and the two have served as Co-CEOs ever since, growing it from a two-person Silicon Valley startup into a leader in digital personal finance.

Andrew helps set the strategic direction of the Achieve platform, which helps everyday Americans reduce debt, access credit, and build stronger financial futures. He has played a central role in expanding the company from its roots in debt relief into a broader platform spanning personal loans, home equity loans, debt consolidation, financial education and money management tools.

An accomplished entrepreneur and investor, Andrew has built his career around understanding the financial challenges facing everyday consumers and finding better ways to address them. His leadership combines data, analytics and disciplined risk management with a belief that financial services should reflect people’s real circumstances. That approach continues to shape how Achieve develops products and personalized support for consumers who are often underserved by the traditional financial system.

Building Achieve

Andrew and Brad met at Stanford Graduate School of Business and set out to build a business that put consumers first. As Andrew has described it, the biggest players in finance, including banks, collectors, and law firms, were lined up against consumers who had no one in their corner, and that gap was the opportunity. Working from a spare bedroom, the two founded Freedom Financial Network in 2002, followed by Bills.com in 2005. Those were followed by the Freedom Financial Asset Management company (dba Achieve Personal Loans) and Lendage (dba Achieve Loans). In 2022, they rebranded the family of companies under the Achieve brand.

Andrew has pointed to roughly 123 million U.S. consumers who could use help moving from financially struggling to thriving. This group also happens to be the core market Achieve was built to serve. Under his and Brad’s leadership, the company has grown to more than $500 million in annual revenue and roughly 2,800 employees.

Achieve’s direction under Andrew includes continued expansion into banking, budgeting, and additional financial tools, building on the platform the company has developed over two decades.

Experience before Achieve

Before founding Achieve, Andrew worked in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney in New York City, then moved into private equity investing at Littlejohn & Company, a $550 million private equity fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut. His financial services background shaped the disciplined, risk-aware approach he brought to building Achieve.

Education

Andrew earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He later earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He previously attended Brentwood College School in British Columbia, Canada.

Recognition

• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 (Northern California), a joint award with co-founder Brad Stroh

• Named to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal “40 Under 40” list (2008)

• AFCC President’s Award for outstanding voluntary service (2010)

• Under Andrew’s leadership, Freedom Financial Network and Achieve have been recognized on the Inc. 500 list, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Hot 100, and Best Places to Work in Silicon Valley and Phoenix; Bills.com was named #3 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Hot 100 Fastest Growing Companies in America (2008)

• Achieve was named to the Phoenix Business Journal’s Best Places to Work list for the 15th time in 2025, including five previous No. 1 rankings

• Achieve was recognized in Built In’s 2025 Best Places to Work Awards for San Francisco and Dallas, marking the company’s seventh consecutive year on Built In’s lists

• Achieve was named to Az Business magazine’s AZ Big 100 list for 2026, recognizing organizations expected to play a meaningful role in Arizona’s economy

• Achieve was named one of Arizona’s Most Admired Companies in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year, recognizing its performance in customer opinion, innovation, leadership excellence, social responsibility and workplace culture

• Achieve was named the No. 1 finance company for women to work for by InHerSight in 2026, and earned recognition across seven additional workplace categories

• Achieve was named among Az Business magazine’s 10 Best Places for Women to Work in Arizona for 2026

• Achieve was named among BestCompaniesAZ’s Top 3 Best Workplaces for LGBTQ+ Employees in 2026

• Achieve earned a sixth consecutive top-three ranking from LendingTree for personal loan customer satisfaction in the second quarter of 2026

Boards and community

Andrew serves on the Board of Advisors of the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College and on the Board of Directors of Brentwood College School, and he previously served on the Phillips Brooks School board for six years. He has been a member of the American Fair Credit Council (AFCC) Board of Directors since 2006. Andrew is also a part-time angel investor and has served as a board member for several startups. His involvement across entrepreneurship, education and consumer finance reflects a broader commitment to supporting emerging business leaders and improving the financial services available to everyday consumers.

In his words

Andrew has long framed Achieve as a company built for people the traditional system leaves behind. At the 2022 brand launch, he said:

On the company’s founding, he has described the imbalance that everyday consumers face: