Every month we highlight a NACUSO member by interviewing one of their top executives. It’s an opportunity to tell their story in a casual and fun way.
This month we sat down with President/CEO of Denali Analytics, Dale Fosselman.
PART ONE: Life Story and Experiences
What’s your current position?
Senior VP Corporate Development, Denali Alaskan FCU; President/CEO of Denali Analytics, LLC, President/CEO of Deep Future Analytics, LLC, Member, Board of Governors of OnApproach, LLC.
What would you say most motivates you to do what you do? What are you most excited or passionate about?
Identifying and implementing a new ‘state of the art’ technology or business model.
I want to hear the story of how you came to work with credit unions. What attracted you to work for Denali Analytics, LLC?
My credit union career began as a field rep for CUNA Mutual and I really enjoyed working with credit unions around the state of Alaska. Credit Unions’ focus on creating value for members and cooperation made for an enjoyable working environment. At Denali Alaskan, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with great people on innovative projects. Five years ago we made a commitment to compete on analytics and I find learning about new analytical tools and platforms to be energizing.
Now if we can go even further back, where did you grow up and what was it like living there? Where did you go to school?
I was born and raised in central Pennsylvania, moved to Alaska during college and finished a BA and MBA at Alaska Pacific University. I really enjoyed growing up in a rural area with plenty of extended family nearby was a great experience. What attracted me to Alaska was the fact that I could live near a minor metropolitan area and have easy access to wilderness.
Who were your mentors along the way? People who deeply influenced who you are, what you believe in and what you’re committed to in your work and life? Tell me about them.
I like to think I have learned from many industry leaders over the years, but Denali Alaskan FCU CEO Bob Teachworth and Matanuska Valley FCU CEO Al Strawn would stand out. They are different in many ways, but therein lies an opportunity for deeper insight by comparing and contrasting disparate perspectives. I have a coworker and another friend who moved to the United States as adults. They are extraordinary people and have overcome many obstacles en route to becoming overachievers here. At the top of my list, though, is my wife Katie. She is a CPA and has her own businesses which operates in relatively challenging environments, a great mom and an intrepid traveler. When I think about it the common element among the group is the idea that if the only obstacle that stands between them and a goal is hard work, then there are no obstacles.
Finally can you share something interesting about you that would surprise our readers? It can be anything, a hobby, an adventure, sports, the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you.
I once entered a steam beer in the Alaska State Fair and won $3 for a third place finish! To be fair, there were only 2 entries. In my defense, the other entrant received a 2nd place award – there were no first place winners in that category that year.
PART TWO: The CUSO Business Story
Tell me the story of how your CUSO was created – the early days. Tell me about some of the memorable characters in the history, some that brought your story color, drama, comedy, conflict?
Denali Analytics, LLC, was formed to market LoanQC, an automated post loan review workflow software. Denali Alaskan FCU developed the software in-house to improve lender training and review documentation. An examiner suggested other credit unions could benefit from such a tool. We made additional enhancements to make it into commercial-grade software and have begun marketing it directly to CUs.
We also use Denali Analytics, LLC, to hold the CU’s ownership interest in Deep Future Analytics, LLC. Our partner in Deep Future is Prescient Models, LLC, one of the world’s premier credit risk modeling consultancies. We partnered with Prescient Models to develop a new state of the art credit risk modeling methodology that provides a loan-level, probability of default and attrition forecasts for each month in the coming year. We can relax that constraint and go to life of loan forecasts when CECL becomes effective.
To paraphrase a famous German general, ‘No business plan survives contact with the market.’ Once we started talking to CUs about LoanQC and Deep Future we learned a lot and found better distribution and sales channels than we originally envisioned.
What were the key relationships that mattered most? What were the key sources of support or resistance you encountered?
For LoanQC we have partnered with Allied Solutions. They are a phenomenal marketing organization and within the next 30 days we will have more than 100 sales people who have existing relationships with more than 2,600 clients marketing LoanQC at a variable cost.
For Deep Future, getting sufficient data to run the models can be a challenge. We have built connectors to OnApproach’s M360 data warehouse solution. This eliminates integration issues for any M360 customer. M360 is a core-agnostic system that welcomes additional applications to their technology ecosystem. I can foresee a day when integration between multiple applications on the M360 system creates an additional level of value. Additionally, we are in discussions with several core system providers with an eye toward embedding Deep Future inside their existing solutions.
What have been the greatest successes in your opinion?
Signing the first client is always a milestone worth celebrating, but finding the right partners is the key to success. Our future is bright because of people like Prescient Models’ Joe Breeden, Paul Ablack at OnApproach and Pete Hilger at Allied Solutions.
PART THREE: Reflections and Lessons
If you could start your CUSO all over again, would you do anything differently? Why and what would you do?
I would separate business forecasting from budgeting. Credit Union budgets and financial results are relatively stable compared with a startup in which the number, timing and revenue from the first sales is so uncertain.
Finally, when you think of the future, what gives you hope and what makes you concerned?
My biggest concern is that increasing regulation does more harm than good to both consumers and CUs.
What gives me great hope is that CUs are increasingly able to expand the scope and scale of their benefits to members through technology and collaboration.
