Meet Our Team
Founders
Shawn Budde
Co-Founder and General Partner
Chicago, IL
Shawn Budde is a Co-founder and General Partner at Ensemblex. Under his and Mike’s leadership, Ensemblex has grown to help lenders and fintechs across five continents start, scale, and adapt their businesses through expertise across the credit lifecycle. Shawn brings four decades of lending experience across nearly every product and credit segment. At Capital One, he grew the sub-prime credit card business to $1B in after-tax profit, reduced cycle time for direct mail campaigns, and grew the recoveries business from breakeven to $35M profit. He later served as Capital One’s first chief customer officer, where he increased net promoter scores by eight points in a single year. Shawn co-founded Zest.AI, one of the first companies to apply machine learning to consumer finance, and served as CEO of 2Checkout, an international payments business.
Shawn holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from The Wharton School.
Mike Armstrong
Co-Founder and General Partner
Nashville, TN
Mike Armstrong is a Co-founder and General Partner at Ensemblex. Under his and Shawn’s leadership, Ensemblex has grown to help lenders and fintechs across five continents start, scale, and adapt their businesses through expertise across the credit lifecycle. Mike has over two decades of experience scaling large lending companies (Capital One) and building new lending businesses from scratch (ZestAI). At Capital One, he doubled subprime credit card originations to seven million annually and managed a $3B credit card business focused on affinity segments, contributing over $150MM to the bottom line. At Zest.AI, Mike built and scaled a B2C online installment loan business to $90MM in revenue, serving over 350,000 customers.
Mike holds a BA in Economics from Duke University and graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger School.
The Team
Scott Bass
Managing Director
Scott Bass is the Managing Director of Launch Operations at Ensemblex. For the past five years in this role, he has managed Ensemblex's product build and launch engagements, including the de novo launch of a successful consumer credit card program. Scott has over two decades of experience in operational strategy focused on business growth. He began his career as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, and later became director of marketing operations and strategy at Capital One. Scott co-founded Ready Financial Group, which merged with AccountNow, where he served as vice president of marketing operations. Most recently, he was head of U.S. payments and card operations at Monzo Bank.
Scott holds a BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University.
Boise, ID
Leland Burns
Managing Director
Leland Burns is the Managing Director of Analysis at Ensemblex. For the past six years in this role, Leland has managed Ensemblex's AI modeling and credit risk strategy engagements for over 20 lenders and fintechs around the world. Before joining Ensemblex, Leland worked at Zest AI for five years and led its business analysis team. At Zest, Leland managed the company’s core lending business and then led the growth of its professional services business, pioneering the use of AI models for consumer credit. Leland began his career in the Marine Corps, where he served for six years as an infantry officer.
Leland holds a BA from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, both in International Relations.
Los Angeles, CA
Stephanie Goodrich
Senior Associate
Stephanie Goodrich is a Senior Associate at Ensemblex. She supports internal operations and partners with clients on product launch projects, helping drive execution and streamline processes. Prior to Ensemblex, Stephanie spent nearly 20 years in the hospitality industry, most recently as a restaurant manager and certified sake sommelier at a renowned Japanese restaurant in Portland, Maine. There, she developed expertise in team leadership, operations, and customer experience.
Stephanie holds a BS in Nutrition and Food Sciences from the University of Vermont.
Portland, ME
Brandon Homuth
Partner
Brandon Homuth is a Partner at Ensemblex. He leads the company’s credit advisory business, working with lenders around the world to strengthen their credit capabilities and accelerate their results. He supports clients in various capacities including interim chief credit risk officer, senior credit adviser, and project lead. Brandon has over 20 years of experience in consumer financial services, including 11 years at Capital One across the customer lifecycle and seven years at Encore Capital Group, where he held multiple executive roles as the company grew into the largest debt recovery firm in the world. He also served as president of ClearOne Advantage, a privately held consumer debt solutions business with $100MM in revenue and 500 employees.
Brandon holds a BA from Yale University.
Denver, CO
Meagan LeBlanc
Director
Meagan LeBlanc is a Director at Ensemblex. She supports internal operations and partners with clients on engagements to build out customer service capabilities. Meagan has over a decade of experience implementing customer service and operational strategies. At ZestAI, she led training and quality programs and launched customer service initiatives for multiple lending products. She has also consulted for lending startups, developing customer service strategies from the ground up.
Meagan attended the University of Massachusetts and holds a BA in Clinical Psychology.
Charlotte, NC
Trina Leishman
Senior Associate
Trina Leishman is a Senior Associate at Ensemblex. She manages feature builds and product improvements for clients. She supports all product launch engagements, helping launch a fintech credit card startup for which she continues to provide operational support. Trina has decades of experience in the finance and fintech sectors, including leadership roles at Green Dot and Capital One. At Green Dot, she led direct mail marketing strategy and execution. At Capital One, she managed multiple risk management projects.
Trina holds a BA in Business Administration from Boise State University.
Boise, ID
Jim Mcguire
Managing Director
Jim McGuire is the Managing Director of Data Science at Ensemblex. During his time at Ensemblex, Jim has built and deployed over a dozen credit models, supported in-house data science teams, and advised clients on machine learning best practices. Previously, Jim was principal data scientist at Flowcast, applying machine learning to global trade risk assessments. Before that, he led the machine learning team at ZestAI as director of data science.
Jim holds a BA in Physics from Dartmouth College and a PhD in Physics from the University of California, San Diego.
Los Angeles, CA
Chloe Zhu
Managing Director
Chloe Zhu is the Managing Director of the Venture Studio at Ensemblex. Under her leadership, the Venture Studio has co-founded three fintechs that have raised $250MM+ during the fintech winter. Chloe brings over a decade of credit and investment experience. She previously led multiple new product launches at Mission Lane and raised over $300MM in capital, helping double the company’s customer base. Before that, she was a founding investor at White Oak Global Advisors, where she helped scale a global investment fund to over $200MM across four continents. Chloe began her career in JPMorgan’s investment bank and is a CFA charterholder.
Chloe holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.