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Banking Surfer-Style John Lynch, executive VP of Secured Funding Corp., breaks the mold. By Ray Wyman Jr. Every morning that there is "surfable surf," John Lynch breaks out his "quiver" of surf boards and runs down to the beach for "dawn patrol." Says Lynch, who is 35, "It's just me and the wave and nothing else for a couple of hours. By the time I get into the office, I've had a good workout and I'm ready to seize the day." That he surfs is really not unusual; this is, after all, Southern California where much of surfer culture was spawned. However, not many banking executives are quite so 'Generation X' as Lynch, and few (if any) surfriders have reached his level of success in the rather unsurfer-like business of home equity financing. He tosses his willowy frame into a high-back leather chair with an expression that swims with youthful energy. "I'm not a typical banker," he says. Nor is he a typical surfer. His office is located in the staid environs of Secured Funding Corp., one of California's fastest-growing lenders and one of Orange County's largest employers. Lynch has served as the firm's atypical executive vice president for the past seven years. Nearly every outward aspect of his company fits that tight mold of what we expect from a mortgage company, but Lynch is the iconoclast who brings it all down with his decidedly non-corporate upbringing and, ergo, his approach on management. At home behind a spacious and uncluttered desk, Lynch's appropriately trim and banker-like appearance belies the little clues about his personality that make him a source of curiosity and admiration: the stereo in the corner of his office amid a litter of edgy-looking CDs, his casual "Hey Bro" nods to colleagues and friends, a lazy smile and the occasional quirky understatement. "This is a wild place sometimes," he says during a guided a tour through 75,000 square feet of cubicles, computers, and proper business attire. "We rock." A surprising electricity runs among the stream of courteous, smart-looking people flowing around trendy furniture, humming along with contemporary music piped over the PA. There is a Starbucks-style coffee and snack bar located in the middle of the cavernous bullpen, a well-equipped workout room and other amenities suitable for an executive lounge, all provided (courtesy of the grateful management) to a workforce of about 450 people who rack up hundreds of transactions per hour in the highly competitive field of home financing. Thanks to the unique partnership between Lynch and company President and CEO Lorne Lahodny, Secured Funding actually IS rocking. The two men have seen their business expand into a network of three regional offices (Atlanta, Dallas and Las Vegas) with a grand total of about 600 employees nationwide and gross revenues of about $50 million in 2003 - bringing them within reach of a "conservative" goal of $75 million for 2004. Not a bad accomplishment for what kicked off as a two-man shop back in 1997. "Everybody shares the responsibility of making this business successful," says Lynch. "This is a work-hard, play-hard company; a collaboration between Lorne and me, between the board of directors and us, and between everybody else in the company, right down to the people sitting behind the reception desk. That's the way successful businesses are grown." So, what the heck does a surfer know about running a multimillion-dollar corporation? Lynch, who "never took a day of college," earned all of his executive pinstripes through a succession of humble entrepreneurial experiences that began with mowing lawns at age 15. Lynch's little lawn-care operation quickly evolved into a serious landscaping business that was supported by a sizable client list that included a local bowling alley and several Del Taco restaurants. "It got so big that my dad had to step in and run the business because it was interfering with school," Lynch recalls. Nobody showed him how to grow the business; nobody pushed him into landscaping as a career, he says. "It was just something I picked up. I wanted to make some money and I took the effort seriously." His family moved from the San Fernando Valley to San Clemente when he was 11 years old. "Everything was different. Even the air smelled funny to me," he says. "I asked my dad, 'Hey, what's that smell?' and he said, 'It's clean air, get used to it.'" Soon Lynch found himself on the waves with his first surfboard teaching himself how to surf. By high school, he was competing as an amateur; by the time he graduated, he was successfully competing as a professional surfer with his own stable of corporate sponsors, traveling all over North America for competitions and surfing exhibitions. "For a while, you know, it was great," he says. "I had a good time." But the glamour wore off and he began looking for new challenges. "I'm the kind of person who pulls himself up by his own bootstraps," says Lynch. "I'll throw myself completely into a task until I've mastered it." As he did when he started his successful window-washing business and when he passed the Series 7 broker's exam by reading a book - becoming a broker and holding down three jobs at once to learn the banking business inside and out. "Not everybody agrees with my ideas on how to run things, but I give insight on what it feels like to work in the trenches," says Lynch. The walls of Lynch's office are festooned with flow charts, diagrams, lists and strategies: new ideas that are incubating and, like Lynch, maturing fast. He is particularly proud of the upcoming launch of a new software product that will help improve service to lenders, and the recent inauguration of a wholesale loans division. Ablaze with enthusiasm, he points to a vacant building next door that, by an eyeball estimate, appears to be as big as the building Secured Funding just moved into a little more than a year ago. "We're expanding into that," he states. "Watch and see. We're going to double our size and kick butt." Lahodny, who does not surf, celebrates Lynch's unique style and relishes the difference in his non-corporate upbringing. "When I met John, I thought 'There's something interesting about this guy' - not the type of person who would follow the textbook-style management - and that's what sealed the deal for me. If I said that John was my right-hand man, I would be underplaying his role in the company. It takes different types of people to grow a business. We hire people with advanced degrees to take care of the day-to-day management issues of this business. John has that piece of the puzzle that is deeply creative. He has that rare entrepreneurial touch that can quickly grasp the lay of the land and go after opportunities before they get away." "I'm aggressive and there's a lot that I want to achieve with my life," says Lynch. For the foreseeable future, he will continue as a master of both the surfboard and the boardroom - plus anything else that he decides to do. OCM Ray Wyman, Jr. is a freelance journalist and author. Reach him at rwyman@heavypen.com. Letters to the editor go to: Feedback@ocmetro.com. John Lynch's 10 Rules for Success 1. Keep trying. The difference between a flake and somebody who is trying is the consistency of the effort applied. Success is something that happens later. 2. If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth doing. Persevere through the hard times and resist the easy way out. 3. Luck is a condition of preparation. Opportunities are things that you position yourself for (see #1). 4. Make your values your 'non-compromiseables' - once you stray from what you believe, you are lost. 5. As the song says, 'knowledge is power.' You are what you learn. 6. What worked yesterday doesn't necessarily work today. Evolution is mandatory. 7. Don't brag about how bitchin' you are. Show them then let them tell you. 8. Work hard, play hard. Life is too short to play it safe. 9. Success is a journey, not a destination. 10. Family first, everything else is second place.
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