Exploring Tomo's Rapid Growth: In Conversation with Revenue Leader Sam Lanfear
“We’re approaching problems like a tech company that just happens to be better at mortgage than everyone else, not as a mortgage company trying to be a tech company,” says Sam Lanfear, SVP at Tomo. This insight explains how the startup achieved 1,300% year-over-year revenue growth in 2024 while the broader industry contracted by nearly 22%.
Having spent nine formative years at Rocket Mortgage where he rose from making 600 calls a day to Vice President leading hundreds of sales professionals, Lanfear offers a unique perspective. “Rocket was a true meritocracy,” he reflects. “They didn’t care how old you were or what degree you had. They cared about two things: production and cultural alignment – doing the right thing with integrity.”
This background shapes Tomo’s distinctive approach to mortgage operations. Unlike typical mortgage brokers, they maintain full control of the lending process. “A lot of people get confused – we’re not a brokered shop,” Lanfear explains. “We bank loans, we can sell directly to Freddie. We’re doing all the underwriting and processing in-house.” This operational autonomy enables their data-driven system of “dynamic prioritization” that optimizes every customer interaction.
“We remove all our stigmas about how this game should be done,” he explains. “For some lead sources, speed really matters. For others, it doesn’t matter if you call within 24 hours. And for others, buying client information on Saturday or Sunday is far less fruitful than buying on Monday or Tuesday.” Lanfear says.
The company’s tech-first mindset extends to process automation. They’ve developed systems for auto-condition verification that streamline traditional friction points. Instead of the typical chain of processor calls and emails for a letter of explanation, Tomo has created a one-button process that automatically generates digestible communications across multiple channels.
The results are compelling. By December 2024, Tomo’s loan officers were averaging 20 purchase closings monthly – up from just 3-4 in August 2023. This growth stems from their fundamental reimagining of mortgage operations.
At the core of their strategy is what Lanfear refers to as “the Costco business model” applied to mortgage lending. “It’s not about peaks and troughs and capitalizing on refi booms,” he explains. “We maintain roughly set margins and are absolutely ruthless about giving clients the best pricing, but never get greedy. This builds a brand that can consistently help consumers regardless of market conditions.” This approach has helped Tomo maintain pricing better than 85-90% of the market while building sustainable operations.
The company has developed sophisticated models that optimize interactions based on lead source and timing while automating condition verification through what Lanfear describes as “removing humans from the loop.”
The strategy extends to customer acquisition, where Tomo manages 20 different lead segments. “What’s really powerful is how we’ve integrated this with our pricing engine,” Lanfear notes. “We can identify opportunities like CRA-eligible loans in specific zip codes and automatically offer enhanced pricing because we know certain banks are motivated to invest in these areas.”
Looking ahead, Tomo aims to reach 500-1,000 purchase-specific closings monthly by mid-summer 2025. “We want to get to what we call the promised land – true net corporate profit,” Lanfear shares. “There’s no point in raising capital in tough markets because you just dilute yourself if you don’t have to.” This focused approach to growth, along with their commitment to operational efficiency and data-driven optimization, positions Tomo to transform the processing of mortgages in the digital era.
