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In March of 2000, Mr. O'Brien was the co-founder and CEO of financialaid.com. His direction of the company and its Internet marketing strategies have made financialaid.com one of the most successful student loan companies in the country. Today, financialaid.com funds more than $45 million in student loans each month. At financialaid.com, Mike conceptualized and created , CampusDirt.com (the number one online college search engine), RateYourCampus.com (online feedback community) and CampusClix.com (a college social networking website). In October of 2004, Mike sold financialaid.com and properties to Education Lending Group (NASDAQ: EDLG) which in turn was purchased by CIT (NYSE: CIT) for $400MM in January 2005. He remained CEO/President until his exit in December 05.
Mike O'Brien is considered an expert in higher education finance and Internet marketing. He has been interviewed by numerous national television and print news media -- including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, NBC Nightly News, Fox News Network, the Chicago Tribune and Kiplingers -- regarding the widening college affordability gap and the resulting growing demand for student loans, student loan consolidation and online marketing trends. Mike also has delivered speeches on Internet marketing trends and techniques at the CEO West Conference (Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization) and the National CEO Conference in Washington, DC.
Currently, Mike is an investor and Board Member of UnderstandSurgery.com, LLC and TopSwingLeasing.com, LLC and a consultant to College Player World Series. With his brother Matt, O'Brien owns OBI, LLC a small venture capital and real estate investment company.
