# James Garvey

> James Garvey is the Austin-based co-founder and CEO of Self Financial, a U.S. credit-building company. A software engineer with a mathematics degree from UC Davis, he developed the idea after missed credit-card payments damaged his own record. He led Self through its early bank partnerships and expansion, moved to a board role in October 2023, and returned as CEO in March 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Self Financial
- **Organizations:** Self Financial, Objective Loyalty, Techstars Austin
- **Education:** B.S., Mathematics, University of California, Davis
- **Known for:** Co-founded and built Self Financial, which reported having helped more than four million individuals by March 2026., Raised approximately $127 million in venture capital for Self during his initial CEO tenure., EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Central South award winner.

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Worked as a software engineer at a startup while attending college.
- **2005** — Started email marketing company Objective Loyalty with a partner.
- **2014** — Developed Self’s concept and presented its beta at TechCrunch Disrupt in September.
- **2015** — Moved to Austin in March for Techstars; Self was founded as Self Lender.
- **2016** — Self launched in 43 states on February 27 after developing its own core technology.
- **2018** — Self launched its mobile app and raised a $10 million financing round.
- **2019** — Self Lender rebranded as Self Financial and introduced a secured Visa card.
- **2021** — Self raised a $50 million Series E; Garvey’s Council biography records $127 million raised across his tenure.
- **2022** — Self partnered with the San Antonio Spurs; Garvey won an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Central South award.
- **2023** — Julie Szudarek was appointed CEO in October; Garvey remained on the board.
- **2026** — Self announced Garvey’s return as CEO on March 17.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and built Self Financial, which reported having helped more than four million individuals by March 2026.
- Raised approximately $127 million in venture capital for Self during his initial CEO tenure.
- EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Central South award winner.
- Built Objective Loyalty with a partner to $2.5 million in EBITDA before its sale.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Appeared on David Cohen’s Give First podcast on October 20 to discuss Self, his return as CEO and communication practices.
- **2026-03** — Self announced his return as CEO on March 17, effective immediately.
- **2024-06** — Published a retrospective on seven lessons from building Self while on sabbatical.

## Links

- Website: https://jamesgarvey.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkgarvey
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jkgarvey

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-garvey
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26