A fixer-upper taught Dan Snyder what a house could do for a balance sheet. A stadium taught Columbus his company’s name. The years between explain how Lower became a national mortgage platform without leaving Ohio behind.

After 12 years building Zillow's marketplace, Schwartz traded scale for a blank sheet of paper. At Tomo, his wager is that a mortgage can feel less like paperwork with a deadline and more like a service designed for an actual person.