From Zero to 7-Figure
Acquisition
How Mark and Nicole Gordon built Fortren Funding from a post-recession bet into a company E Mortgage Management paid seven figures to acquire.
A Post-Recession Bet on Digital-First Lending
In 2012, the mortgage industry was still recovering. Traditional lenders were cautious. Processes were paper-heavy. Consumers were underserved, not because demand was gone, but because delivery was broken.
Mark saw the gap and built Fortren Funding to fill it. Fortren was designed from day one as a fully online, direct-to-consumer lender. No physical branches. No legacy overhead. The model required a clear go-to-market strategy, the right technology infrastructure, and the discipline to execute at every stage before anyone else caught up.
By the time E Mortgage Management came calling in 2016, Fortren had reached seven-figure annual revenue and had been publicly recognized as a digital mortgage innovator. That recognition was not after the fact. It was the reason EMM made the call.
Gordon and his talented team have successfully built a platform that meets the demands of today’s ever-changing consumer.
Kevin Crichton | President and COO, E Mortgage Management LLC
Three Moves That Built a Company Worth Buying
These are not just highlights from a past company. They are the exact capabilities Mark and Nicole bring to every IGTMS engagement: vision, systems, and the discipline to close the deal.
Finding the White Space and Owning It Before Anyone Else Showed Up
Mark identified that the post-recession consumer was underserved by traditional lenders, not because of lack of demand, but because of how mortgage services were delivered. He built Fortren’s entire go-to-market model around direct-to-consumer digital origination before “fintech lender” was a phrase anyone used.
That was not luck. It was pattern recognition combined with the discipline to execute before the market caught up. Fortren was publicly described by its acquirer as an “innovator” in online direct-to-consumer digital lending. Not by analysts after the fact. By the company that wrote the check.
Turning a Tech Problem into a Competitive Advantage That Made Fortren Acquirable
Fortren ran on two mission-critical platforms: Salesforce for CRM and Encompass for loan origination. The two systems did not communicate. The team was facing a real decision: scrap Salesforce entirely, or find a way to make the integration work.
Nicole drove the decision to build a custom bidirectional integration using the Encompass SDK APIs. At the time, no native solution existed anywhere in the industry. The build required deep knowledge of both systems, willingness to work at the API level, and the patience to get it right under production conditions.
The result: real-time loan data flowing between systems, zero double-entry, a unified pipeline view, and the operational capacity to scale without adding headcount. That integration became part of what made Fortren worth acquiring.
Taking a Company from Founding to Acquisition Close with the Full Team Intact
An acquisition is not just a moment. It is months of due diligence, operational documentation, negotiation, and keeping a business running without missing a beat.
Mark led the strategic positioning of the exit. He made sure Fortren was framed not as a distressed asset but as a growth platform EMM could build on. The difference between those two narratives is everything when it comes to deal terms.
Nicole managed the operational and technical handoff through to close. Systems documented. Team continuity confirmed. No disruption to the pipeline. No surprises for the acquirer.
A Clean Exit. A Proven Playbook.
On September 1, 2016, E Mortgage Management announced the acquisition of certain assets of Fortren Funding. The deal closed with the full founding team intact. EMM described it as an “extraordinary business opportunity” and positioned Fortren’s digital platform as the foundation for expanding their consumer-direct footprint across 35 states.
E Mortgage Management retained all three founders under the terms of the deal and cited their expertise as a primary driver of the acquisition’s value.
Four years. Seven figures. A successful acquisition. Not by accident. By design, discipline, and the kind of execution that only comes from people who have actually done it before.
This is the track record Mark and Nicole bring to every IGTMS client.
Ready to Build Something Worth Buying?
IGTMS works with B2B founders who are done guessing and ready to execute. Book a call with Mark and find out if you are a fit.
30-minute strategy call. No obligation.