Today’s episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast has two guests. First, Tom Dziubek talks with Landy Ung, co-founder of the online coupon and deal aggregation website 8Coupons. Landy discusses what features the website offers and how they use natural language processing to help discover deals.
In the second segment, Tom speaks with Consumerism Commentary founder Flexo about the factors homeowners with extra money should consider when deciding whether to invest that surplus in the stock market or to dedicate it to a mortgage.
8Coupons, Landy Ung & Investing vs. Paying Down Mortgage, Flexo: S03E11 / 83 & 84
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Table of contents
[00:00] Introduction from Tom Dziubek
[00:39] Interview with Landy Ung
– [00:52] History of 8Coupons
– [02:50] The number eight
– [04:04] 8Coupons on a mobile device
– [05:53] How 8Coupons differs from other deal services
– [07:03] Relationships with merchants and partners
– [07:22] Store selection on 8Coupons
– [08:02] How quickly a deal gets published
– [08:37] Social networking aspects
– [10:26] Dealbot
– [11:06] Natural language processing
– [13:39] Landy’s mother
[15:37] Interview with Flexo
– [15:48] The concept of paying down a mortgage
– [16:45] Who should consider investing vs. paying down their mortgage
– [18:35] Factors to consider
– [20:35] Proximity to retirement and the end of mortgage payments
– [22:18] Homeowners who don’t plan on staying in their house
[24:43] End
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Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published July 4, 2010. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
