Published 
Jun 23, 2025

Automation Without Engineers: How One Team Capital Cut Intake Time by 75% with Heron

One Team Capital, a credit origination network, partnered with Heron to automate the intake of credit applications. The result: a shift from late-night manual data entry to scalable infrastructure that unlocked more time for high-impact work — all without needing to become technical experts.

Automation Without Engineers: How One Team Capital Cut Intake Time by 75% with Heron

75%

reduction in intake time - from 11 minutes to 2.5 minutes per file

0

FTE Engineers required - implemented with Heron's support

{{matthew-sapnar}}

One Team Capital is a credit origination network that connects a broad base of loan origination partners with the right lenders. Their role is to receive, review, and route credit applications — and in a fast-moving market, speed and efficiency are everything.

The Problem: Time-Heavy Intake

As One Team Capital’s business grew, so did the volume of credit applications. The founding team was spending up to 24 hours a week manually inputting submissions — often well after the workday had ended. Even senior executives were pulled into routine data entry. They needed to move faster, but without compromising quality or introducing unnecessary complexity.

“It was crazy. Three to four hours a day, just putting in applications. We’d receive them from partners every minute of the day — and we had to stop what we were doing to input them.”

As they evaluated solutions, their goal wasn’t to become a tech company — it was to find a partner who could help them run a better business. They were looking for a solution that could help streamline operations without requiring engineers, product managers, or complicated integrations.

“We knew conceptually what we wanted, but we couldn’t verbally convey it in technical terms. We didn’t want to spend money hiring people into a broken process.”

They wanted something reliable, simple to maintain, and built to scale — and that’s exactly what they found with Heron.

The Solution: Automation Without the Overhead

1. Tech-Forward Automation — No Engineering Required

Heron gave One Team the ability to modernize their intake process without building custom infrastructure or hiring technical staff. The implementation was guided, fast, and practical — freeing the team to focus on running their business, not wrangling a tech stack. The product was flexible and easy to adopt, and Heron’s team guided them through every step of implementation.

“We’re not engineers — but Heron was communicative, flexible, and extremely fair. We didn’t have to build it ourselves — they helped us figure out what to do and made it happen.”

By removing technical barriers, Heron enabled the team to modernize their workflows without the friction they had previously feared.

2. Meaningful Time Savings

Before Heron, the team was spending up to 3 to 4 hours per day on manual intake — often during nights and weekends. With Heron, that dropped by 75%, reducing average intake time from 11 minutes to 2.5 minutes per file.

“With the help of Heron and the system we created, we’re able to fully submit files in about two and a half minutes.”

This wasn’t just an improvement in efficiency — it was a meaningful shift in capacity, helping the team keep up with volume while staying lean.

3. More Bandwidth for Strategic Work

Heron didn’t just save time — it freed up the team to do the work that actually grows the business.

But the impact went far beyond time savings. Heron gave the team back their most limited resource: focus. Instead of late-night submission work, the founders had the freedom to meet with partners, visit strategic accounts, and pursue the business development work that drives long-term growth.

“Our executives and founders are now traveling… going to conventions, visiting strategic partnerships, having conversations that are extremely important.”

What had once been sacrificed to late-night intake sessions was now reclaimed — enabling the team to grow without burning out.

For One Team Capital, Heron wasn’t just a tool — it was a turning point. What started as a need to reduce manual workload became a low-lift, scalable automation solution that returned time, created operational leverage, and allowed the team to focus on growing the business. With Heron powering intake behind the scenes, One Team now has the foundation to move faster, stay lean, and scale with confidence.

Stop typing. Start scaling.

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“We used to be online at 10 p.m. and work until 1 a.m. just entering applications. With Heron, we’re finally out from behind the keyboard — we’re meeting partners, traveling, growing the business. That just wasn’t possible before.”
Matthew Sapnar
Matthew Sapnar, President and Co-Founder, One Team Capital