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Jason Guss is the CEO and co-founder of Octane, the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience in recreational markets, like Powersports, RVs, and Outdoor Power Equipment. He has overseen Octane’s vision, strategy, and culture since 2014, and led the company to achieve resounding success. Jason is a humble leader who collaborates with people throughout the organization, resulting in a highly-engaged team that has delivered remarkable results, like award-winning products, innovative customer-centered offerings, and a seamless digital-to-retail buying experience that’s unique in the industry.
Historically, making a lifestyle purchase has been a slow and manual process. Thanks to Jason’s leadership and foresight, Octane makes buying better for consumers, dealers, and OEM partners alike. By combining cutting-edge technology with innovative risk modeling and superior customer service, Octane delivers a fast and easy, end-to-end buying experience, from inspiration through to loan servicing. Octane inspires enthusiasts through its media brands, like Cycle World and UTV Driver, routes customers to dealerships with its digital tools, offers an express closing experience with its digital portal, provides loans through its in-house lender, Roadrunner Financial, and cares for customers through the life of their loan with superior loan servicing.
After gaining success in Powersports - Octane surpassed $1B in aggregate originations in May 2021 and $1B in YTD originations in October 2022 - Jason realized that Octane’s offerings were relevant to the broader recreational space. In 2022, Octane entered four new markets: tractors, trailers, RVs, and electric vehicles.
Jason also oversaw new products and services. In 2021, Octane introduced its suite of soft pull credit products, including the award-winning Octane Prequal. Octane Prequal provides real loan decisions in seconds, helping customers understand their buying power without impacting their credit score and driving incremental, qualified leads to dealers. In Q4 2022, Octane began rolling out Prequal Flex, a dedicated prequalification link that dealers can add to any marketing or sales collateral. In the pilot, dealers who used Prequal Flex had a 50% increase in loans funded. Jason also oversaw the introduction of Octane’s express closing process, which includes reduced stips and autofilled digital contracts, as well as Octane’s new, user-friendly customer portal.
Under Jason’s leadership, Octane forged 13 new OEM partners since January 2021, including industry leaders like Polaris and Club Car, bringing the company’s total OEM partners to 35+. Octane also grew its number of dealer partners to 4,000+ - a 26% increase since January 2021.
While growing its business, Octane has also prioritized responsibly expanding credit access to underserved customers, allowing more people to enjoy the great outdoors with a powersports vehicle or RV. At the same time, Jason ensured that the company maintained its strong underwriting and risk strategies. Octane completed four asset-backed securitizations totalling $1.4B since January 2021, a testament to its strong business performance.
Jason is also an advocate for his team and for DEI at Octane. The company invests in employee-led affinity groups, DEI roundtables and training, and policies that support employees in and out of work. As a result, Octane was named one of Mogul’s Top 100 Companies for Diverse Representation and was Certified™ by Great Place to Work.
By caring for his team and customers and delivering strong business results, Jason has earned the respect of the fintech sector and Octane’s stakeholders, and received numerous awards. He gave the fireside chat at the 2022 Powersports Finance Summit and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Jason is a board member of Petal, a mentor to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, and an advocate for the fintech community. By focusing on innovation, customer experience, and responsible credit, Jason has built a company that is well on its way to becoming an industry leader.
Nomination Title: Jason Guss, CEO
