Rentec Direct - Entrepreneur of the Year

Company: Rentec Direct, Grants Pass, OR
Company Description: Rentec Direct was founded in 2009 with a vision of providing a complete management solution for professional property managers and landlords. Since then, the company’s cloud-based software platform has evolved and met the demands of the marketplace, not only serving more than 14,000 property managers overseeing 400,000 units but also expanding to help better connect landlords and tenants.
Nomination Category: Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Entrepreneur of the Year - Real Estate

Nomination Title: Nathan Miller, Founder and President of Rentec Direct

Nathan Miller is the founder of Rentec Direct, a property management software company that allows investors, landlords and property managers to organize and manage their properties, tenants and bank accounts, and also provides solutions for tenants. Software features include a mobile app, tenant and owner portals, the industry’s largest vacancy listing syndication network, renters’ insurance, accounting abilities, e-filing tax forms and more.

Years ago, Nathan began investing in rental properties and managing them himself, and found that the industry was full of inefficiencies. He knew he couldn’t be alone in his struggles with stacks of receipts each month, trying to manage his properties using spreadsheets. Fueled by coffee and a passion for efficiency, Nathan spent hundreds of early mornings before his full-time day job coding the very first version of Rentec Direct (thanks to his background in software development). More than a decade later, his passion project has grown into the third largest property management software in its sector, serving more than 16,000 clients managing more than 620,000 units across the country.

Nathan’s vision continues to grow as he regularly leads advancements in Rentec Direct’s client experience, product innovation and software technology. Over the years, he has built Rentec Direct on his own time and invested his own money, making Rentec Direct 100% organically grown and completely debt-free today. In 2020, this growth led to Rentec Direct being named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies for the fourth consecutive year - with a three-year revenue growth of 157%. Rentec Direct was also included on the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Entrepreneur360 list of Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America.

Nathan has ensured Rentec Direct stands out from even its strongest competitors by prioritizing client support and customer service, and focusing on small to midsize property managers - a market segment often abandoned by other vendors in the space. Rentec Direct values its smallest client the same as its largest client, and Nathan always makes decisions based on what is best for the majority of his customers, rather than a select few.

Nathan has made significant steps toward his goal of empowering property managers and landlords through technology advancements. He also often implements direct client feedback and requests to develop new features and tools to help rental professionals and investors succeed, and to make tenant-landlord interactions easier on both parties. Some of these steps included:

-The launch of platform features including a new batch income and expense transaction tool, SSL security updates for property management websites, accessibility enhancements for visually impaired users, new integrations like a pet-screening feature and state-specific forms and documents, and a new income verification feature for tenant screening.
-Regularly contributing insight and knowledge to industry publications, like BiggerPockets and Geek Estate, and national business outlets, like Forbes. Nathan also has participated in several national podcasts and writes for the popular Rentec Direct blog, which saw a 34% growth in daily visitor traffic in 2019.
-Rentec Direct granted four scholarships through a program Nathan founded, the Tech Mastery Scholarship, for college and graduate students pursuing an education in computer science, software development or a closely related field.
-Rentec Direct experienced a 33% year-over-year growth in revenue in 2020, compared to industry competitors who saw an average of 24% year-over-year growth

Nathan is a lifelong resident of Southern Oregon and is passionate about community development and engagement. He is committed to making his local community a better place by providing stable jobs, and has partnered with Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. (SOREDI), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the long-term prosperity of Southern Oregon. In 2019, Rentec Direct received an honorary Champion Level Member status with SOREDI for its engagement and support of the dynamic partnership of professionals actively building a stronger regional economy.

-Collected data from the Rentec Direct platform and published eight free monthly reports revealing the impact of the pandemic on rental payment behavior in the U.S. and was named a Silver Stevie® Award recipient in the International Business Awards for Most Valuable Corporate Response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
-Granted four scholarships through the Tech Mastery Scholarship for college students pursuing an education in computer science, software development or a closely related field
-Rentec Direct experienced a 33% year-over-year growth in revenue in 2020, compared to industry competitors who saw an average of 24% year-over-year growth
-Recognized as a finalist in the 2020 Oregon Technology Awards for Rentec’s impact on the Oregon technology community, financial performance, employment factors and community involvement
-Successfully cut nearly 55,000 kWh of energy consumption over the past two years through green initiatives like a solar system, LED lighting and high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment