Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything.
In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Jason Guss, Founder & CEO of Octane Lending, the fintech company transforming how consumers finance recreational vehicles—from ATVs to lawn tractors.
Together, they dive into the make-or-break decision that turned Octane from a failing aggregator into a $7B+ lending powerhouse.
The bold strategic bet
Octane launched as a lender aggregator—but the model didn’t work. With over 70% of revenue gone overnight, Jason made a bold call: abandon aggregation and launch Octane’s own lending operation.
It was a full pivot. No credit team. No capital markets expertise. No room for error. But that bet rebuilt the business and unlocked a multi-billion-dollar opportunity in a market most lenders ignored.
In this episode:
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