Global online small business lender OnDeck Capital announced in December that they’ll begin providing select small businesses with equipment finance loans. This move will help bring the online lender’s significant digital technology expertise into a market that has often been complex and slow-moving—and at the helm of this expansion in lending products is Noah Breslow, OnDeck’s CEO and Chairman.
Breslow’s tenure as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OnDeck began in June 2012, when he assumed the position following founder Mitch Jacobs’ departure. OnDeck’s innovative push into the small business equipment financing sector makes sense under Breslow’s energetic and novel leadership. Indeed, it was these qualities that lead him to be named one of Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2015. His profile in Crain highlighted some of the traits that help make him an effective and nimble leader of the online small business lender, including his propensity for jeans and chucks over a suit and tie, his tendency to take his lunch at his desk and limit social media usage to improve focus, and his youthful entrepreneurial ventures making pocket money by playing standards at political fundraisers.
Breslow’s approach appears to have paid off. Under Breslow’s leadership, OnDeck has experienced strong growth in the past year. Third quarter 2018 net income was $9.8 million, up from a net loss of $4.1 million just a year prior. Gross revenue similarly improved, up 23 percent year-over-year. The company projects that financial performance in 2019 will also be strong.
Breslow first joined OnDeck in June 2007 as Vice President of Product and Operations. He later served as Senior Vice President of Products and Technology from March 2008 to September 2009, Chief Product Officer from October 2009 to September 2011, and Chief Operating Officer from October 2011 to June 2012.
Prior to his move to OnDeck, Breslow held positions in marketing, product management, business development, finance, systems design and software engineering at firms such as Tacit Networks, Kokua Communications, Teledesic and Netscape. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT. Breslow also holds a U.S. patent for his innovations in network protocol optimization.
