Brokers set for gold as OnDeck takes a lead from elite sports to build winning team of loan specialists

Brokers win as OnDeck builds elite team

IN Partnership with

Leading online small business lender OnDeck has tapped professional sport to build a process-driven team of loan specialists to produce winning commercial lending results for small businesses and their brokers

NICK REILY, national partnerships manager at OnDeck Australia, has learnt a thing or two from elite sport, including the benefits of building a cohesive and winning team that can support the needs of brokers and their small business customers. After starting out in rugby league with NRL Club St George Illawarra against South Sydney in 2002, Reily switched to rugby union in 2004. He skippered the Australian Sevens rugby team at the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games during a stellar rugby union career.

OnDeck is a leader in online lending to small businesses. Since launching in 2015, its focus has always been on supporting small businesses with access to fast, efficient unsecured finance. And OnDeck does things smarter – its KOALA Score™ credit assessment model uses innovative technology to assess loan applications and repayment capacity in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks. In 2021, OnDeck also launched Lightning Loans, which enable the decisioning of loans for up to $150,000 in as fast as 30 minutes, and funding in as fast as two hours.

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“Half the trick is figuring out what’s required to get to the top – the rest is ability. Those same attributes are 100% transferable in achieving success in sport or commercial lending”

Nick Reily, OnDeck Australia

The sporting difference is excellent for brokers Another significant point of difference that elite sportspeople bring to a business “is that they can identify how to be successful individually and then, further, how to collaborate with the rest of the team to achieve success as a group”, Reily says. “While I probably wasn’t the most experienced or technical rugby player in world rugby, stepping into the sport at 22 years of age, I did identify what was required to play on the international stage, how to achieve success and how to sustain that level to be successful over a long period of time. Half the trick is identifying what’s required to get to the top – the rest is ability. Those same attributes are 100% transferable in achieving success in both sport and commercial lending.”

“The sports guys’ focus and commitment to our lending processes rubs off on all of us and gives us an edge in delivering lending outcomes rapidly and efficiently to our clients”

Narine Kalloghlian, OnDeck Australia

Reily continues: “Ben and Josh are not only comfortable working in the team setting, but they are highly efficient, process driven, work extremely well towards goals, and all of that has had a profound impact on the entire partnerships team. They have lifted the overall standards and behaviours of our entire group, which has had a really positive impact on the rest of the team as well.” OnDeck experienced a 77% increase in finance applications between October and November 2021 and a 380% increase in originations from 2021 to 2022. According to Reily, success in business or elite sport is about establishing the right processes to be highly efficient, which ultimately leads to success. “With the Australian Sevens team, my objective was to score tries or stop the other team from scoring. But at OnDeck it’s about creating a really positive experience for our partners and our small business customers. As a group we aim to be bigger, better, faster and stronger in every way and to ultimately change the way our small business customers and partners experience small business finance.”

Every great team needs its engine-room technicians Whether it’s the All Blacks, the Melbourne Demons or Manchester City, every winning outfit needs its unsung heroes whose technical skills deliver World Cup or Premiership wins, gold medals, or even Ashes victories. “At OnDeck, we have a highly experienced and established partnerships team who deliver the skill sets to help brokers and their small business clients get the injection of cash funding they need,” Reily says. “These guys are the engine room of OnDeck, who oversee, for example, Lightning Loans that give small businesses the benefit of a fast, efficient service which allows us to process loans up to $150,000 with funding decisions in as little as 30 minutes.

“The established team that we have assembled here deliver the commercial and lending expertise, while Josh, Ben and I bring the drive, work ethic, high standards and a renewed commitment which we’ve transferred from our elite sporting backgrounds. It’s the perfect commercial mix that enables our partners and their customers to take the chequered flag.” Loan writer Narine Kalloghlian agrees that working with former elite sports stars benefits the entire OnDeck team. “The intensity and drive guys like Nick, Josh and Ben bring to our team is helping all of us take our game to a different level, and our partners and their small business customers are the clear winners,” she says. “Their focus and commitment rub off on all of us and give us an edge in delivering lending outcomes rapidly and efficiently to both our valued partners and customers.”

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“Half the trick is figuring out what’s required to get to the top – the rest is ability. Those same attributes are 100% transferable in achieving success in sport or commercial lending”

“The sports guys’ focus and commitment to our lending processes rubs off on all of us and gives us an edge in delivering lending outcomes rapidly and efficiently to our clients”

OnDeck can decision loans in as fast as

2 hours

Fast decision-making

mins

and offer funding of up to $150,000 in as little as

How the sporting edge helps brokers Reily believes transparency and speed are also central to the service brokers are seeking from a commercial lender. “If you are going to give brokers a no, they want to know why, and the quicker the better,” he says. “They want someone who is professional, open and transparent and will actually pick up a phone, call them, and work through any possible solutions to their challenges. This is the biggest point of difference that elite sportspeople bring to the table. “We have established and built a really slick unit here at OnDeck which I’m really proud of. Our highly efficient team all now recognise what it takes to quickly get a deal across the line, and I love the experiences we continue to create for our small business customers and our partners.”

“The sports guys’ focus and commitment to our lending processes rubs off on all of us and gives us an edge in delivering lending outcomes rapidly and efficiently to our clients”

Narine Kalloghlian, OnDeck Australia

SURGE IN ORIGINATIONS

380%

OnDeck has recorded a

increase in originations from 2021 to 2022

In his management role at OnDeck, Reily, who also played soccer at a semi-professional level, has assembled a cohesive team of loan writers and BDMs that includes sporting talent even Richmond FC’s Ted Lasso would drool over. The group includes Ben Starkey, who plays with leading Australian rugby club Randwick in Sydney, and Josh Edmondston, who represented Victoria in baseball. Edmondston, a senior business development manager at OnDeck, was on the cusp of Australian representation when injury cruelled his international ambitions. Reily says, “I know the value that professional sportspeople can add to a broker support team. They are highly motivated, ambitious, process driven, and work extremely well towards outcomes and goals.”