TOP 100 MAGAZINE

Jason Mariasis

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“I pour my heart and soul into my work. My products are a reflection of me. I do whatever it takes, break through walls, and inspire those around me to be unstoppable. I believe in a better way.”

 

This is Jason Mariasis’ credo—one that he has nurtured, believed in, and practiced throughout his entire career. A servant leader. An influencer. A motivator. A profound sense of purpose. This is what underlies a success story that can only be described as astonishing.

 

From the time he was in grade school, Jason aspired to be more, to do more, and to achieve more. His first foray in entrepreneurship was Galaxy Productions, a DJ and event planning business that he started while in 6th grade with only the support of his parents, his dad’s stereo, and a Discman. It wasn’t long before Jason was turning a profit. After taking on a partner, he doubled down, buying better equipment and reinvesting his earnings. Before long, Galaxy Productions had six employees and over 50 engagements per year. By the time Jason was in high school, he had been named a future leader by a Massachusetts newspaper, and in college was featured in the New York Times.

 

Now, Jason is the vice president of digital product management for Credit One Bank, where he is responsible for leading digital product strategy and digital transformation initiatives, but he’s also amassed an enviable list of noteworthy projects over the past 15 years.

 

To learn more about his extraordinary career history, we spoke with Jason about his strategy, his endeavors, and his motivation.

 

Jason, let’s talk about the journey from entrepreneur to intrapreneur.

 

You start a business because you want to make an impact. I want to do something that matters with a group of people that share in that vision, that want to work together to do something great. The theme throughout my entire career is a profound sense of purpose, whether building businesses from the ground up or working on behalf of large companies in service to customers. I am always focused on the why—why am I doing this, why am I joining this company, what’s the problem that needs to be solved, and how do we find a better way? This purpose aligns with my position at Credit One, just as it did throughout every role and company in my career. I joined Credit One to help them expand beyond a credit card provider to a financial success partner, and ultimately, a life success partner that helps customers succeed at every part of their journey and achieve their goals. It’s a Rising Tide Lifts all Ships philosophy, and I believe that companies can succeed while lifting others up. People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. It’s all about adding value. Success can look different. It doesn’t have to be at the expense of others. It can be a win-win.

 

You’ve acquired over 15 years of experience in building and scaling disruptive products globally for Fortune 500 companies and startups. Tell us about those roles.

 

From 2011 to 2015, I was a product manager at Capital One Labs. This was my first job after graduating from Hamilton College. At the time, the Lab was an internal startup within Capital One, tasked to drive innovation. The charter was to reimagine how people interact with their money. I helped develop cutting-edge mobile experiences to make banking easier for customers, starting with a first-of-its-kind instant rewards redemption option called “Rewardly,” that eventually evolved into the Capital One Mobile Wallet, debuting as the Apple App Store’s number one finance app, with millions of users. We began by talking to customers to uncover their unmet needs and worked backwards from those to create meaningful solutions.

 

In 2015, I became the head of digital marketing products for Vistaprint Digital, providing SaaS digital marketing services for small businesses all in one place. Vistaprint was historically a print-based company, but they wanted to move into the digital marketing space in response to shifting customer expectations. I helped facilitate Vistaprint’s transition from the world’s largest print company to a marketing partner for more than 16 million businesses around the globe in collaboration with an outstanding team. While still at Vistaprint, I co-founded and became the CEO of Stratus, an AI-driven, personal finance management platform touted as the first ever “TurboTax for financial planning for everyday people.” We created this smart, low-cost, digital alternative to traditional financial advisors for those that needed help the most. We kept the customer at the center, offering friendly, personalized, step-by-step recommendations to achieve financial security and build long-term term wealth and accumulated tens of thousands of users.

 

In 2019, I joined Sterling, a leading provider of background and identity services, as head of product for its new small and mid-sized business unit. I was hired to design a solution geared toward that segment and expand Sterling’s total addressable market. We built out a new arm of the company and launched SterlingNOW, the first-ever, on-demand, self-service background screening platform, providing unprecedented access to high-quality, enterprise-grade screening at an affordable price to enable faster, smarter and safer hiring decisions. I oversaw the exceptional product, design, research, and engineering teams that designed it, and we brought the first version to market within three months. We had 9,000 small businesses on the platform while I was there, and secured 36 partnerships with some of the world’s largest retail franchises and professional employer organizations.

 

I’m incredibly thankful for these opportunities, the many talented team members, managers and mentors I was fortunate enough to work with, the countless lessons learned, and for what we were able to accomplish.

 

Jason Mariasis
VP, Digital Product Management
Credit One Bank
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmariasis