Dennis Lee

Industry Advisor

Dennis Lee is the co-founder and former president and CEO of Octane Fitness, the only company in the world exclusively focused on the zero-impact cardiovascular fitness equipment category. He oversaw strategic direction and day-to-day operations. In September 2001, he launched Octane Fitness in his unfinished basement; today, Octane is the market leader for zero-impact training products. He built Octane based on a strategy unique to the fitness industry that focused exclusively on the core competencies of product innovation and sales and service excellence, outsourcing all other non-core competencies. As a result of this approach, he and Octane realized incredible growth within the U.S., opened additional offices in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom and created a $60+ million business. Under his leadership, Octane was a multiple-year recipient of Minnesota’s “Top 100 Workplaces” awards by both Minnesota Business and the Star-Tribune. He has won the CEO of the Year award twice from North Castle Partners. Dennis and co-founder Tim Porth earned the regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2007 award in the consumer products division and were national award finalists. He guided the business to its eventual sale to Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE: NLS) who purchased Octane Fitness for $115 million in December 2015 and transitioned out of his role at the end of 2016. Dennis has previously served on boards for Cascade and Torque Fitness. He currently serves on boards for HydroMassage and Twin Cities Lyme Foundation. Dennis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.