Doug Lebda doesn’t enjoy telling people that they’re being stupid. For that, the founder and CEO of LendingTree, the booming online loan platform, typically turns to his friend Lenny. An irreverent personality, Lenny is more than happy to explain how you just got fleeced on your mortgage, and in blunt language. A typical Lenny-ism: “Taking the first mortgage offer you get is like marrying the first person you kiss.”
It softens the blow that Lenny is small and green, with a big, open smile. Oh, and that he’s a puppet. LendingTree hired Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to create the wisecracking character in 2013, and since then Lenny has appeared in a series of TV ads for Lebda’s company.
