Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Today under the “Our Heroes” series we are speaking with Jason Meinzer, business analyst turned co-founder of CityRyde, an innovative bike sharing service which facilitates environmentally friendly public transportation. Jason knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur since the age of 12 when he felt the satisfaction of making a few bucks shoveling snow for the neighbours and today, Jason couldn’t be happier he took the entrepreneurial leap. Keep pedaling to find out more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

JM: My name is Jason Meinzer. I’ve held several positions in the past “working for the man” before I began, well, “working for the man”. 🙂 Most recently I left my job at Merck & Co. as a Business Analyst to start CityRyde with my fellow co-founder, Timothy Ericson.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

JM: The fact that I didn’t wake up happy to go to work everyday was a problem. I realized that I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I was about 12 years old and I got a lot of joy and satisfaction from making my own money by shoveling walkways in my neighborhood, all while competing with my brothers to see who could come home with the fattest pockets full of cash by the end of the day.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare yourself for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

JM: I didn’t really prepare myself; I dove in head first and completely naive. I learned by doing. Although I graduated with a dual B.S.B.A. in Entrepreneurship and MIS, I’d say I learned more within the first month of “doing” than the entire 4 years of academia.  The beginning was extremely hard; it was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. But not one day passed then nor now where I have absolutely no idea what to do. In times like these you learn to adapt and tap into your network to pull through.

DD: What are your suggestions for employees who want to be entrepreneurs?

JM: Take a look at Meinzer Entrepreneurship Thoughts 2010

DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business, and how do you feel?

JM: I most certainly am in the same business, and I have never been happier. I’ve been working on CityRyde for about 2 years now and I haven’t looked back. My current tenure is the longest I’ve ever held. I have also created a PowerPoint presentation which I use to present to Entrepreneurial College and high school classes, so I stay in touch with other entrepreneurs and try to help them along the way as well.

DD: Jason, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me about your entrepreneurial journey. I wish you the best of luck with CityRyde and thank you for being another successful entrepreneur who assists other wannabe entrepreneurs in their quest for success. It really is all about helping yourself while you help others.

JM: Thank you, Devesh, for having an interest in my story. And also thank you for believing in entrepreneurs like me who know there are things that need to be done in the world to make it a better place and sometimes entrepreneurs are the only ones who can really carry out those necessities.

DD: Jason Meinzer everybody, successful entrepreneur and co-founder of CityRyde, the bike sharing experts and an influential name in the bike share movement. Check him out at – www.CityRyde.com

Success to all!