Jason Goldlist (BPhil’06) has always been someone who wanted to do things differently. It was the reason he chose to leave Toronto for New Brunswick to attend university, even as his friends were going to Western or McGill. He was looking for a different kind of program, and the new bachelor of philosophy in interdisciplinary leadership at Renaissance College (now the School of Leadership Studies) fit the bill.

“I’ve always been one to go against the grain, so this program was perfect for me. It was innovative, community-based, and celebrated doing things differently. After I got over the culture shock of moving from Toronto to Fredericton, I really enjoyed it. My favourite parts were the self-directed projects in the community. We had a course on effective citizenship, and to understand change, we had to go out and make change happen. So, I ran for city council for Ward 10 in downtown Fredericton! I went door to door, spoke with everyone, and crafted a policy platform. That mentality of not just reading about it but getting out and experiencing it—that was everything I wanted.”

Renaissance College also ignited Jason’s interest in the wider world. Internships in Vancouver and Switzerland pushed him outward, and soon after graduation, he moved to Paris. From there, he joined McKinsey & Company as a data analyst and was able to travel to places like New York City, Amsterdam, and sub-Saharan Africa—where he worked for 13 months, consulting on telecom projects. It was intense, important work that sharpened his understanding of systems, people, and culture.

His winding path then took him back to Canada, and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, where he was deputy venue manager for Athlete’s Village in Whistler. With a team of 150 serving more than 3,000 athletes over 77 non-stop days, he discovered he loved building large, mission-driven teams.

From there, an MBA at INSEAD led to an opportunity in Seattle with what would become the largest senior-care referral service in the United States. “It was kind of the Expedia for seniors’ homes. It was hugely successful, and I learned so much about problem-solving and growth.”

When it came time to return to Toronto to raise a family, he looked for “smart people doing interesting work” and found his way into a young investment and technology firm that would soon become Wealthsimple. “I found a friend who was starting an investment firm that would operate completely differently from any other out there. I came on as Wealthsimple’s first marketing leader, then general manager, and helped build out the brand and communications. I even got to buy a Canadian Super Bowl ad in 2016—it was huge for us. We built the company to become the leading fintech company in Canada.”

Jason was also busy as co-founder of TechTO, Canada’s largest tech community that brings together 50,000 members to build an inclusive tech ecosystem of entrepreneurs and innovators. For Jason, this world aligns with his way of thinking. “The ethos of the tech sector is to get beyond thinking about something and just do it. That’s been my mentality since I was at UNB.”

Taking risks in my career had been successful so far, so I looked for smart people I knew in Toronto to jump on board with.

That mentality brought Jason to the next stop along his path—developing his own business. “It was time to put my own skin in the game.”

He stepped away from the general manager position at Wealthsimple, but remained an adviser, while turning his attention toward building his own products and sought out people to bring on board with him—“people who were smart, kind and wanted to create software that would make the world a better place.”

They started working on an idea. Then the pandemic hit, and it all changed.

Jason’s experience running events at TechTO gave him insight into what would be needed for events to bring people together virtually. “We started running interactive live streams for TechTO on March 19, 2020. Our in-person events were always truly interactive and brought people together, but we couldn’t find software that would do the same well online. All the platforms focused on the speaker but didn’t respect the audience. I wanted to build community, not broadcast a message.”

In April of that year, they started building the software to do just that. Venue—a software platform that offers beautiful, interactive spaces to bring communities of people together to experience content and make authentic connections—was born.

“By that May, we were using it for TechTO, and by the summer, we brought on other users. I was knocking on doors again, just like back in Fredericton. I was listening to customers and what they wanted from the platform and then made improvements.”

In the years that followed, Jason continued to build. Venue. Live evolved, TechTO’s community flourished, and his focus deepened on tools that enable people to work and learn. That direction led to his current venture, Venue.ink, a platform that supports tattoo artists and creative studios with a full operating system: booking, payments and client communication in one place.

Nearly 20 years after he walked into Renaissance College, Jason still lives the lesson he learned there: don’t wait for permission, build what you need. But more importantly, people matter, community matters, and progress starts when you stop talking about what could work and begin building what will.

Story updated for the Fall 2025 issue of UNB Alumni News