John Zimmer is the co-founder and former president of Lyft, an on-demand transportation company, which he founded with Logan Green in 2012.Lawler, Ryan. Lyft-Off: Zimride's Long Road To Overnight Success. TechCrunch. August 29, 2014.
In March 2023, Zimmer announced that in June he would step down as Lyft president and become vice-chair of the board of directors.Lyft's Co-Founders to Step Down as Company Struggles
Early life and education Zimmer grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2006, Zimmer graduated from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity, Mu chapter. After graduation, Zimmer worked as an analyst in real estate finance at Lehman Brothers in New York City.
Zimmer left Lehman Brothers three months before it declared bankruptcy. In 2007, while Zimmer was working at Lehman Brothers, he and Logan Green founded Zimride, a ridesharing platform across college campuses.
Zimride While at Cornell, Zimmer was inspired to develop a rideshare program by filling the empty seats he had during his rides home over school breaks.Shaughnessy, Haydn. How to Win Friends AND Cut your Travel Costs. Forbes. November 18, 2011. Logan Green had also been thinking along those lines and had started "Zimride".Cohen, Deborah. Former Lehman's banker drives startup Zimride. Reuters. September 15, 2010.Shah, Semil. Why Zimride's John Zimmer Left Wall Street to Start a Company. TechCrunch. April 19, 2012. Zimride launched the first version of its rideshare program at Cornell University where, after six months, the service had signed up 20% of the student body.Sullivan, Colin. Startup Bets that Social Networking Will Spur Carpool Craze. New York Times. July 29, 2009.Schomer, Stephanie. Zimride: Carpooling for College Students . Fast Company. January 5, 2011. Later in 2007, Zimride was active on both the Cornell and UCSB campuses.Booking a ride in someone else's car. Smart Planet. April 9, 2012.
Zimmer quit his job at Lehman Brothers to work with Green full-time on Zimride. Green and Zimmer focused the service on carpooling between connected users and making carpooling fun and interesting.Kwan, Connie. Zimride's John Zimmer. Triple Pundit. November 1, 2010. By April 2012, the company was renamed Lyft and had raised $7.5 million in funding and was active at over 125 universities.Takahashi, Dean. Zimride raises $6M for ride-sharing car service. VentureBeat. September 21, 2011.
Lyft
After leaving his job at Lehman Brothers, Zimmer moved to Silicon Valley with Green to work on Zimride full-time. Lyft was launched in the summer of 2012 as a service of Zimride, before Zimmer and Green officially changed the name of the company from Zimride to Lyft. Zimmer did not take a salary during the first three years of Lyft's operation, and he and Green worked on the company out of an apartment they shared.
Personal life Zimmer is married. He met his wife while studying abroad in Seville, Spain; they have a daughter.
References
External links Zimride.com John Zimmer on Twitter