A engineer & entrepreneur expert based out of Toronto, Ontario, Jason Vander Griendt brings a rare combination of experience and expertise to his work with Render 3D Quick. The longtime mechanical design engineer offers such a wide range of service offerings through Render 3D Quick that the company’s client base is made up of real estate companies, homeowners, developers, designers, contractors, builders, and architects. In addition to meeting the diverse needs associated with such a broad client base, Render 3D Quick has consistently proved it is capable of operating on a global scale while working with clients based in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and China.
As the skilled mechanical design engineer behind Render 3D Quick’s business prowess, Vander Griendt has garnered a reputation as a detail-oriented professional capable of quickly delivering work that is consistently of the highest quality. Specializing in three-dimensional architectural renderings and animations, Vander Griendt has long understood the importance of delivering highly accurate 3D renderings, animations and virtual reality tours for clients of his company. As a result, Vander Griendt works diligently to ensure the final product is always closely aligned with the precise needs of each individual client.
Although Vander Griendt is deeply passionate about 3D renderings and animation, the longtime resident of Toronto, Ontario, also continues to apply his impressive and diverse professional skillset in endeavors beyond Render 3D Quick. Vander Griendt has devoted over a decade to his role as the owner of J – CAD Inc. providing 3D CAD design services and prototyping/3D printing to clients globally. In deftly managing the responsibilities required of these diverse professional endeavors, the Fanshawe College graduate has relied on the strength of his work ethic along with his unique leadership capabilities — not to mention his recognition of the importance of always surrounding himself with a team of similarly talented, innovative, and hard-working professionals.
What was your best/favorite subject in school?
I liked 3D design a lot. At the time it was the new thing and the industry was switching over from AutoCAD 2D to 3D CAD design. I seemed to grasp it a lot faster than most of the other students and it’s interesting that now I own 2 businesses that specialize in 3D design.
What was your first job?
My first job was working at a convenience store stocking shelves 7 days a week. My job was to make sure all of the shelves looked perfect lining up all of the items and dusting them off. Everyday I’d show up for an hour or 2 and do this. My boss understood that if his store had nice and shiny products on the shelves looking aesthetically pleasing, the surrounding neighborhood would choose his store over the others in the area with dusty jars and disorganized products on the shelves. This idea worked and he did well and paid me well to do it. Interestingly this mentality applies to what I do now. If the renderings we produce look incredible our clients will choose us over the competition and that’s exactly what we aim to do!
Where and how did you first get into the industry you currently work in?
I went to school for engineering design. I had some 9-5 jobs with the largest engineering firms in the world (Siemens etc.) and started J – CAD Inc on the side. J – CAD Inc. was getting some inquires for 3D renderings as we design products and people needed product renderings for their websites and crowdfunding pages etc. J – CAD Inc. had 3D renderings as a keyword on the site and architectural clients were finding us. I realized that there was a large opportunity to branch this off and make it a separate company and Render3DQuickly Inc. was born.
How have those jobs prepared you for what you do now?
Working for the large firms showed me how the industry works and what is expected. This prepared me to work with clients I would get and know what they expect from me.
Describe the best day of work you’ve ever had.
Today! Lately I’ve been travelling a lot, visiting 22 countries in the last month Currently I’m typing in a villa I rented for a few weeks at the top of a mountain in Lake Como, Italy. I can see the Swiss Alps on the horizon and the Italian country side in front of me from this terrace. I really like online business for this reason. I can work anywhere!
How do you keep yourself motivated?
It’s easy to be motivated when you love your life! “If you’re not tap dancing to work then you need to find another job” – Warren Buffet. I love what I do because I can do it anywhere! My motivation is to keep the life I have!
What kind of business ideas excite you most?
Virtual Reality is in the very early stages as an industry and I don’t think people realize the full potential of it yet. I describe it to clients this way: in the past, before computers people bought property with black and white plans. Then people wanted 3D renderings to go along with those plans as computers and graphics because mainstream. Next people will want to walk through their property before it is built. This will be the norm. Think of how huge of an industry that will become? Right now it’s not even 1% of it’s potential. In the next few years this trend will take affect and the transition will happen. I feel that Render3DQuickly Inc. is very well positioned to capitalize on that movement. I have been working hard to build a large team that can satisfy this rapid growth in the industry. I’d argue that we have the largest VR team in the world!
Have you ever tried any unorthodox techniques to attract attention to your business?
Yes here and there. We’ve used sex to a degree getting a pretty girl to do something rather than a man or less pretty woman. For example, we have a trade show coming up and I have 3 very pretty young female friends that want to be in our booth. I printed business cards with their names on it and I told them to give the cards out to every single guy that comes into the booth. The email address and phone number on the cards forward to me. I’ll get 1000’s of leads for $50 (the cost of the business cards).
What personal achievement are you most proud of?
Meeting all of my employees all over the world. I took a trip for a few months to visit their city and country and spend some time together. Hearing their stories about how life was before we met online to what it is now was incredible! Some went from poverty to mortgage free in just a couple years of working for me. Some bought property they are renting out for extra income. Some were able to move to other safer countries because of the income I provided. So many countries in the world don’t have it like we do in USA & Canada and we don’t realize how good we have it. So much corruption happens that we don’t hear about and so many people suffer. It was really nice to see that because of my hard work I was really helping people in the world have a better life. It makes me want to work even harder and hire more people.
What wisdom you would have liked to share with yourself when you first started out?
Read books a lot sooner. I try to read 2-3 per week but if I started reading 10 years earlier or even 1 year earlier I would have more knowledge today. Something I realized a few years ago is that successful people are successful because they have more knowledge than the average person. That’s all it is. Whether they are more successful in business, have happier relationships, more money etc. it’s because they have more knowledge in those areas and can make better decisions when decisive moments arise. One good decision based on vast knowledge compounded over months and years of good decisions equals success. It’s inevitable. So learn as much as you can.