FrontFlip - Mike Reinheller

Strong-willed entrepreneur Mike Reinheller started his career in Medicine Hat when he opened Rhino Storage in 2015. In 2022, Reinheller was the only Southeast Alberta business to be accepted in the Alberta Catalyzer with his app, SpeedyBid.

SpeedyBid is an app where retailers can auction returned items before they’re sent back to the warehouse. When someone wants to make a return, they will contact the retailer. The retailer will post the products on SpeedyBid, and someone local to the area who wants them will pay the retailer and pick up the product from the home it resides at. Then, the retailer will refund the person “returning” the items.

“I was blown away when I found out 30 per cent of all e-commerce is returned and companies lose 66 per cent on returned items,” says Reinheller. “Then, I found out only 50 per cent of returned items are resold and the other 50 per cent end up liquidated, destroyed or taken to the landfill — hundreds of billions of dollars are lost and billions of pounds of products are taken to the landfill. SpeedyBid is a marketplace where retailers can quickly auction off those returns and someone ends up with a brand new item, with the tags, at a lower cost.”

Reinheller has endured two tech-based business ventures previous to SpeedyBid, and through one he connected with a business owner who’s been a mentor to him for the last year. He suggested Reinheller apply to be in an accelerator, to be surrounded in an ecosystem of tech-climate people.

“I reached out to one accelerator, and they directed me to the Alberta Catalyzer. The Alberta Catalyzer is for companies who are at my stage, who are in the customer and business model discovery process, so I applied,” says Reinheller. “I’m really fortunate to get in.”

The Catalyzer started in January, and Reinheller, along with 34 other tech-based Alberta entrepreneurs, will receive education, resources, programming and mentorship that will prepare them for the next phase of growth for their business.

“There’s already a lot of energy and excitement,” says Reinheller. “It’s a really collaborative environment, and we’re always talking and bouncing ideas off each other. Since most of us are at different stages, we’re able to share lived experiences and help give advice to one another.”

Through his experience, Reinheller has learned that building small and affordable first, rather than big and quick, is the best way to start your business.

“Don’t be afraid to share your ideas with people. There is so much benefit from talking to everyone and getting feedback, because everyone is a potential user with a different perspective on why they may or may not like your product or service,” he says. “Before entrepreneurs go too far and invest too much, explore the ideas and just start talking to people.”

Reinheller has always been drawn to tech-based businesses and started to think of innovative apps ideas in 2018.

“I have always been a builder. I love building something from nothing, and tech is especially fascinating because you can build so much with so little. It’s borderless — you can build something and it can just catch fire and go,” says Reinheller. “And I’m really looking forward to making the most of this experience with Alberta Catalyzer.”