Meet The Team
Jay Snider, CEO & Co-Founder of Cadence
Jay also serves as Chairman and CEO of Frontline Solutions, Inc. (www.frontline-solutions.com) and Chairman of Lindi Skin, LLC (www.lindiskin.com). Frontline Solutions is a leading provider of integrated point-of-sale, scheduling and ticketing software for stadiums and arenas. Lindi Skin is the leading provider of skin care products safe for people on cancer treatment as well as people with dry and sensitive skin.
Until its sale in January of 1998, Jay served as co-founder and Chairman of SpectaGuard, a provider of trained security officers and electronic protection systems for corporate, industrial, and institutional facilities. He remained on the board of the company, now Allied Security, until August 2002.
Jay served as President of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1983 to 1994, and from 1987 to 1994 he oversaw the management of the Philadelphia-based sports, entertainment, retail and communications conglomerate now known as Comcast-Spectacor. He helped pioneer the concept of all-sports talk radio by purchasing WIP-AM, a music station, and transforming it into the most successful sports talk station in the country. He led the early project team in the development, planning and financing of the Wachovia Center, a $210 million state-of-the-art arena located in Philadelphia.
In 1999, Jay founded Snider Capital, specializing in technology investments for sports and recreation. Frontline Solutions is an outgrowth of those investing activities. In 2004, Jay co-founded Cadence Cycling and Multi-Sport Centers, providing cyclists and triathletes with the nation’s finest range of performance training and widest selection of quality bicycles and components.
Jay holds a B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He is a member of the Grolier Club and The Library Company of Philadelphia, serves on the boards of Lindi Skin and Thomas College, and is founder and President of The Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed.
Jay is a competitive masters cyclist and a collector of rare printed and manuscript Americana. Jay resides in southern California with his wife, Terry, and children, Jamie, Cody and Todd.
Matt Heitmann, COO/President & Co-Founder of Cadence
Matt approached Jay Snider in the Summer of 2003 with an initial business plan for an innovative “performance cycling center.” Between Matt’s initial ideas and Jay’s business savvy, the end result is today’s Cadence.
Matt’s background was primarily in academia, but he has significant experience in retail and business operations management. With two Masters degrees and a Ph.D. in philosophy, specifically, the philosophy of language and the foundations of mathematics, Matt’s early professional career began as a professor. In 1995, Matt co-founded Terra Firma Consulting, Inc. (TFC), a boutique enterprise software consulting firm working exclusively with and as a partner for the world’s largest enterprise resource software manufacturer, SAP. With TFC, Matt functioned as Director of Operations and was responsible for all operational, financial, and executive management tasks.
Matt’s educational background includes a BA from Ft. Lewis College in Colorado, Masters of Science from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Doctoral research at Albert-Ludwigs Universitaet, Freiburg, Germany, an MA in philosophy from the University of Wyoming, and his Ph.D./ABD in the philosophy of logic and the foundations of mathematics from Temple University, Philadelphia.
Matt is a competitive Masters cyclist who focuses his efforts on the discipline of time trialing. For 2006 he was ranked second in that discipline in USA Cycling's national rankings in his category. He and his wife, Melissa, live in the Philadelphia Main Line town of Haverford.
Abdul Latif Saquib, Partner and CFO
Abdul Latif Saquib (Saquib) joined Cadence in the Fall of 2008 as our Chief Financial Officer. Saquib is a dynamic finance and operations executive with more than 15 years of corporate experience driving growth and profitability. He has vast experience across multiple industries and disciplines, including banking, healthcare, information technology, M&A, finance, and retail. He has held positions in his native Pakistan, Turkey, and the United States.
Most recently Saquib serviced as both COO and CFO for TRUEMRI, an outpatient radiology provider with nine California facilities, 110 employees, and $45 million in annual revenue. Saquib's role with Cadence will be to work closely with senior management, specifically on matters involving accounting, finance, information technology, legal affairs, and operations as they pertain to all of the above.
Saquib has his Masters Degree in economics and a Bachelors Degree in electrical engineering from Ohio University. He resides in Marina del Rey, CA, with his wife and two sons. He works from Cadence's offices in Pacific Palisades, CA.
Brian Walton, Partner and VP of Performance
Brian’s palmares reads like few others in professional cycling. Having started his career early with Team 7-Eleven, Brian was part of the legendary generation of cycling that sent the first North American pro cycling team to the Tour de France. From 7-Eleven, Brian went on to race in North America and Europe with the famed Motorola Team, where he was teammates with Lance Armstrong, and became friends with such notorious cycling personalities as Bob Roll and Norm Alvis. In the early 1990s, Brian accepted a position with the newly formed Team Saturn, and spent many a grueling season racing the pave, stage races, and assorted classics of Europe. In North America, Brian brought home numerous victories, and finished in the Top 5 at the US Pro Championships on 3 occasions.
Brian is a three-time Olympian, and was a Silver Medalist in the 1996 Olympics for the Points Race. He has been the Gold Medalist in the Pan American Games on multiple occasions, and is famed for having beat Miguel Indurain in a time trial in Indurain’s home town.
After retiring from professional cycling, Brian became coach and team director for Team Snow Valley. Working with a talented but raw bunch of elite cyclists, Brian turned the TSV elite crew into one of the most powerful cycling squads in domestic cycling, often times beating domestic pro teams, and finishing Tenth in the Nation’s overall team rankings in 2003. While at TSV, Brian was nominated as USA Cycling’s 2003 Developmental Coach of the Year, and was also brought in as a coaching expert for the USOC’s Annual Olympic Forum for cycling. Brian was the 2005 Executive Cycling Coach for USA Triathlon's U23 Team, a team which secured America's first ever World Championship victory in Japan. Brian is a USAC, USAT, and Canadian Cycling Association certified coach.
Brian, his wife, and three children, Leah, Jonas, and Anna reside in East Norriton, PA.
Melissa Heitmann, Partner and VP of Operations
Melissa’s role with Cadence is oversight of all business operations, facilities maintenance and aesthetics, inventory management, merchandising, and purchasing.
Melissa’s talents and experience in restaurant and retail operations go back 20 years to when she began in Boston with FAO Schwartz’s flagship Boston facility. Working her way up to Director of Stores with FAO, Melissa was recruited by the then newly founded City Sports. With City Sports Boston, Melissa managed the first two MA locations, and became a regional director. Melissa took City Sports from its home base and opened stores in NYC and Philadelphia.
In 1997, Melissa was recruited by the Urban Outfitters group to open a new concept store in Boston, Anthropologie. Overseeing operations at their first two locations, in Boston and Chestnut Hill, MA, Melissa went on to become Anthropologie’s regional director for the Northeast quadrant.
In 1999, Melissa relocated to Philadelphia and went to work at Terra Firma Consulting where she coordinated recruiting of TFC employees and contracted consultants for larger software implementations. Melissa’s position gradually changed to Director of SAP Training with TFC, and she was responsible for training programs, curriculum, staffing, information technology and training systems, and quality control for all of TFC’s SAP training clients. She was also instrumental in sealing the single largest training contract in TFC’s history with the United States Navy.
Melissa attended the University of Georgia in her hometown of Athens, GA. She is an active Pilates and yoga enthusiast and a passionate chef.