From IT to Entrepreneur

As director of information services at Jack in the Box, Roger Zakharia was second in command to the CIO when he left in 2008, after 14 years at the fast-food company. Instead of pursuing a CIO role elsewhere, Zakharia, now 51, went into business for himself.

"The possibility of an eventual CIO role wasn't enough for me," he says. "I wanted to run businesses."

Zakharia is doing just that: He's CEO of four startups: Gocar San Diego Tours; ScoreOurBiz.com, an online customer-feedback service for businesses; an IT consulting firm called World Technology Solutions; and Pacific Rent-A-Car.

"Business was in my blood," he says. "It was something I always wanted to explore. I wanted to get involved in businesses, not just in technology."