1996–2001: Maple, The Storm and Tilt Mode Army Hsu's first skateboard deck sponsor was Maple, where he was a team member alongside
Marc Johnson (skateboarder), who facilitated his recruitment, alongside other sponsored riders, such as Gershon Mosely and Pancho Moler. Released in 1996,
Montage runs for a duration of 30 minutes and also indicates that Hsu was sponsored by a brand named "Sutters" at the time. The first Maple advertisement announcing Hsu's professional status with the brand was published in 1999, when he was 17 years old, and featured the tag line: "Not another brick in the wall." Hsu appeared in the 1999 Maple video
Black Cat, which also featured Johnson and Barletta. Around the same period, Hsu was first sponsored by the
Osiris Shoes company, which had rebranded itself after it was first launched as "Evol Casuals" during the preceding two years. Although he was not yet a professional for Osiris, Hsu appeared in the 1999 Osiris video
The Storm. His video part garnered attention for a never-before-seen trick that became known as a "Storm flip”, in which the skateboarder performs a "nollie backside 180 kickflip”, and while still in midair, adds a "late front-foot kickflip" before landing on the ground (a nollie trick is executed at the front end of the skateboard). In a May 2013 interview, Hsu explained that he is still asked to perform the trick on a frequent basis, but he tries not to perform Storm flips, as they are "too busy" and he feels embarrassed. Hsu also said that he enjoyed this time period with Osiris, as he was able to constantly travel, including international trips, and participate in the benefits that the company was reaping from market success.
2002–2006: enjoi and Bag Of Suck Prior the dissolution of Maple, Hsu joined the enjoi company, which had been started by Johnson, who recruited both Barletta and Hsu, as they were all close friends at the time. Hsu explained that Johnson was primarily interested in Barletta to begin with, but Hsu was later included as part of a "package deal." Commencement on the production of the inaugural full-length enjoi video commenced after Johnson's departure in 2003. Entitled
Bag Of Suck, the video was released in 2006 and features a two-section part from Hsu as the conclusion. With a duration of just under eight minutes, the first section of the part is accompanied by
Cass McCombs's "Sacred Heart", while
Sonic Youth's cover version of
The Carpenters' song "Superstar" is used for the second section. Hsu also joined the Ricta skateboard wheel team during the same year.
2007–2012: Emerica, "Epicly Later'd" and Stay Gold Following the notability and success from
Bag Of Suck, Hsu underwent significant sponsorship changes, leaving
WeSC clothing and Osiris for Emerica, which offered him both a shoe and apparel deal, in 2007—the tag line "GuessHsu?" was used in the promotional material. Hsu revealed in a September 2012 online interview, for the RIDE Channel's "Weekend Buzz" series, that he was offered a sponsorship deal with
Nike, Inc. following the end of his contract with Osiris; however, Hsu declined the offer in favor of Emerica, due to the effect of a questionnaire that he was emailed as part of the recruitment process: I was asked if I would want to … well, I was sent, like, a email questionnaire, that was like pre-written. Like it seemed just like it was this pre-written thing, towards … like it was totally impersonal. It was, ah, like, "What do you like about Nike? What do you think you can bring to Nike? What like, ah, blah, blah, blah, blah, bah. Like I don't even know if it was, like, a serious consideration that I could ride for them, but, yeah, when I read that thing, like, this was kinda, like, if this is their deal, then I don't really, I'm not really into it. The
Vice web video series "Epicly Later'd" published its "Jerry Hsu" episode in May 2007, which is hosted and created by Hsu's friend Patrick O'dell, who was previously a staff photographer at
Thrasher Magazine. Hsu received attention after the episode was released, as Hsu shows O'dell his family home—including footage of his parents—and VHS footage of Hsu skateboarding at the age of 13 years, leading O'dell to use the description "child prodigy." Johnson is also interviewed by O'dell and his high regard for Hsu is obvious: The way that Jerry [Hsu] lives his life is, like, he lives it on his own terms. He wears what he wants to wear, he sleeps when wants to sleep—he does whatever he wants to do. And, when you're in a "business" situation, they either don't like that because they can't do that, or, they don't like that because it's not marketable, or whatever. He's kind of like an "old soul" … He's the guy that's younger than you and you look up to him. Hsu was then sponsored by the MOB skateboard griptape brand in early 2010. Hsu followed up his first Emerica shoe with the "Hsu 2 Fusion" in 2011, which is a mid-top design that incorporates the
Sole Technology invention, "STI Fusion Technology" (Sole Technology is the parent company of Emerica). Hsu explained in a corresponding promotional video that he prefers the mid-top design because it provides him with ankle protection. The fourth TMA video,
Bonus Round, was released in 2009 and also featured other enjoi riders, such as Caswell Berry, Nestor Judkins and Clark Hassler. The following year, Hsu then appeared in his first-ever Emerica full-length video,
Stay Gold, for which he skated solely in switch stance during a period in which he sustained significant injuries.
2013–2017: Leaves Enjoi and joins Chocolate New York La La La, a fashion video directed by Aaron Rose and featuring Hsu, was published on the Nowness website on September 25, 2013. Alongside fellow professional skateboarders Austyn Gillette and Josh Harmony, Hsu was dressed in designer garments for the short film, and a portrait of the three was photographed by
L'Officiel Hommes editor André Saraiva. In September 2013, Hsu announced his departure from the enjoi brand. Hsu explained in an interview that was published on October 12, 2013, that his decision was spurred by the departure of longtime brand manager Eversole who, according to Hsu, grew tired of protecting the brand from the profit-driven demands of shareholders. Barletta will take Eversole's place as enjoi's brand manager and Hsu stated: "Louie understands what enjoi is all about, so I think they can still make something really great and I wish them the best." Hsu later clarified that he received "generous" paychecks while he was with enjoi and his teammates, whom he respects "very much," were not a factor in his decision, which took a long time to make. He also revealed that the discussions about his departure mostly involved just himself and Barletta, and those conversations were "emotional and shitty" for him. Hsu explained in an interview why he wanted to join the Chocolate team: "It’s a family. When I walk into Rick [Howard]’s office and there are printouts of graphics on the floor and he’s hand picking them, I know this is where I wanna be."
2017–present: Starts Sci-Fi Fantasy, leaves Chocolate and Emerica In the summer of 2017 Jerry started a clothing company, "Sci-Fi Fantasy," selling out multiple limited releases within hours in early 2018. According to him it is his primary source of income, as he has no sponsors for skateboarding since October 2018, when Hsu stepped away from traditional skateboarding sponsors. Jerry left Chocolate Skateboards in September 2017. In March 2018 his long term shoe sponsor Emerica ended its business relationship with Hsu. ==Video games==