Hello, I'm
Nik Leger
Sr Product Director/Entrepreneur



Put people first, embrace change, execute, tell the real story.
As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned in my early career to build, manage and sell a product.
For people to care about your business, you need to FIRST care about them. It is quintessential to put people first in everything we do. It allows us not only to build people up (and sleep at night) but also to get ahead as companies.
You can’t just work IN the business. You need to have the focus to work ON the business as well. We must constantly iterate, validate and orchestrate.
Execution is everything. Once your people are engaged, delivery is what sets you apart.
Tell the real story, in the right way, at the right time. Don’t just share any story. Share the uncomfortable truth. Be relevant and authentic. It’s what binds it all together in this digital day and age.
Currently building an online marketing platform for SMBs. Also doing consulting work for startups who need help with their product management or large organizations who are struggling with their digital transformation.
8 years, market fit and scalability
8 years, 80% of marketing technology is snake oil
12 years, people buy an emotion
8 years, it's about people; not technology
I’m a business creative that comes from a background of sales, entrepreneurship, and operations. I’ve always had a knack for innovation and I’m constantly learning to try and keep up with the tsunami that will be the fourth industrial revolution.
I talk too much, I can get distracted and I sometimes forget to unwind.
French is my first language. I scored at 98th percentile in University.
I’m perfectly fluent in English.
I’ve studied 4 years of Latin and have basic reading skills in Spanish.
I also have a major in Arabic studies but haven’t practiced in quite a while.
I started my first business in my mid teens and built my first product in my early twenties. I’ve had management roles since in product, sales, and marketing mostly in the media, hospitality and software industries.
…all from a single mind map interface, a single local ad broker, and a very friendly ad bot.
These are some of the classes I’ve taken over the years to keep sharpening the saw.
Some of the talented people that I feel very privileged to surround myself with and to call on for inspiration, support, networking or pure talent. As Jim Rohn put it: “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” And I have been blessed to find myself in such fine company.
The inspiring Monique Caron-Bouchard taught me to “never take for granted what your conscience won’t admit” and Udo certainly embodies it well. A mechanical engineer by trade, a natural pitchman, a music pioneer and a true original as Adam Grant would put it, Udo is quickly becoming a media force to be reckoned with in this era of digital transformation we live in.
My partner in crime since the early nineties, Martin has been a true inspiration both personally and professionally. A true sales virtuose and a contact center expert, Martin has been a management rising star for as long as I can remember and grasps the human factor in operations at both the strategic and tactic level like very few others in his field. Every minute of his counsel is a treasure trove.
JS is a constant inspiration and keeps pushing the limits of what we an accomplish, what we should strive for and what lies within our grasp. JS has been a web tinkerer at heart since the nineties. His ability to see the connecting thread makes him a virtuose at software architecture. But it’s his talent for business and his deep understanding of what drives people that compound to make him a unique ally and a fierce builder.
Martin is a force of nature. When Udo introduced me to the man a few years back, he prefaced it by saying “if you can think it, he can build it”… And we’ve been thinking and building ever since! 🙂 If someone cracks the code of how to deliver real value in digital marketing for Small and Medium Businesses at scale, it may well be Code Mountain. Watching Martin code is reminiscent of watching a Mozart put pen to paper and simply directly write a complete symphony.
Oli was already deep in SEO in the early 2000s. His agency and media background give him a solid depth in the field. But it’s his true artist mind that brings a unique flow to what he can see, build and connect and makes him a digital force to be reckoned with. Few people can oscillate the way he can from left to right brain and it fuels his unique ability to make things happen, hack growth and build robust holistic systems to capture value.
Light of my life, she makes me want to live, laugh, learn and love. Toby is an incredibly brilliant researcher. She works with the best of the best and is known for her uncanny scientific intuition. She will find the anomaly, embrace the truth and follow the science down the rabbit hole, where conventions are challenged and misconceptions shattered. If my business ends up half as good as her science, watch out world… 🙂
My latest partner in crime, Captain Morgan fully deserves the moniker. He can certainly rally a crew and he’s proven time and time again that he can navigate the most treacherous waters and lead the ship to port. I knew Gartner was a solid player but it’s through Andrew and his impressive skill set that I got a real sense of what the business was all about and what it could accomplish. I’m honored to count such a web pioneer as a friend and business partner as we build the future.
Brad has been an incredibly valuable business partner the last couple of years. He always has his finger on the pulse, he can read the players like no other and provides deep enlightening insights on the state and evolution of the industry. I always base partnerships on the value of the people that build them and he is the reason I was led to realize that Sweet IQ would rapidly become the dominant player in local intelligence. World class people for a world class business.
Here are some of the thinkers and tinkerers that had a major impact on me over the years. Check out their books and drop me a line if you’d like to discuss any of the work, concepts, and applications. Am always happy to revisit any of these fine publications.
Some of the changes upon us, mostly driven by technologies such as blockchain, autonomous driving, robotics, nanotechnology, biohacking and deep machine learning- to only name a few – are having such an impact that some of the experts consider we are now entering a fourth industrial revolution. If you’ve been curious about any of those major advancements and how they’re currently shaping our new lives, I strongly encourage you to pick up this excellent book by no other than the founder of the world economic forum. It makes for a relative quick read but delivers such a breadth of robust information. If you sometimes feel like you need to catch up on what’s going on and would like to keep it in your peripheral vision, this is the book to accomplish that. Great read!
I had seen the title on the bookseller shelf and was already intrigued when Ed Brimmer highly recommended the book – that just arrived in the mail! Review coming soon 🙂
If you enjoyed the tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell, you’ll love how Jonah Berger digs deeper down the rabbit hole and maps with gusto in this fascinating book that will no doubt fuel your marketing efforts. Review Coming Soon.
Eric Lousteau once taught me that revolutions can only unfold once a change in mentality has reached critical mass. Don Tapscott has certainly been keeping his finger on the pulse of every major digital revolution for the last decades and few have done as much when it comes to educating the masses on these paradigm shifts. Don and son Alex deliver a solid exploration of how blockchain came to be, what impact it has had since and what the major hurdles will be for the future. If you’re looking for a chance to wrap your head around this brewing revolution, dig in! It’s superb work. Read it. ”
With Blockchain at the core of web 3.0 and powering the 4th industrial revolution, I’m digging in to try and catch up with all that’s happened over the last 8 years, since the publication of the original blockchain paper by the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto.
If you read the excellent Blockchain Revolution by Don & Alex Tapscott to introduce the subject, this Blockchain analysis by the founder of the Institute for Blockchain Studies will give you a chance to deep dive into some of the
blockchain applications, promises and state of advancement as well as their limitations. Swan’s work is thorough yet accessible and very well structured. Albeit dense where it needs to be, it makes for a quick yet complete read on the state of this new revolutionary ecosystem of technology.I highly recommend it.
My girl knows that deep down I’m a science geek. She knows that the Tesla is on my wish list and that I’ve been interested in Elon Musk’s career. She was also there when I was especially fascinated by the fantastic long tail post on “Wait but Why” by the inspiring Tim Urban
So she decided to buy the book for xmas. I couldn’t put it down. I already had a lot of respect for the man but man was I blown away! I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read it but let’s just say there is much more to Elon’s plan than what I previously conceived. And what a tale of the utmost all around resilience. A fantastic read for me 🙂
I was somewhat familiar with Steve Jobs: his rise and fall at Apple; his great comeback; the Mac, the iPhone, the iPad; the legendary talks…What Walter Isaacson delivers in this stunning biography is what made the man tick. Throughout his childhood, his partnerships, his marriage and his family life, you get to know the man, his dreams, his vision and his drive. Here is a man that you may adore or profoundly dislike and that you may approve of or disapprove of whether you’re a fan of Apple or not. But regardless of how you feel, it is fascinating to accompany Steve on his journey that simply
reinvented 5 major industries: personal computers, music, cell phones, distribution and design. A truly compelling read.
I’ve been digging into what makes product management tick and was happy to stumble upon The Practitioner’s Guide to Product Management by +Jock Busuttil It’s recommended by the Pragmatic Marketing team and a fun exploration of one’s career and learning on the interesting path that product management can be. A solid read with some good insights and a healthy dose of humor. 🙂
An esteemed colleague and friend of mine, Sebastien Paris, introduced me to Agile a few years ago. He taught me how it was a way of life much rather than a framework & that I was already a natural practitioner of the basic components without even realizing it. I eventually got formal training as a Scrum product owner and have been trying since to include it in everything we do.
Despite the training, I recently felt like something was still missing. And Jeff Sutherland’s book brought it all home. I read it in one evening and highly recommend it to anyone who has a lot to do in a complex environment!
In 2015, TC Media sent a group of 25 or so executives at HEC for a 2 days intensive training on the Business Model Generation framework. I was impressed with the work of Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur who combined elements from lean startup, design thinking, blue ocean strategy, SWOT analysis and the work of most relevant business model thinkers there ever was, to come up with this innovative approach for the collaborative and highly efficient design of business models. It was published with the help and support of 470 brilliant collaborators from 45 countries and the quality of the work is stunning.
I browsed the books for the class and applied what I learned as much as I could in my daily work. But it is only recently as I read it again back to cover, since a group of interest I’m leading is building new business models for upcoming startups, that I got to appreciate this magnum opus for what it is: a behemoth classic and a must have for any disruptor. No wonder it was translated in 30 languages!
I’ve always been a big fan of Jim Collins since the days of Built to Last. I was happy to recently go through How the Mighty Fall. A very quick read and not as hyperbolic as some of his other work but an interesting incursion nonetheless into what make the great ones stray and how they become the architects of their own demise…
In order to fully contribute to some of our ongoing projects, I needed to dig into the Game Theory, so I took a Coursera class with Kevin Leyton-Brown (UBC), Matthew O. Jackson (Stanford) & Yoav Shoham (Stanford). Fascinating class with a lot of relevance in business and everyday life. Review coming soon.
If you like neuroscience you will love this enthralling story by Gladwell. Review coming soon.
Here are some ideas the tribe and I are currently thinking about, exploring, validating or working on. Feel free to explore and connect… Just click on any image to load project details.
Go ahead and book some time together. Am always happy to meet with passionate, curious and driven people that strive to deliver real value and make a difference.
Am always happy to meet with passionate, curious and driven people that strive to deliver real value and make a difference.
Feel free to reach out!