During my time at BlackBerry, Simon was pivotal to the development of Blackerry’s marketing analytics practice; his deep digital measurement expertise in combination with his exceptional lateral-thinking skills were invaluable in developing a clearer understanding of mROI and, in turn, the attitudes, actions, and opinions of BlackBerry customers and prospects. I recommend Simon without reservation.
Mark Wright
General Manager, Firmex
Simon is a smart analytics strategiest AND practitioner. People like Simon have helped shaped the Analytics industry to what it is today, driven by a passion for ‘data-driven insights’ and business optimization. Simon is a great partner to work with. He spends the time to listen, and understand different point of view, and always makes decisions based on what is best for the business, and ultimately, the customer. I would work with Simon anytime.
Marco Bailetti
Partner, Deloitte
The state of Canadian digital analytics is better off because of Simon.
Simon, at BlackBerry, is responsible for a non-trivial percentage of overall analytical spending in Canada. And not just for a year. But over a sustained, persistent, period of time.
His influence extends from Kitchener-Waterloo all the way to Spadina and Adelaide streets in Toronto, and will often spillover into New York and Chicago.
Simon works with a very heterogeneous audience within BlackBerry, ranging from executives who want the bullet points, directors looking to build solid business cases, and some of the smartest managers looking for exploitable market cleavages. He has effectively managed an orchestra of solid lines, dotted lines, sustainably, for several years. BlackBerry is better off because of his steady hand within digital analytics.
He did this effectively, and to the benefit of the industry. A lot of people are a lot better at what they do because Simon. In many instances, he led and pushed for differentiating innovation. He’s an effective collaborator. He took good risks in analytics. They paid off. This has an impact beyond well beyond BlackBerry.
Simon has a background in physics and computer science. He understands and uses the scientific method. He understands technology. He really gets the business. This, too, is particularly rare and sets him apart.
The basis for this recommendation, if you’re ever able to work with Simon or hire him in the future, is based on what I know he’s done first hand for the quality of analytics in Canada, and what he’s done for BlackBerry over the years.
Chris Berry
COO, Source Inc.
