Nick's Story

Before my MBA

I began my career working for the capital markets division of Royal Bank of Canada, on the fixed income sales and trading desk. The fast paced, large stakes investing environment, helped hone my understanding of macro economics, and gave me a strong financial foundation. During that time, the Internet was beginning to take root, and my fascination for technology drew me to help test and architect an online trading platform for the bank.

Eventually, after four and half years, I decided to leave banking to follow my passion for technology, and started my own company named Degrees Of Separation (DoS). For the next four years, DoS brokered digital media, eCommerce and community platforms for organisations throughout North America. Eventually, I decided to attend Cambridge to help me build a stronger foundation of business knowledge, and expand my network globally.

The right place to feed my passion for technology and entrepreneurship

It goes without saying - Cambridge is one of the foremost academic institutions in the world. The school has over 800 years of thought leadership and a storied history of innovation. CJBS offered incredible opportunities to further explore my passion for technology and entrepreneurship in a global setting. The class size was intimate, and made up of cultures from around the world. The school preached collaboration, transparency and openness – ideals necessary to push the global political, economic and business climate in a positive direction.

Continued opportunities

The MBA offered unparalleled opportunities to expand my global network, and get practical business experience. Both the Global Consulting Project (GCP) and the final Independent Project (IP) were extremely useful. With the help of an entrepreneurial JBS alumnus working for a leading Cambridge based engineering and innovation firm, I was able to source a GCP project, which took me and the team on a scouting mission to China. Given the importance of China in the global economy, this project was invaluable. For my final IP, I analysed and forecasted the evolution and growth of mobile advertising. Subsequently, the report was published and continues to be a source of knowledge for the industry.

Entrepreneurship on a global stage

After the MBA, I took the opportunity to help guide the Viacom and MTV Networks digital businesses throughout the UK and Ireland. After MTV, I joined the Strategic Partnerships group at Google and eventually headed up the Media & Publishing team across Europe, Middle East and Africa. I'm now leading the New Business Development group at Google throughout Europe, which is tasked with developing new products and businesses. It's incredibly satisfying to be entrepreneurial within a creative company, and to help develop products that positively impact so many people around the world.