
Founder & CEOKevin McLeod
As founder and CEO, Kevin leads all strategic business decisions and oversees the direction for Yardstick, including sales, marketing and account management. His unrivaled vision coupled with his leadership and determination keeps the company and our quality of work first-rate.
Kevin holds a degree in Plant Biology and Ecology (BSc) from UBC and an MBA in Management of Technology from SFU; however, he tapped into his natural aptitudes after reading Tom Rath’s “StrenghtsFinder” and discovered his top five talents as they apply to his role:
- Analytical – uses numbers and data to make decisions
- Discipline – reliable, trustworthy and efficient with time management and priorities;
- Restorative – when something breaks, uncovers why and prevents it from happening again (vital for anyone working with web software);
- Developer – helps others achieve their full potential (great for working with small business owners as well as developing the Yardstick team); and
- Harmony – creates consensus and agreement when making decisions.
Within a fluid web industry, Kevin maintains his sanity by being accepting of and open to change while focusing on people before profits or technology. He advocates the company’s vision to create a standard for service that far exceeds our client’s expectations by building trust first and foremost. Kevin maintains a cohesive strategic consistency though open communication, while having the invaluable ability to translate a client’s goal into an actionable strategy.
Giving Back
Kevin also cares a great deal about our local economy and business community and thus volunteers his time in a number of capacities:
- Vice Chair, BBB – Originally, elected as a Director for the Better Business Bureau in 2017.
- Vice President, VanEx – elected as a Director of the Vancouver Executive’s Association (one of Vancouver’s oldest networking groups) in 2015 and has recently been re-elected for another two years.
- Judge, Small Business BC Awards – held annually, these awards honor the hard work of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout BC. Kevin has helped judge the Best Marketer Award since 2015.
- Speaker, Small Business BC – delivered several presentations to startups and small businesses to help them avoid problems inherent with finding trustworthy suppliers in an unregulated web industry.
- Mentor, SFU – volunteered time as a mentor for SFU marketing undergrads’ class projects.
Unwinding
When he takes off his CEO cap you’ll find Kevin spending time with his wife, son and daughter at the parks in and around Port Moody. Otherwise, he’s usually playing soccer, playing guitar (he owns three), hiking in Port Moody or playing video games. He also has a secret love of board games and strategy card games such as Pandemic, Caracassone and MTG.
As founder and CEO, Kevin leads all strategic business decisions and oversees the direction for Yardstick, including sales, marketing and account management. His unrivaled vision coupled with his leadership and determination keeps the company and our quality of work first-rate.
Kevin holds a degree in Plant Biology and Ecology (BSc) from UBC and an MBA in Management of Technology from SFU; however, he tapped into his natural aptitudes after reading Tom Rath’s “StrenghtsFinder” and discovered his top five talents as they apply to his role:
- Analytical – uses numbers and data to make decisions
- Discipline – reliable, trustworthy and efficient with time management and priorities;
- Restorative – when something breaks, uncovers why and prevents it from happening again (vital for anyone working with web software);
- Developer – helps others achieve their full potential (great for working with small business owners as well as developing the Yardstick team); and
- Harmony – creates consensus and agreement when making decisions.
Within a fluid web industry, Kevin maintains his sanity by being accepting of and open to change while focusing on people before profits or technology. He advocates the company’s vision to create a standard for service that far exceeds our client’s expectations by building trust first and foremost. Kevin maintains a cohesive strategic consistency though open communication, while having the invaluable ability to translate a client’s goal into an actionable strategy.
Giving Back
Kevin also cares a great deal about our local economy and business community and thus volunteers his time in a number of capacities:
- Vice Chair, BBB – Originally, elected as a Director for the Better Business Bureau in 2017.
- Vice President, VanEx – elected as a Director of the Vancouver Executive’s Association (one of Vancouver’s oldest networking groups) in 2015 and has recently been re-elected for another two years.
- Judge, Small Business BC Awards – held annually, these awards honor the hard work of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout BC. Kevin has helped judge the Best Marketer Award since 2015.
- Speaker, Small Business BC – delivered several presentations to startups and small businesses to help them avoid problems inherent with finding trustworthy suppliers in an unregulated web industry.
- Mentor, SFU – volunteered time as a mentor for SFU marketing undergrads’ class projects.
Unwinding
When he takes off his CEO cap you’ll find Kevin spending time with his wife, son and daughter at the parks in and around Port Moody. Otherwise, he’s usually playing soccer, playing guitar (he owns three), hiking in Port Moody or playing video games. He also has a secret love of board games and strategy card games such as Pandemic, Caracassone and MTG.
The Inside Scoop
- If I weren’t living this life at a web company I would be:An investor to a number of local technology startups
- Dream job:Writing movie scores for major motion pictures
- Never have I ever:Gone skydiving — both scheduled jumps were cancelled due to weather
Connect With Kevin
Facts About Kevin
- Travelled to over 30 countries and every continent except Africa and Antarctica
- Went scuba diving with 20-foot-wide manta rays
- Flown a plane with (guidance from a flight instructor)
- As a kid, had the high score on the Galaga arcade machine at a family vacation spot