Sander Meijers, the Canada Country Manager for Adyen, is an experienced and energetic connector with a demonstrated history of working in the internet, telecommunications, payments and media industry.
He has proven experience in creating successful B2B propositions and strategic partnerships, thriving on creating win-win situations and experiences for business partners and their end-consumers.
Meijers was born and raised in Belgium by two Dutch parents. He holds a Msc in Management from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
“I had to choose between three different specializations. One was agriculture and that kind of technology, the other one was transport and the last one was IT. It was very clear to me I was going to choose IT. I was always very found of using computers and how computers solve issues and how you can buy stuff by Amazon.com. Back then it was a bookstore and a CD store and I was one of the first people to order my CDs by Amazon,” he said.
“I always thought I was going to be more like a product manager. I thought I was going to design technical solutions for everyday problems and be sort of an inventor in that space whether that was to create a company or to manage a company. That was my idea. I was always fascinated in solving everyday problems with technology.”
The interest and passion in this area came at an early age. Meijers said he has always liked “tinkering” with things.
“My dad bought me a MacIntosh which was the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. And when we start opening up the box of opportunity that computer gave me . . . when the internet was launched the whole world opened up, that technology box. It just opened my imagination more than producing a can of beer or building furniture.
“I saw the endless possibility of the internet and IT technology as a young kid and really started focusing on that area a lot.”
Meijers started his career as a product manager for a telecommunications company.
“How we solve communications issues. That was in a period when fibre connections came up. What’s possible over fibre? We’re talking over Zoom now or over MicroSoft meetings. That wasn’t possible before we had fibre in the ground,” he said. “So I was trying to build products around what you can do with glass fibre. Then I shifted more from a product manager perspective to working with built-out products. I worked with Netflix and Spotify. They came up. They were streaming services and they were new and they were exciting and I wanted to do something with it.”
“So I moved away from being an inventor and a thinker into more how do you combine two companies and get the best out of it for a win-win situation. But in order to do that, you need to have a pretty darn good understanding of how it technologically works.”
He joined Adyen in 2017 where he led a team and the main accounts in the headquarters of the company in Amsterdam. Meijers decided to take the next step in his career and moved to Toronto with his family to lead the Canadian team in the heart of the “Silicon Valley North.” Only two years later, Adyen opened a new Toronto office, serving as the company’s Canadian headquarters.
Now, he is focused on expanding Adyen’s Canadian market operations and continuing to establish the company as the must-have payments solution for Canadian and global retailers, working with the likes of Mejuri, H&M, and Moose Knuckles.
His leadership style is inline with the Dutch company’s ethos. He’s a very intentional leader that is building Adyen’s presence in Canada for the long-run. As a people manager (and a father of two little ones), he believes in flexible work arrangements that foster culture and collaboration while still giving people the space and time to take care of life (picking up kids, doctor’s appointments, etc.).
Meijers described his leadership style as “energetic”. The company is all about speed and execution.
“We want to get stuff done and that requires a lot of energy. You can’t hold back and sit back and hope that somebody does it. I’d rather try stuff out and fail and move fast than just sit back and do a lot of homework and figure out a year after well let’s not do it. I like to do things and create a team around me that feels empowered to that as well. That feels empowered to make mistakes.
“If you haven’t tried, you’ve always missed. That’s a lot of what my leadership is about. I really want to empower people to try and try out stuff. Be very curious and intentional. So am I. It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to really open a box and try to figure out if it’s not going to work. Close the box again. But people who are looking at a box and don’t open it because they think it’s not going to work, no, you open the box and figure it out.
“And to be able to do that kind of empowerment you also have to be close to your people. I can’t push people to really do stuff if they don’t trust me. So I create trust. I’m not very hierarchical. There’s an open door. I don’t have an office. I sit at a different desk every other day.”
“And I’m Dutch, so I’m pretty direct,” he laughed. “You have to talk straight without being rude.”
Meijers is an outdoors type. He loves skiing and boating. He did a triathlon in Muskoka. He loves the world of opportunity in Canada that allows him to pursue these passions.
“It’s truly ingrained into the culture of Canada to do outdoor stuff.”
