Cyrus Naini
Chief Executive Officer at GBL- Claim this Profile
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English Native or bilingual proficiency
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French Native or bilingual proficiency
Topline Score
Bio
Brett Mitchell
Cyrus was one of the best managers and leaders I've worked for. He is a leader who is approachable, who is adaptable, who knows how to motivate, and more. He would do what it takes to ensure the success of each individual, team, and the company as a whole. As the individual who was responsible for the people function, he made my job a lot easier with how much he appreciated the importance of the function. He wanted to make sure we treated people well and trusted them. Every idea I had about a people focused initiative, a process change/update, a tool implementation, he was all ears and receptive to the conversation. If it made the lives of the team members at GBL better, it was often championed and implemented. Cyrus is also a very strong communicator. Whether it's 1 on 1, at the team level, or company level, Cyrus's communication excels. Regardless of the message he's communicating, it lands with respect and grace. I think we can all agree how important communication is, especially today. When you have slack, email, zoom, in-person, and more, you have to make sure messages are delivered in the right way at the right time, and Cyrus always did this. I would work with Cyrus again, no questions asked. It was an absolute pleasure reporting into him and hopefully I will get the pleasure of doing so again in the future.
Abhinandan Satyanarayana
Cyrus has been one of the most effective leaders/CEOs I've ever worked with. Cyrus brings with him a wealth of professional management experience. He believes in transparency and is not afraid to try new ways of doing things. Cyrus was the CEO at GBL, but he was willing to wear many hats to ensure the success of the team and company. Over the last four years, I've seen him lead in a variety of areas, including product, operations, finance, and HR as needed. Cyrus cares about his employees and helps them succeed. On the first day of my joining, he came to me and handed over the seating arrangements for the entire company, with every employees name on it, so that I could put names to each face I met on the first day. Cyrus understood all of the products and features, and he also ensured that some of the critical features are tested firsthand and that he stays up to date on current development activities. He seeks information and updates but does not intervene or micromanage, instead enabling everyone to do their jobs more effectively. Cyrus has always been a big advocate of open door policies and has always been willing to help and advise. It's very easy to speak to him and make a decision. It simply makes everyone's job easier and more productive. He is organized, methodical, and thinks logically while always considering human aspects. With his strategy, planning, and communication skills, he can transform a struggling business into a successful one. Cyrus is a leader any organization can rely on to establish an amazing culture and deliver great products. Cyrus is also an exceptional communicator. He brings a lot of positive energy into the organization, and with his sense of humor, he can lighten up any environment so that everyone has a good time while delivering great results. Cyrus is one of the few people in my career who has stood out. It was a pleasure working with Cyrus; I learned a lot from him and would cherish those times and be delighted to work with him again.
Brett Mitchell
Cyrus was one of the best managers and leaders I've worked for. He is a leader who is approachable, who is adaptable, who knows how to motivate, and more. He would do what it takes to ensure the success of each individual, team, and the company as a whole. As the individual who was responsible for the people function, he made my job a lot easier with how much he appreciated the importance of the function. He wanted to make sure we treated people well and trusted them. Every idea I had about a people focused initiative, a process change/update, a tool implementation, he was all ears and receptive to the conversation. If it made the lives of the team members at GBL better, it was often championed and implemented. Cyrus is also a very strong communicator. Whether it's 1 on 1, at the team level, or company level, Cyrus's communication excels. Regardless of the message he's communicating, it lands with respect and grace. I think we can all agree how important communication is, especially today. When you have slack, email, zoom, in-person, and more, you have to make sure messages are delivered in the right way at the right time, and Cyrus always did this. I would work with Cyrus again, no questions asked. It was an absolute pleasure reporting into him and hopefully I will get the pleasure of doing so again in the future.
Abhinandan Satyanarayana
Cyrus has been one of the most effective leaders/CEOs I've ever worked with. Cyrus brings with him a wealth of professional management experience. He believes in transparency and is not afraid to try new ways of doing things. Cyrus was the CEO at GBL, but he was willing to wear many hats to ensure the success of the team and company. Over the last four years, I've seen him lead in a variety of areas, including product, operations, finance, and HR as needed. Cyrus cares about his employees and helps them succeed. On the first day of my joining, he came to me and handed over the seating arrangements for the entire company, with every employees name on it, so that I could put names to each face I met on the first day. Cyrus understood all of the products and features, and he also ensured that some of the critical features are tested firsthand and that he stays up to date on current development activities. He seeks information and updates but does not intervene or micromanage, instead enabling everyone to do their jobs more effectively. Cyrus has always been a big advocate of open door policies and has always been willing to help and advise. It's very easy to speak to him and make a decision. It simply makes everyone's job easier and more productive. He is organized, methodical, and thinks logically while always considering human aspects. With his strategy, planning, and communication skills, he can transform a struggling business into a successful one. Cyrus is a leader any organization can rely on to establish an amazing culture and deliver great products. Cyrus is also an exceptional communicator. He brings a lot of positive energy into the organization, and with his sense of humor, he can lighten up any environment so that everyone has a good time while delivering great results. Cyrus is one of the few people in my career who has stood out. It was a pleasure working with Cyrus; I learned a lot from him and would cherish those times and be delighted to work with him again.
Brett Mitchell
Cyrus was one of the best managers and leaders I've worked for. He is a leader who is approachable, who is adaptable, who knows how to motivate, and more. He would do what it takes to ensure the success of each individual, team, and the company as a whole. As the individual who was responsible for the people function, he made my job a lot easier with how much he appreciated the importance of the function. He wanted to make sure we treated people well and trusted them. Every idea I had about a people focused initiative, a process change/update, a tool implementation, he was all ears and receptive to the conversation. If it made the lives of the team members at GBL better, it was often championed and implemented. Cyrus is also a very strong communicator. Whether it's 1 on 1, at the team level, or company level, Cyrus's communication excels. Regardless of the message he's communicating, it lands with respect and grace. I think we can all agree how important communication is, especially today. When you have slack, email, zoom, in-person, and more, you have to make sure messages are delivered in the right way at the right time, and Cyrus always did this. I would work with Cyrus again, no questions asked. It was an absolute pleasure reporting into him and hopefully I will get the pleasure of doing so again in the future.
Abhinandan Satyanarayana
Cyrus has been one of the most effective leaders/CEOs I've ever worked with. Cyrus brings with him a wealth of professional management experience. He believes in transparency and is not afraid to try new ways of doing things. Cyrus was the CEO at GBL, but he was willing to wear many hats to ensure the success of the team and company. Over the last four years, I've seen him lead in a variety of areas, including product, operations, finance, and HR as needed. Cyrus cares about his employees and helps them succeed. On the first day of my joining, he came to me and handed over the seating arrangements for the entire company, with every employees name on it, so that I could put names to each face I met on the first day. Cyrus understood all of the products and features, and he also ensured that some of the critical features are tested firsthand and that he stays up to date on current development activities. He seeks information and updates but does not intervene or micromanage, instead enabling everyone to do their jobs more effectively. Cyrus has always been a big advocate of open door policies and has always been willing to help and advise. It's very easy to speak to him and make a decision. It simply makes everyone's job easier and more productive. He is organized, methodical, and thinks logically while always considering human aspects. With his strategy, planning, and communication skills, he can transform a struggling business into a successful one. Cyrus is a leader any organization can rely on to establish an amazing culture and deliver great products. Cyrus is also an exceptional communicator. He brings a lot of positive energy into the organization, and with his sense of humor, he can lighten up any environment so that everyone has a good time while delivering great results. Cyrus is one of the few people in my career who has stood out. It was a pleasure working with Cyrus; I learned a lot from him and would cherish those times and be delighted to work with him again.
Brett Mitchell
Cyrus was one of the best managers and leaders I've worked for. He is a leader who is approachable, who is adaptable, who knows how to motivate, and more. He would do what it takes to ensure the success of each individual, team, and the company as a whole. As the individual who was responsible for the people function, he made my job a lot easier with how much he appreciated the importance of the function. He wanted to make sure we treated people well and trusted them. Every idea I had about a people focused initiative, a process change/update, a tool implementation, he was all ears and receptive to the conversation. If it made the lives of the team members at GBL better, it was often championed and implemented. Cyrus is also a very strong communicator. Whether it's 1 on 1, at the team level, or company level, Cyrus's communication excels. Regardless of the message he's communicating, it lands with respect and grace. I think we can all agree how important communication is, especially today. When you have slack, email, zoom, in-person, and more, you have to make sure messages are delivered in the right way at the right time, and Cyrus always did this. I would work with Cyrus again, no questions asked. It was an absolute pleasure reporting into him and hopefully I will get the pleasure of doing so again in the future.
Abhinandan Satyanarayana
Cyrus has been one of the most effective leaders/CEOs I've ever worked with. Cyrus brings with him a wealth of professional management experience. He believes in transparency and is not afraid to try new ways of doing things. Cyrus was the CEO at GBL, but he was willing to wear many hats to ensure the success of the team and company. Over the last four years, I've seen him lead in a variety of areas, including product, operations, finance, and HR as needed. Cyrus cares about his employees and helps them succeed. On the first day of my joining, he came to me and handed over the seating arrangements for the entire company, with every employees name on it, so that I could put names to each face I met on the first day. Cyrus understood all of the products and features, and he also ensured that some of the critical features are tested firsthand and that he stays up to date on current development activities. He seeks information and updates but does not intervene or micromanage, instead enabling everyone to do their jobs more effectively. Cyrus has always been a big advocate of open door policies and has always been willing to help and advise. It's very easy to speak to him and make a decision. It simply makes everyone's job easier and more productive. He is organized, methodical, and thinks logically while always considering human aspects. With his strategy, planning, and communication skills, he can transform a struggling business into a successful one. Cyrus is a leader any organization can rely on to establish an amazing culture and deliver great products. Cyrus is also an exceptional communicator. He brings a lot of positive energy into the organization, and with his sense of humor, he can lighten up any environment so that everyone has a good time while delivering great results. Cyrus is one of the few people in my career who has stood out. It was a pleasure working with Cyrus; I learned a lot from him and would cherish those times and be delighted to work with him again.
Experience
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GBL
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Canada
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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1 - 100 Employee
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Chief Executive Officer
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Sep 2019 - Oct 2022
Software development company focused on delivering proprietary, secure and regulated platforms for iGaming and cryptocurrency payments with over $35 million USD in annual recurring revenue and 40+ employees. Expanded company's growth and product offering by delivering a standalone white label cryptocurrency payment system with a configurable user interface and comprehensive transaction and analytics dashboard. As of mid-2022, the service was processing an average of $14 million USD per… Show more Software development company focused on delivering proprietary, secure and regulated platforms for iGaming and cryptocurrency payments with over $35 million USD in annual recurring revenue and 40+ employees. Expanded company's growth and product offering by delivering a standalone white label cryptocurrency payment system with a configurable user interface and comprehensive transaction and analytics dashboard. As of mid-2022, the service was processing an average of $14 million USD per month.
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General Manager
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May 2018 - Sep 2019
Recruited by the Founder and Board of Directors of Green Brick Labs to lead with scaling-up and operationalizing a startup-oriented iGaming technology company struggling with business, product and technological issues. As General Manager my mandate was twofold: 1) Stem the flow of user attrition on the existing iGaming platform due to system performance and usability issues. 2) Deliver a redesigned and rearchitected white label iGaming platform with proprietary… Show more Recruited by the Founder and Board of Directors of Green Brick Labs to lead with scaling-up and operationalizing a startup-oriented iGaming technology company struggling with business, product and technological issues. As General Manager my mandate was twofold: 1) Stem the flow of user attrition on the existing iGaming platform due to system performance and usability issues. 2) Deliver a redesigned and rearchitected white label iGaming platform with proprietary cryptocurrency payment system to be sold to operators in regulated jurisdictions.
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Delego, A division of Global Payments
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United States
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Financial Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Vice President Operations
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Mar 2016 - Apr 2018
Delego, now part of Evo Payments, is one of the world's first and largest providers of best-in-class integrated payment solutions for merchants leveraging SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). As VP of Operations, I was given the mandate to broaden the scope of improvements made as Senior Director of Operations to the entire organization, including the functional SAP Leads and DevOps.
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Senior Director of Operations
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Nov 2015 - Mar 2016
Recruited by the Founder and Chief Financial Officer to operationalize the organization as it struggled to support its growing portfolio of clients. My mandate was to restructure the Product, Project and Client Success teams in order to establish a cohesive operational structure for the seamless onboarding of new clients.
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Seekda
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Austria
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director of Operations
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Dec 2014 - Oct 2015
Kognitiv, previously Demure, enables travel agencies, fractional vacation home ownership and destination clubs to offer their customers a curated portfolio of 4,000+ certified vacation rentals through one seamlessly integrated travel technology platform. Following Kognitiv's acquisition of Seekda, a hospitality management software company, I was tasked with operationalizing Seekda's Vienna-based team. My mandate was twofold: 1) Restructure the Client Success team to provide… Show more Kognitiv, previously Demure, enables travel agencies, fractional vacation home ownership and destination clubs to offer their customers a curated portfolio of 4,000+ certified vacation rentals through one seamlessly integrated travel technology platform. Following Kognitiv's acquisition of Seekda, a hospitality management software company, I was tasked with operationalizing Seekda's Vienna-based team. My mandate was twofold: 1) Restructure the Client Success team to provide consistent and scalable support services to manage an expanding number of operators. 2) Facilitate the sales process by providing technical guidance to potential operators.
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Senior Product Manager
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Jun 2014 - Dec 2014
Recruited by the Chief Technology Officer and VP of Product Management to manage the development of a proprietary property rental platform with an emphasis on offering a seamless user experience to increase product adoption.
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PTC
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United States
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Software Development
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700 & Above Employee
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Product Manager
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Apr 2013 - May 2014
Product Manager of PTC Integrity's Global Software Development Platform, spearheading Software Development and Software Change & Configuration Management (SCCM) projects that generated over $20 million USD in annual recurring revenue. Product Manager of PTC Integrity's Global Software Development Platform, spearheading Software Development and Software Change & Configuration Management (SCCM) projects that generated over $20 million USD in annual recurring revenue.
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BlackBerry
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Canada
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Software Development
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700 & Above Employee
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Product Owner
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Jun 2011 - Mar 2013
Managed BlackBerry 10 software requirements across 18 cross-functional domain teams including Core User Interface, Software Development Kit (SDK), Peer-to-Peer Exchange Technologies, Gaming Overlay, Virtual Keyboard & Input Methods, Internationalization & Localization and Invocation & Share Framework. Managed BlackBerry 10 software requirements across 18 cross-functional domain teams including Core User Interface, Software Development Kit (SDK), Peer-to-Peer Exchange Technologies, Gaming Overlay, Virtual Keyboard & Input Methods, Internationalization & Localization and Invocation & Share Framework.
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NR Media Inc.
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Co-Founder
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Mar 2009 - May 2011
Co-creator of a customized bilingual news feed aggregation platform acquired in 2011. Co-creator of a customized bilingual news feed aggregation platform acquired in 2011.
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SREC Engineering
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Business Analyst
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Nov 2006 - Feb 2009
Co-authored $32 million USD oil and gas fabrication business plan for Senior Management. Co-authored $32 million USD oil and gas fabrication business plan for Senior Management.
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Education
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2010 - 2011
University of Toronto
Project Management -
2003 - 2007
The University of Calgary
Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
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