A C-level operator, not a slide deck

An operator, not a slide deck

I have spent my career carrying numbers, not merely commenting on them. As CMO of LeoVegas, I managed a €120 million marketing budget, delivered €50 million of incremental revenue in under a year, lifted EBITA by 18 percent, and reduced the marketing-to-revenue ratio from 40 percent to 30 percent. That work proved instrumental in the MGM acquisition, valued north of €607 million. As a market managing director, I grew revenue 500 percent, from €3 million to €18 million, in under twelve months. As a turnaround CEO, I stabilised a loss-making business and returned it to growth.

Prior to corporate roles, I founded and exited my own company. I also served in the Swedish Amphibious Corps. That is where the bias to action originated: in the field, the cost of hesitation is real and immediate. I have carried that principle into business. The plan executed this week consistently outperforms the perfect plan delivered next quarter.

Before my corporate roles I founded Optimized Group in Milan in 2012. I saw a paradigm shift in Italy: excellent companies were invisible online and nobody was willing to own the result. We built an honest, accountable agency that helped Italian companies grow their revenue through good online marketing, effective websites, working e-commerce and solid business fundamentals. We consulted over 300 companies in Italy and abroad, never shied away from the hard facts, and always faced the situation to deliver the very best for our clients. That discipline conquered the Italian market and led to a strong exit in 2016, selling to Digitouch, one of the biggest agencies in Italy. Earlier still, at Expedia, I ran a €5 million paid-search budget and tripled regional revenue. The pattern is consistent: own the number, then move it.

I founded and lead Action Is Now. My full background, track record and writing live on niklaslindahl.com.

Principles I lead by

These principles are not new. I set them out in interviews with Forbes Italia and Wall Street Italia, and I still run by them today.

Discipline comes first. I have always believed the only place success comes before sweat is the dictionary. Discipline is not a cage, it is what frees you to reach the result. I control what can be controlled and let go of what cannot, because worrying about the rest is paying interest on a debt you never took on.

When the market moves, I adapt, improvise and overcome, the Marine motto I lead by. I take risks when the reward justifies them, I run a business on cash flow rather than promises, and I treat ethics as non-negotiable. I lead from the front: a team gives its best when the person in charge sets the example and actually listens.

I have written more on how I translate these into daily practice in Niklas Lindahl Leadership as a manager, where I break down how I lead, manage and follow through to results.

Why I built Action Is Now

Most companies I encounter do not require another diagnosis. They require someone to take the seat and drive change. Traditional consulting delivers a deck and departs. A full-time hire is slow to recruit and expensive to justify before the company has absorbed the cost. I occupy that gap: senior leadership, deployed fast, part-time or interim, accountable for the outcome, with pricing tied to results where feasible.

The practice runs through three focused brands. Turnaround CEO is for businesses in distress that need stabilisation fast. Fractional CEO is for owners who need senior strategy and P&L ownership part-time. Fractional COO is for companies that need to tighten operations, cash and delivery without a full-time hire. Each brand delivers the same operator, scoped to the specific seat.

How I work

I diagnose in days, identify the two or three critical moves, and embed with your team to execute. If I cannot deliver, you will know within a day, and I will state it directly. That honesty is faster and more cost-effective for both parties than a polite engagement that yields no results. I operate fluently in English and Italian, across Europe, with deep roots in the Italian market. When a mandate needs more than one pair of hands, I can assemble a specialist team through my network in 48 hours.

Alongside Action Is Now, I run Fractional Manager, my dedicated practice for fractional and interim C-level mandates (CEO, CMO, COO) across Europe and beyond. For Italian family businesses facing a generational transition, I also run Manager per Passaggio Generazionale and Passaggio Generazionale. For Swedish and Scandinavian interim CEO mandates, I run interim VD. I also publish on the bridge between Sweden and Italy at sverige italien.