Not Sorry
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“I’m not sorry for refusing to treat Canada like a farm team. ”

Jeremy Auger

Jeremy Auger portrait

Jeremy is the Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Lucid Ventures, a seed-stage fund backing AI-native B2B software and commercial frontier technologies. He previously co-founded D2L, helping scale it from startup to public global edtech company, and held CTO, COO, and CSO roles. A named inventor on 30+ patents, he brings operator, product, M&A, and global expansion experience to early-stage founders.

01

Authenticity is a Force Multiplier.

There is a tired myth that to be a "serious" executive, you must be a stoic, humorless robot. I reject that. You can be the most rigorous person in the boardroom and still be the person who cracks a joke or leads with kindness. When you show up as the same person across all your personas - founder, board member, mentor, colleague, boss, friend - you build a level of trust and speed that "professional masking" can never achieve. Being nice isn't a weakness; it’s a strategic advantage.

02

Great Ideas Must Earn Their Keep.

Ideas are free, but they shouldn't be coddled. The best outcomes aren't born in polite consensus; they are forged through vigorous debate and relentless challenge. I strive to build environments where we separate the person from the protocol where we can be "kind to the person, but brutal to the idea." If an idea can’t survive a room full of smart people trying to poke holes in it, it isn't ready for the market.

03

Don’t Wait for the Roadmap—Write It.

Growth lives at the edge of what’s comfortable. Whether it was the early days of the internet or today’s AI-native revolution, the most significant breakthroughs come from those who refuse to accept "the way things have always been done" as a valid constraint. Don’t wait for the roadmap to be written by someone else; be the one holding the pen. If you aren’t slightly uncomfortable with the pace of change, you aren’t leading it.

One thing to take away

You don't need to have every answer to start, and you will never have 100% of the information. The roadmap will never be finished. The difference between those who scale and those who stall is the willingness to pick up the pen and start writing. Stop asking for permission and start building.

Jeremy Auger portrait