Simon Strand

At a glance

RoleFounder and Director, Special Projects
Based inBasel, Switzerland
ExpertiseCorporate affairs and strategic communicationsmarket intelligence and business analyticsinvestor relations and equity positioningbusiness development and go-to-marketeditorial developmentmarketingconcept developmentmulti-stakeholder strategy development
ExperienceCorporate transactions and IPOscrisis management and special situationsinternational expansionnew ventures and product launchesfundraisingstrategic initiatives and partnershipsgrowth initiativestransformation programmesrebranding processesmarketing strategies
Industrial focusTechnologyfinancial servicesprivate marketscreative sector
Academic involvementMBA mentor, Stanford GSBCo-lead of Sweden Through the Crisis, Stockholm School of Economics
WritingContributor, Fast Company

Simon Strand is the founder of Special Projects. Since founding the business in 2023, he has advised at least seven firms ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company or Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies by the FT.

Simon has long mentored MBA students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business through its Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX) programme. Since more recently, he is a contributor to Fast Company, primarily writing on European business.

Transactions, crises and corporate milestones

He has helped companies navigate financial transactions, major milestones, crises and other critical matters. His M&A experience includes music catalogue deals belonging to two of the world’s most popular artists, an Axel Springer media acquisition and one of Europe’s largest dental-chain mergers.

Simon has been interim head of communications for a global entertainment rights investor and on the advisory board of a market-leading Nordic travel company. At the introduction of GDPR, he worked with the leadership of a major European media group on its corporate and public affairs response to the regulatory shift.

Entrepreneurship and leadership

Before establishing Special Projects in Basel, Simon co-founded communications firm 500 and an executive search firm in Stockholm, and a media venture in London. He led much of 500 Stockholm’s talent strategy and shaped it around exceptional talent, including the youngest PhD in Swedish history, a former Swedish government minister and McKinsey and BCG alumni.

At 26, Simon was ranked 11th among Sweden’s most powerful people under 40 by a Swedish news outlet. He was named Sweden’s most influential person in public relations in 2018 by Cision.

Ideas, research initiatives and public engagement

In 2020, he co-led the Stockholm School of Economics’ major pandemic-era research initiative, Sweden Through the Crisis, together with researchers from the school. The project explored why and how the Swedish pandemic response diverged from global norms.

Simon has been a speaker at conferences hosted by the association of European Football Clubs, the US State Department and various universities. He advised a part of the EU-funded U-LEAD initiative in Ukraine in 2017—aimed at strengthening local self-governance—and has contributed to several Cannes Lions-winning branding projects, including a Grand Prix. He was among a select group of senior Swedish leaders invited in 2016 by US Ambassador Azita Raji for a round-table on innovation.

Brands, media and culture

Simon’s experience also covers earlier work with global companies including Audi, adidas, Lufthansa and McDonald’s, some of which was recognised by The Economist, CNN, BBC and The Atlantic among other media outlets, and numerous international marketing festivals.

He is an executive producer of a podcast recognised by voices as varied as Malala Yousafzai, Usain Bolt, The Guardian and the Royal Television Society.