Simon Fransson joins Columbia Road

Hi Simon, How did you get good at what you do?

Completing an academic degree gave me an analytical mindset which has been enhanced through learning a lot from the people I’ve worked with – with all kinds of backgrounds, including Google, Facebook and Tesla, among others. Throughout my career I’ve experienced multiple failures and I’ve used them to get increasingly better at what I do. This has formed the basis of my knowledge up until today, but I’m hoping to gain a lot more from clients and colleagues at Columbia Road.

Where have you earned your spurs?

Being a graduate from university I was at crossroads: should I go towards the larger firms with a set way of working or should I start challenging what I’ve learnt by joining a smaller company? I chose the second option.

Joining two start-ups at an early stage has taught me what it takes to be successful in the Swedish market. Scaling two companies to exceed their tough goals through successful customer collaborations is the biggest accomplishment of my professional career. Marketing tech has been my focus and my previous company was elected as Google’s top 10 ad-tech firms of the EMEA-region – I’m quite proud of being a contributor to that!

Why Columbia Road?

Relevance for our customers is the number one focus for Columbia Road. We are able to be the partner that can help companies serve their customers better throughout the entire customer journey. This is something I haven’t seen in the Swedish market: having the capabilities to strategise, design, develop and market/nurture with a single partner. A partner who also wants to work from your premises on an everyday basis – that is unique.

Then there are the people – a high level of competence and professionalism mixed with fun. That is a hard mix to master but I can definitely feel it here at Columbia Road.

Lauri, what will make our clients love Simon?

“Our clients will love Simon because of his excellent creative thinking skills. He knows how to approach a problem from different angles to provide excellent results. He is a master at marketing and you’ll never see him working without a big smile on his face. Problems are where Simon thrives, as he loves to come up with inventive solutions to everything he faces,” says Lauri Eurén, General Manager at Columbia Road.

What makes your heart beat a little faster?

Being active has always been a part of my DNA. I played football competitively until the age of 20, until injuries caught up with me. Today I love digital sports (aka Esports), so I’m a trusted fan of the entire Esport ecosystem and it takes up parts of my spare time. I also enjoy working out and hanging out with my friends.

Lastly, I love reading, and this is my list of ‘must-reads’ for 2020:

• Tinker toys - Designed to change the way you think!
• HBR’s must reads on AI, Analytics and the new Machine Age
• Everybody Lies - What the internet can tell us about who we really are

How would you fancy working alongside Simon at Columbia Road? We're constantly looking for new nice and skilful people to join our crew! Take a peek at our open positions 👇