Michael Tidebäck

I build operating functions from zero.

Bio

SSE Nomura Round One OnePlus Seventy Ninjas in Pyjamas indexmatch

1 project 2026- indexmatchOperations practice, IndexMatch AB Founder & Principal Stockholm

Founder & Principal2026-: I take on interim and fractional operations roles, corporate development and transactions, advisory work, and defined-scope projects.

Work from this role

Visa operation for the Esports World Cup, Paris

The Esports World Cup moved from Riyadh to Paris, and thousands of players and staff suddenly needed Schengen visas. ESL Faceit Group brought me in to build the function from nothing, and the first players were in the pipeline six days later. I built the tracker every party worked from and ran a team across three time zones. The result was 1,008 visas issued and just seven refused.

1,353cases across 217 clubs and 47 nationalities

7refusals on 1,015 decided applications

6 daysfrom my start to the first players in the pipeline

Intake

Form submissions and platform exports, kept raw so every later step traces back to what was submitted.

source	submitted	passport no.	nationality
team form	2026-05-27	X1234567	BRA
platform export	2026-05-28	X7654321	IDN

Verified

The system of record: every participant after human verification, joined to their application on passport number.

passport no.	participant	club	verified
X1234567	Player A	Club A	yes
X7654321	Player B	Club B	yes

Rules

Visa requirements for 207 nationalities, so each case knew its route as soon as it came in.

nationality	visa required	route
BRA	no	none
IDN	yes	self or agency

Status

One status per step, so anyone could see where a participant stood at any moment.

passport no.	form	appointment	biometrics	decision
X7654321	done	booked	done	pending

QA log

Pass/fail checks with thresholds set in a config tab.

check	flagged
form vs. database mismatch	124
passport validity	107
minor, guardian documents	42

Reporting

The daily participant-level report to the Foundation, which held the only channel to the French government.

status	submitted	issued	refused
final	1,065	1,008	7

Team guide

All my conversations with teams, plus workflows and FAQs, turned into a searchable site so the coordinators could answer cases without me.

section	contents
workflows	step by step, per route
resolved cases	searchable by country and issue
FAQ	answers for team managers

The tracker, sheet by sheet. Example rows are made up; participant data stays private.

2 projects 2018-26 Ninjas in PyjamasEsports, Nasdaq: NIPG VP OperationsDirector, Corporate Development; Head of Partnerships Stockholm

VP Operations2023-26: I ran day-to-day operations in Stockholm, with a $3M+ budget and a 15-person content, design and social team, reporting to the CEO. I was also the Swedish point of contact for the group in China, from integration work to Western PR and IR disclosures.
Director, Corporate Development2020-23: I ran the cross-border merger with ESV5 together with our CEO, from modeling and on-site due diligence in China to the negotiations. I also built our in-house data pipeline in Alteryx and Tableau, which became the company's source of truth for its numbers.
Head of Partnerships2018-20: I joined as employee #4 and ran partnerships worth $3M a year, from the pitch to delivering what each contract promised, with partners including Betway, ASUS ROG, Samsung and Razer.

Work from this role

Merger and Nasdaq listing

We set out to buy a slot in China's League of Legends league during the pandemic, and the owner we found made more sense as a merger partner than as a seller. I ran the merger with ESV5 alongside our CEO and was the only cross-border point of contact through the integration. For the Nasdaq listing, I wrote the Swedish parts of the prospectus and ran Western PR.

~$500Mmarket value at listing

~$75Mcombined revenue, 2022 pro forma

~400people across Stockholm and China after the merger

Ninjas in Pyjamas announces global merger with ESV5Forbes2021
Hong Kong pop star-backed esports firm NIP Group files for US IPOBloomberg2024
NIP Group wins esports race to market with Nasdaq listingThe Bamboo Works2024

	2020		2021		2022		2023		2024
Merger talks
Deal signed
Integration
Transaction completed
IPO preparation
Nasdaq listing

From first talks to the Nasdaq listing, in half-year columns.

League and publisher partnerships

I ran NIP's side of the Counter-Strike league agreements with ESL and BLAST, from content commitments to the governance meetings. For Rainbow Six, I led the pitch that won us a partner slot with Ubisoft and held it for three years, and I later secured our places with Rocket League and the Esports World Cup 2025.

UbisoftRainbow Six partner slot

Epic GamesRocket League, via Psyonix

ESL Faceit GroupCounter-Strike league

BLASTCounter-Strike league

Esports World Cup2025 club partner

Details 2016-17 Seventy AgencyBrand and strategy Strategist Shanghai, Stockholm

Strategist2016-17: OnePlus's marketing agency hired me away and sent me to its new Shanghai office. I developed the social media strategy for Google's regional arm, which raised average engagement from 0.1% to 4%, and built the pitch for a new Ericsson product aimed at global phone manufacturers.

1 project 2014-16 OnePlusSmartphones, employee #10 Head of CommunityBusiness Development Shenzhen

Business Development2014-15: I joined in May 2014 as employee #10, right after the OnePlus One launched, to win carrier and distribution deals market by market. That work became the Southeast Asia operation.
Head of Community2015-16: I ran the OnePlus forums and Reddit, the company's main marketing channels while it spent nothing on paid media, and fed what the community asked for into the product. When the Cyanogen software deal fell apart, I brought in the Paranoid Android developers, who became the main developers of the global operating system.

Work from this role

Southeast Asia launch

I built the Southeast Asia operation from scratch, with carrier launches in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, online sales through Lazada and a distributor in Thailand. I hired into a 6-person team across four countries and moved repairs to local service partners instead of shipping phones to China.

4markets launched

6people across Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and China

OnePlus 2: Tidak ada NFC. Mengapa?Jagat Review2015
OnePlus 2 soft launch in IndonesiaDailySocial (archived)2015
Finns are the world's most OnePlus-crazy peopleMobiili.fi2015

Markets

market	route to customers
Malaysia	carrier launch, Lazada
Indonesia	carrier launch, Lazada
Singapore	carrier launch, Lazada
Thailand	distribution partner

Details 2011-14 Round One Corporate FinanceCorporate finance advisory Consultant Stockholm

Consultant2011-14: I wrote the business plan and information memorandum for Soundtrap, which raised a $6M Series A and was later sold to Spotify, and helped Mediapilot move from manual to algorithm-driven news analysis.

Details 2011-12 NomuraInvestment banking Analyst, Equity Capital MarketsSummer analyst, M&A London

Analyst, ECM and M&A2011-12: In M&A and then Equity Capital Markets, I built valuation materials for an estimated €250M stake-sale pitch to Nordic sponsors, and the information memorandum for a $200M bank privatization with more than 20 potential buyers.

Details 2009-14 Stockholm School of EconomicsEducation BSc Business and EconomicsMSc Finance and Accounting (on hold) Stockholm

BSc and MSc2009-14: I took a BSc in Business and Economics, then left an MSc in Finance and Accounting halfway through to sell smartphones in China. It remains on hold.
Pimp my GradesTwo years: I also ran Pimp my Grades for two years, coaching 12-15-year-olds in Stockholm's suburbs, and it was named Project of the Year by its sponsors.