Stefano Hesse — Reputation & Communications Advisor
Good judgement is the best
communications strategy.
Stefano Hesse — Reputation & Communications AdvisorGood judgement is the best
communications strategy.
I'm a reputation management advisor with over thirty years leading global communications for some of the most influential technology, digital media and fintech brands in the world. I specialise in high-stakes PR, global policy and complex corporate narratives, bridging aggressive market expansion with stringent regulatory demands.
Reputation is not built by what a company says. It is shaped by what stakeholders experience, from an employee's daily choices to how a business responds under pressure. My approach goes beyond PR: I help leadership teams see where trust is being won or lost, and build the structures and capability to manage reputation for the short and long term.
Reputation problems rarely announce themselves. These are the moments when leaders usually pick up the phone.
The company has doubled and the function has not, or the agency you hired is not delivering. I help you decide what to build, who to hire and which agency, if any, is right.
The first 12 months of a new CEO or senior team shape how people see the company for years. I help you decide what to say, to whom, in what order, and what to leave alone.
When leaders stay quiet, employees, customers and regulators write their own version. I help you lead the story through the change.
Investors, journalists and regulators start reading your company differently. I help you get the story, the leadership voice and the house in order before they do.
Data privacy, competition and sector rules can turn into reputation problems quickly. I help you engage early and credibly, before positions harden.
Someone to call first. Calm, direct and experienced in the rooms where these decisions are made, so one incident does not come to define the company.
Worked directly with top tech founders and CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Meg Whitman.
Led corporate communications at Google and Facebook across regional markets: hyper-growth, data privacy and brand reputation.
Drove communications behind the international growth of eBay and the iBazar Group as global e-commerce took shape.
Supported healthtech and fintech startups, scaling communications and policy globally.
Led communications from inside large global corporations, and advised agencies and platforms from the outside, bringing both perspectives to every engagement.
Three decades moving across big tech, e-commerce, fintech, healthtech and media, bringing a rare, cross industry view of how companies actually scale and communicate.
Diagnosing where trust and goodwill are being won or lost across every stakeholder interaction, then building the strategy and capability to manage reputation long term.
Strategic counsel for chief executives, senior management and leadership teams on communications and policy positioning, from boardroom messaging to public facing strategy.
Running the search to find the right communications or PR agency, then managing that relationship on your behalf for quality, accountability and value.
Preparing for and steering through high pressure moments, so one incident does not come to define the company.
Advising PR and communications agencies on their own growth: service innovation, positioning, new business and talent, drawing on experience as both an agency client and an agency partner.
Preparing founders, executives and spokespeople for hostile interviews and investor pitches, where the story wins the room as much as the numbers.
A short, senior look at where your reputation stands and what to do about it. I work through six questions with you and spend the time where the answers are weakest.
Where is trust being won or lost today, with customers, regulators, investors and your own people?
What do people say about you when you are not in the room, in the press, in search and in AI assistants?
Does the way your leadership team shows up build confidence, or quietly erode it?
Is communications set up to shape decisions, or only to react to them?
Are your agencies and advisers delivering what you pay for?
If something went wrong on Monday morning, who would do what by lunchtime?
You finish with a clear view of where you stand, the few things that matter most, and a plain recommendation on what to do first. It is also the simplest way to find out whether we should work together.
Ask for a Reputation Review →We start with a conversation. I ask the questions you may not be asked inside the company, and I read what is being said about you.
I tell you plainly where trust is being won or lost and what matters most. No long report for the sake of it.
Direct counsel for you and your leadership team, including what not to do and what not to say.
Where it helps, I put the structure and the right people in place, so reputation is managed well after I have gone.
AI has not changed what reputation is. It has changed how quickly it forms, how far it spreads and how little control a company has over the first impression.
Customers, investors and candidates increasingly ask an AI assistant about a company before they ever visit its site. The answer is assembled from whatever has been published and repeated, accurate or not.
A rumour, a leaked memo or a fabricated video can be summarised, repeated and believed within hours, and it is now cheap to fake a voice, a screenshot or an executive.
Employees, customers and regulators judge how a company uses AI as much as what it says about it. A clear, honest position on AI is becoming part of reputation.
No. PR is one tool. I advise on reputation as a whole: where trust is won or lost, how your leadership shows up, how communications is organised and which agencies, if any, you need. Often the first piece of advice is what not to say.
No. I make them better. I help you choose, brief and manage agencies, and I work alongside your team. If an agency is not right for you, I will say so.
Founders, chief executives, senior management teams, boards and investors, mostly at technology, fintech and healthtech companies that are growing or changing fast.
It usually starts with a conversation and a Reputation Review. After that I can advise on an ongoing basis or for a defined period around a specific moment, such as a funding round, a new CEO or a deal. In a crisis I can start immediately.
Yes. I am based in London, I have led communications across many markets, and I work with leadership teams around the world.
Yes. I do not name clients without their agreement, and I will always tell you where I have an interest.
Message me by email or WhatsApp using the icons below. If it is urgent, say so.
Sottorete Ltd
71-75 Shelton Street
Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ