Endorsed for Exceptional Promise

Stage 1
1

I hope someone finds this helpful. (A long read I guess)

I got endorsed for Exceptional Promise and here is the breakdown of my timeline and the documents submitted.

30th of May: Application sent

June 20: I got an email that they couldn’t find my application and I had to rectify that by sending the reference number on my application as a response to them.

June 26: First edit

June 27: Second and Third edit

June 28: Fourth edit

July 1: I got Endorsed

Now to my documents

LOR

  1. Letter from the CEO of a blockchain company

  2. Letter from the COO of a Financial Education Company

  3. Letter from the CEO of a mental health company(I cofounded this company)

MC docs

  1. Evidence of co-founding a mental health company: I spoke a bit about how we started the company and my role and I attached screenshots from Crunchbase and company registration documents that clearly showed my name as a major stakeholder

  2. Media recognition of the company: I had to state in this document that I am a major shareholder and cofounder, so these media mentions are relevant evidence to meet this criterion. Also, the attached screenshots and links mentioned my name in them. I attached screenshots from 3 major media outlets and I added a brief description of what these media houses do, their target audience, monthly visits and details about the publication.

  3. Personal Media mentions: In this docs, I spoke about the interview I did with a media outlet and a podcast interview. The pieces of evidence I attached were:

  • screenshots of the LinkedIn message when the editor reached out to me for the interview

  • a screenshot of the publication (I showed the target audience of the publication, monthly visits, link to the publication)

  • a screenshot of the Spotify page of my podcast interview (I added the link to the podcast, the number of plays and a brief description of what the podcast is about )

  • the thank you mail I got from the community that I did the podcast interview with

  1. Salary and Contracts: A brief history of how my earnings evolved since I started my career in tech. I attached:

  • Payscale report showing what an Average person in my role earns

  • 3 months’ payslips of my current job here in the UK

  • Screenshot of a part of my employment contract from a previous job

OC1 docs

  1. Proof of innovation: I spoke about the mental health company I cofounded, spoke about my role and gave a brief description of 3 major features implemented in the product (just to prove how innovative the solution was). I attached just a link(not the screenshot) to the Figma designs of these features. The other evidences I attached in this document were:

  • screenshot of one of the biggest media outlet speaking about our company. I showed the target audience, monthly visits, and a brief description of the publication and the link to the publication

  • Company’s One pager that describes the challenges we are solving and our solution

  1. Reference letter from the second cofounder (we are 3 Cofounders) that spoke about me leading the product team and development and the company’s revenue that is tied to these features in the product.

  2. Proof of product in the market: I reiterated that I cofounded the company before showing the pieces of evidence. Docs attached:

  • Screenshot of the website and link to the website

  • Screenshot from banks that showed transactions and revenue generated within a period

  • Screenshot from Google’s play console dashboard showing product acquisitions and channels(major sales) and product performance (number of app downloads from top 5 countries)

  • Playstore screenshot of the app and link to the Playstore

OC3 docs

  1. Documentation on a company B I currently co-found: here, I spoke about the company, what it does, and my role as designer and product lead. Docs attached:

  • I showed the user flow of the product

  • Link to the website

  • Screenshot of the figma designs and link to the design

  • Screenshot of the App store and link to the App store

  1. Reference letter from my Cofounder of the company B

  2. Impact I made in company A: Here I spoke about revenue and technical impact and my role.

Docs attached:

  • Figma screenshots of the design I did.

  • Screenshots of user ratings and reviews from the dashboard.

  • Evidence of getting into an accelerator program(An email we got from them).

  • Screenshot of the money given to us by the accelerator program.

Other docs

  1. My CV

  2. Personal statement

I am grateful for this community and I am happy to give back.

5 Likes
2

Again, congratulations! @Tolulope_Ogunjuyigbe. And thank you for sharing this thread. Wish you all the best in your next phase.

3 Likes
3

@Tolulope_Ogunjuyigbe you submitted 2 OC’s right? or is it 3

2 Likes
4

Congrats @Tolulope_Ogunjuyigbe

2 Likes
5

You’re not allowed to select more than 2 OC’s

1 Like
6

Thank you so much @Tolulope_Ogunjuyigbe

I have been so scared to start writing my recommendation letters but I’ll start it today. Will come back to this post when it ready so you can review them for me. Thank you!

3 Likes
7

Congratulations and best wishes

2 Likes
8

Hello Tolulope

I have gathered all my evidence and would appreciate if you will be available to review it.

I am applying for Exceptional Promise too

Thank you

1 Like