Hi everyone,
It took me quite a while to update, but I thought it would be nice to share, especially since this forum was helpful in curating a great application. I applied for the Exceptional Promise route on June 12th and got a response two weeks later.
Here are the documents I sent in
Letters of Recommendation
- CEO of my current company: This is from my current CEO at Company A, a business leader who was an ex-Big 4 executive.
- Partner at a VC firm: He was COO at Company B and is now a partner at a firm supporting early-stage investors.
- Former Marketing Manager and current TN-endorsed talent: Worked together before and collaborated on various initiatives.
Mandatory Criteria
- Speaking opportunities on panel sessions about marketing—Proof of speaking at about six events, including conferences, panels and webinars, as well as slides, pictures, posters and feedback from attendees
- Proof of leading marketing efforts - Proof of leading marketing at a Y-Combinator-backed startup (Company A) highlighting overall profitability, marketing initiatives I worked on, as well as a recommendation letter from the team lead
- Proof of earning: Equity documents from last two jobs as well as salary increment over time + comparison with industry standard
- Proof of leading marketing efforts - Evidence of a strategy built for business development that improved retention at a startup (Company A), including screenshots of Slack conversations, growth metrics and the impact on business growth.
Optional Criteria 2
- Proof of mentorship on structured platforms - Google Hustle Academy and a community mentorship program. Screenshots of emails and reviews
- Volunteer effort with tech-powered products - Volunteering for a TEDx event, a community project that hoped to sustain Nigerian languages by building a dictionary online, volunteering on the board of an NGO, and marketing volunteer work for other NGOs. Added are attestation letters and screenshots from websites.
- Proof of contributing to articles to show thought leadership - Screenshots of articles on marketing and technology on reputable websites.
Optional Criteria 3
- Having led or played a key role in the growth of a product-led digital technology company, such as influencing investment and strategy or delivering major products or releases - Screenshots of Slack conversations of me initiating this new feature at Company A documents that show planning, links to a personal story and results from the initiative.
- Analytics dashboard of new users/traffic acquisition/clicks, digital growth, leads generated - Screenshots of growth of various marketing efforts at Company A, including mobile app, search results, and newsletter growth.
- Proof of leading marketing efforts at another Y-Combinator-backed startup—Proof of document created to show that I led the marketing of a flagship product with a global payments company at Company B. I will also attach the successes, news clippings from announcing the partnership where I am mentioned, and an attestation letter from the Former General Manager.
Something I also did a lot of was:
- Add attestation letters for some of the evidences - I added supporting letters for like four evidences to make it stronger
- Explain so much about the evidences - introduction, why and then result/impact.
Looking at this final edit from the original first version I posted was so interesting and I’m indeed thankful for the random posts and comments.
