Hello everyone, thanks in advance for the great help and support we’re all getting from this amazing community.
I’m applying for exceptional talent and using OC1-Innovation and OC3-Impact as optional criteria. I’m struggling a bit with the type of traction I can include. Most of my evidence is on my startup that was acquired. The product is no longer in the market as it was completely integrated into the acquirer company. I cannot get any screenshots of dashboard or things like that. I have usage numbers but no screenshots to prove it.
What I’m thinking of using as proof of traction include:
Customer testimonials (any guidelines on how to show testimonials?)
The proof of the acquisition $$ (shareholder resolution)
Some revenue numbers but it doesn’t cover all the features/products in my evidence so I don’t wanna completely rely on it
What else can I use as traction? Any ideas or inspirations? Do customer invoices add any merit?
hey @ask4jubad & @alexnk … I highly appreciate your input on this topic if possible. Sorry to disturb you, but I’ve read a lot of your replies here and I think you might have great insight about this
@product-founder bear in mind that the potential to get endorsed really lies on the the strength of evidences that you have.
Considering that you don’t have the evidence, then there’s hardly a premise to proceed. For one, you can’t show OC1 (INNOVATION) since you don’t have details about the features or what the internal workings of the product is. More so, the product is no longer in the market for the assessor to independently
However, this is what I recommend at best. Use the evidence that you have only for OC3 (IMPACT) - acquisition and shareholding resolution are a starting point. Then ask the acquiring company’s executives to write a reference letter detailing your contributions to make the acquisition possible and the traction (in terms of the use in case of B2B and reach if it’s an end user product) that the product had before, during and after acquisition. (Numbers and statistics are quite important here).
In addition, you can also add the original company registration documents to buttress “foundership” and support your OC3 (plus the customer invoices maybe).
Once again, regarding OC1, If the product is indeed innovative, you should have some type of patent, IP or media mention that points to how your product is innovative. If you have this, then you can simply use a CTO’s reference letter from the acquiring company to talk more about the innovation in the product and your own particular contribution to make that be.
As it stands, there’s not much qualifying evidence that you have. Try some of the things that I have suggested as a starting point.
@ask4jubad first thanks for your reply.
I didn’t say I don’t have evidence for OC1 or OC3. For OC1: I will be already submitting other documents talking about the features and how they are innovative, showing product screenshots, submitting a letter from the acquiring company talking about why our product was different. But based on Tech Nation guidelines (and some posts here), they mention including traction data. I have some traction data but I’m missing the analytics dashboards screenshots, so what I’m asking here is giving any other examples that can be used as traction proof … I’ve seen a lot of great ideas in other posts before on how to use different types of evidence, so I asked here maybe someone has some insight.
Oh, I wasn’t aware of the other thread that you just shared. So, I believe that you are in good shape then. I think my suggestion is in line with what you have in the thread.
Like yeshellohi advised, you may move Document 5 to OC3. In addition, since you are one document short of the allowable 10, you can always look for a reference letter (could be from a cofounder) to talk about your impact OC3. Most times, in TN’s case, more is better.
I can only say all the best with your application.
customer testimonials may help if it is from a very well-known user in the field or media, it may help. But without the number, it will still not be so strong.
proof of the acquisition which shows the $$ you earned from the exit could help as it is the key metric for the business owners.
the revenue number will be good to add, but you need to add the period and the continuity of your revenue, and with the mention that these numbers are the example from the product A,B,C only.
If you have the OC1 documents to prove the innovation, patent, email discussion, or media mention, it is possible for you to strengthen them with the LOR. OC1 does not necessarily require the impact or metrics, especially if you a from the technical role. OC1 just requires us to show the real innovation, which is quite vague, but it leaves many opportunities for each of us here.
Inspiration I can give at the moment:
If you have any email conversation forwarded to your/someone’s personal email which you can access, you may want to look into those mailboxes and find the reports or figures from it.
Some paid tool which may have some of the data, such as: similarweb to show the traffic sources and trend, Ahrefs to show the organic traffic growth in the previous years, or etc., or some Google Trend / CrunchBase
If you have some of your good relationship person in the company, you may ask for some favor. This is not legal advice, I hope you understand.
You write your own evidence, and have the LOR from the company who acquired your previous company to confirm it. The evidence can also be attached as an appendix in the LOR as well.
I understand how it feels. I hope you find something to back you up.
Thanks to you all for clearing up my same confusion too.
Well, could you please help me with following situation:
Situation:
About to submit my application as an exceptional promise. I am a startup co-founder & CTO but no traction has been made yet as we offer 12 months free of cost plan or service and it’s in the process. The product/platform is live and operational.
Key points: It’s an innovative and first-ever / online web platform of its kind at the national level, targeting B2B and B2C (marketplace). The only success stories related to this venture, I personally have are: Getting selected into the startup programs such as accelerators at national and international levels. Such as: Microsoft Founders hub, Founder institute etc.
Questions:
Given this situation, what suits best for me: OC 1 or OC 3?
What type of evidence(s) should I be using for that chosen OC. Help me, please.
On traction: You might not have revenues, but you would have users right since the product is live. User growth (assuming it’s in the 1000s if a B2C, and maybe 100+ if B2B, but might want to highlight if there’s some well known companies there). is not a bad traction to show IMO if you can show that you’ve been growing fast.
Does anyone know if TechNation requires a minimum margin in the A4 documents? The normal A4 document has a 1-inch margin on every side, but with the screenshots I’m attaching, I can’t leave that margin. Does anyone have any information if this matters or the most important thing is to have the width & height of an A4 paper?
One more question, I’m currently working on my personal statement, and I have a question related to how to answer: What I am going to do in the UK.
I’m currently not based in the UK. My plan is to start another startup in the fintech space which is why I specifically chose the UK. Do I need to give any specifics on the startup idea?
Does anyone here had a similar situation can help me how to answer this part?
Has anyone got a rejection based on this before and asked them to apply for the Innovator’s Visa (startup visa).
This is my full evidence list I’m planning to submit: Exceptional Talent: Review my application + Few questions [URGENT]
I don’t think I have seen, heard or read that anyone was advised to apply for Innovator’s visa instead. And there are many reasons that would be a disingenuous recommendation.
In any case, there’s only so much you can share about your planned startup within 1000 words, so just try to answer all questions briefly in a story-like manner. You can also use the opportunity to connect the evidences that you have submitted.
Many people have mentioned that they plan to either scale or start a company and have been endorsed regardless.
@heman I haven’t applied yet, so i don’t have enough experience like others here to support my argument. But from all I’ve read and all the research I’ve done. The evidence documents are used solely to judge whether you meet the criteria. I assume what you wanna do in the UK and the startup idea you have would have zero weight to evaluate whether you meet the mandatory or optional criteria or not. If you have a startup incorporated and have financial projections, submitting those might fit within the story of other documents. But I’d argue to always evaluate your evidence on whether it’s proving to the assessor whether you meet the criteria or not.
