Exceptional Promise Application - Please Review

Stage 1
1

Hello everyone, I’m putting in my application in place for submission in April. I’m a bootstrapped founder who works a full time as a Growth Marketer. Please can you help me review my available evidence. I’ll appreciate your honest feedback. Thank you so much!

MC 1

  • Evidence of ownership of my boostrapped startup
  • Evidence of our 15,000 userbase
  • Support letter from the CTO

MC 2

  • Evidence of salary in offer letter from my employer
  • Bank Statements

MC 3

  • 2023 Award nomination from CEOs Network Africa in the Technology field. (I did not win it)

MC 4

  • Growth lead at a non profit product helping boostrapped founders connect to Investors.
  • Evidence of virtual events I have curated

OC 1a

  • Evidence of my startup’s innovation and our importance in the creative scene
  • Evidence of customer’s feedback highlighting the need for the product

OC 1b

  • Evidence of publications made by a Swedish tech firm in 2024, highlighted as one of Africa’s 5 selected boostrapped firms. (We also received complimentary tech support from them)
  • Support letter from a senior dev in the firm.

OC 2a

  • Video Evidence of me speaking to a crowd of over 800 at a pitch event. Selected amongst 9 other companies from over 300 applications
  • Independent Media publication about the importance of my startup for creatives (Not a tech publication)

OC 3a

  • Evidence of traction for the first company I worked at. Led growth to over 20,000 users
  • Support letter from the founder

OC 3b

  • Evidence of traction for my current company, an ML intelligence software.
  • Support letter from the founder

Thank you!

2

Hi @Udo

For your MC, simply showing a userbase doesn’t really prove to the assessors that you are recognised as talent or someone with pontential to be a leading talent in the industry. Also, a letter from your own CTO can often come across as biased. While your salary and bank statements prove what you earn, they don’t necessarily prove you’ve been recognised for your skills. Even an award nomination is weak, they want to see that you actually won.

Regarding your OC, using “we” weakens the evidence, even if it were to be strong. This application is about you, not your company. If the recognition is for the whole business, it doesn’t count as a personal win for you. Also, your speaking events need to be top tier and industry focused. Then, just having an article about why your startup is important doesn’t show sector contribution, and its more about your day job.

For your OC3 traction evidence, what are you actually showing? Support letters aren’t enough on their own, they should be used to validate evidence you’ve already provided.

Is it okay, if I suggest you take out more time, to work on your evidence and narrative before you apply.

All the best.