Exceptional Talent Application-Request for Review

Stage 1
1

Hello,
I hope you are well. I want to apply for the exceptional talent category this week. I sent this last week but didn’t get any response :frowning_face:

Reference letters:
1- Former CEO of a VC I was on startup due diligence committee and he was my advisor when I was Co-founder and CEO at the FinTech company
2- CEO of the VC who invested in my FinTech company confirming all the details and the amount of investment
3- Founder of an EdTech platform where I was Entrepreneur in Residence with details even regarding my salary compared to company and industry

My Mandatory documents:
1- Co-founding and Managing Director of the FinTech startup along with Google Analytics (however it doesn’t cover the whole time because it was sanctioned in my how country), Letter from Board member of the VC who invested in my FinTech company confirming all the details and the amount of investment, and also my the notary changes certified translation stating my board member position and managing Director, pictures, UI of the application, and media coverage. I am trying to translate a tax declaration form as well. I exited this startup and it has been noted on my recommendation letter of the VC CEO along with abov 1 million GPB investment we raised with them but I don’t have any other financial documents also the exit hasn’t yet resulted in monetary benefit

2- Speaking at a high profile event in the startup ecosystem with all the top 20 startup founders and executives over 500 live viewers and plus 5000 online viewers with photos and video of me speaking (it’s a national event like Ted) along with all the other well-known startup founders in my country and who they are and info about their startups to show how well known this event is

3- Expert role assessing work of others as a Peer Reviewer of a Digital Journal in Elsevier (well-known publication in the academic world) with over 14 reviews and all the detailsm including a certificate and email from editor and screenshot from Elsevier panel. I have also been the reviewer of another journal as well with more than 12, I have provided the emails from the editors, the screenshot from the website. It’s a journal from one of the most prominent universities in Iran. This is considered as my academic aspect just to note. I don’t know whether to use this or give more context to other experiences but Elsevier is really well known. I also have a paper published in Electronic Markets Journal which is a really good Springer Journal with 6.7 Impact factor. Also, don’t know if this will help.

4- Letter from Digital technology company where I was Entrepreneur in Residence, where I led the growth of the product and commercialization, along with a letter from CFO confirming my salary which is very much above industry standard, and also UI of the application, along with a high level document I created and gantt charts and pictures of our team

5- Letter from CMO of a leading ride-hailing startup where I was the Lead Product Manager detailing my achievements along with Google Analytics, media coverage of our products, Google Play screenshot of the app, and two other reference letters from well known members in ecosystem confirming my involvement. This was important because I was offered the position for my MC1 that I mentioned above while being on this role after launching a co-product with them to become CEO of that company which has also been confirmed in my recommendation letters

Optional Criteria:
1- OC3: Founding the tourism startup along with Looker Google Studio report, Google Analytics and other info for about plus 2 million users in one product and plus 470K users in another along with a letter from my co-founder along with a reference letter from my Co-founder, notary translation of my company and its registration. But I can’t provide any financials regarding this. In this company there was two startups, one with 470K and another 2 million users but the second one was merged into a super application majorly known in my country. However, due to economic downturns the deal didn’t finally go through and we had to shut it down by 2021 and also liquidate the company in 2023. From 2019 to 2021 I had several roles first became Interim ceo (After CEO and Founder) and then Chairman of the board. I will provide translated documents for these.
2- OC3: All the details, Looker Google Studio Report, and other info regarding my position as Entrepreneur in Residence at the EdTech company along with a letter from the CEO confirming this and also an employment letter stating my high salary, and also a letter from the co-founder who is now the VP of engineering at a top FinTech company in our country
3- OC 2: Personal Recognition and public speaking containing news snippets and coverage, two public speakings with photo and video, being a member of the national ICT Guild and recognized as the top 10 E-commerce and FinTech executives, Certificate of attendance in a workshop after being selected by UNIDO as top 36 Entrepreneurs in my how country
4- OC 2: Recognised for my work outside of my immediate: I have been the co-organizer of ProductTank in one of the cities in the UK for the past several months, mentorship letter from a startup studio in my home country with 38 mentorship and 6000 minutes, also mentorship screen and profile on ADPList with over 1500 minutes during the last year, and also 2nd rank in an international hackathon with my team in e-tourism (I don’t know which OC category this is)
5- OC3: I’m putting additional info regarding my two startups along with additional reference letters

More information regarding me:
I have founded one startup in tourism and co-founded another one in FinTech. I also have a year experience as Lead Product Manager in a leading ride-hailing company in my home country which is local to the country similar to Uber. I also have a year of Entrepreneur in Residence experience in an EdTech startup. Generally about 10 years of experience in the startup ecosystem in my home country. All my references have worked with me closely during the last 5 years. I am currently in the UK as a dependent of my wife who is a student. I am working on a micro-learning platfrom currently and builidng the mvp. Also, meanwhile I am helping university graduates and early stage founders to get their way around but it’s not a company yet :slight_smile:

2

Can you pleeeease check this? @Francisca_Chiedu

3

Note: Whilst you can use multiple documents to support each criteria, each document must only contain a single piece of related evidence.

Does this mean that I should only use one piece in each? Because based above, in each document, I am providing everything related that position? I’m confused because the applications I saw here were not like this.

4

Only add the most relevant documents or information as part of your three pages evidence.

1 Like
5

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I’m extremely sorry if it was long. If you did have the time, I would appreciate any feedback on whether these documents are good enough to land the endorsement :smiley:

6

1
Your recommendation letters should not be just about the investment or salary. Tech natio uhhn guide listed what the letter should cover. How in their opinion are you an exceptional talent? How have you contributed to the industry? Do your recommenders know you for more than a year?

Mandatory criteria evidence 1. What exactly are you submitting,? How do you try to fit all in three pages?
Evidence 2: what exactly are you showing? You need to show evidence of you speaking of the main stage, invitation/thank you letter from organisers, poster and programmes of event showing you are a keynote speaker.
Evidence 3 is good. Hope all the reviews were done over a year ago and you have different dates to show consistent and ongoing contributions.
Evidence 4 is ok, but how do you fit everything. Remove the salary, show the product built plus reference letter confirming you led product dev.

4 Evidence 5, does the media article mention your name, of not it is not necessary. I think the first documents are already sufficient.

OC3.
Evidence 1: you can show the number of users, revenue generated. Do you have company registration documents showing you were a founder?

Evidence 2
Instead of the entrepreneur in residence, do you have proof of the 1 million pounds raised. You can also combine two or three reference letter that details your significant contributions in different startup, each letter could be a page, so you have three letters as a single evidence. The third evidence could be evidence of funding raised.

Evidence 3: you could also show the product developed, process developed and architecture.

1 Like
7

Thank you so much :heart_eyes:

Yes I have all the documents you have mentioned. Three quick questions:
1- I have structured the most relevant info and pictures in documents but have hyperlinked to other docs on Google Drive as well. Would this be okay?
2- For the 1 million pounds, the CEO of the investor has noted this in the recommendation letter. Does this suffice? Also, I have added another reference letter from the board member of the VC who is currently CBDO in a large crypto FinTech company in my home country. Would these suffice?
3- I have also added a recommendation letter from the major tech firm who acquired my company confirming the amount of purchase which was about 3 million pounds (converted). Is this okay to put it as recommendation? He has noted that he knew me during this phase from Jan 2022. I have other good recommendations that I can replace just to note.

Thanks again really. It meant alot. Btw, I have connected on LinkedIn. Would be an honor :slight_smile:

8

Recommenders stating you received funds in your recommendation letters is not the same as showing evidence of the actual investment agreement. Anybody can make any claims in a letter just to strengthen your application but the actual evidence are more convincing.

You can add external links but the assessors are not obliged to look at it, just ensure you show screenshots of the main evidence that shows how you meet the criteria

1 Like
9

Yes I have translated the investment agreement but they have also been confirmed in the letters. As I said the letters are from the CEO of the VC who invested on us and also another Board member who are high profile individuals in the startup ecosystem. I hope that counts.
However, regarding the M&A for about £3, the CEO of the company who is a global talent also has noted this in his reference letter.
But I don’t have any other evidence of this since the payments haven’t gone through yet.

Thank you again for your guidance.

1 Like
10

Ensure all your recommendation letters cover this:

  • Be about your Global Talent application - you cannot use a letter that was written for another reason
  • Explain how the author knows the applicant; and
  • Knows the applicant’s achievements in the relevant field; and
  • How the author considers the applicant shows exceptional talent or promise; and
  • the contribution the applicant would make to the UK digital economy.
1 Like
11

Yes definitely. My reference letters also cover these as well :slight_smile:
You’re awesome. Thanks.

1 Like
12

great, i think you have a good chance just ensure you put together a neat application.

1 Like