Questions (Please help)!
- Should I show my salary and equity against benchmarks as a CXO in a previous organization and as a CEO& Co-founder in the current startup? If yes, does it go in MC or in OC1 or in OC3?
- Should I include Letter of Support in MC and OCs wherever it seems weaker? Eg: in MC, I have not provided a single Letter of Support, would that reduce the chances?
- Technation states Meet 1 MC but lists 10 types of evidences. I am confused if I have to double down on 2 out of the 10 types of evidences to provide in my application or double down on only 1 out of 10 types and provides evidences across jobs and startups?
Business Co-founder applying for Global Talent Visa (Leader-Exceptional Talent)
My Profile:
- 18 years of industry experience in India and the US in Sales and Marketing, Business Development, and Product. Have led Digital Product businesses as CEO & Co-founder and as a CXO.
- CEO & Co-founder of Current Startup, which is an AI native platform for B2B Sales. Active startup where I raised $1.1Mn from a Tier 1 VC in India.
- CXO of a Digital Platform business inside a listed company in India, where my platform led to significant shareholder value and contributed to an industry trends report covered by major media.
Letter of Recommendations:
- B2B SaaS Sales Expert writing about my innovation and impact of AI in B2B SaaS Sales - EMEA Director-Sales (UK Citizen) who is also an Advisor in my company.
- My Ex-boss writing about my product and business skills leading to commercially successful business - Ex-CEO, presently MD of a VC fund now (Indian Citizen)
- Customer writing about innovation and impact that my startup created for her organization - MD of a reputed SaaS company in UAE (Indian Citizen, London Business School Alumni)
Mandatory Criteria:
“You led the marketing or business development at a product-led digital technology company, demonstrably enabling substantial revenue and/or customer growth or major commercial success, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, senior global commercial executives inside the company and/or at company partners/customers, or similar evidence.”
MC-Evidence 1 - Current Startup - As CEO and Co-founder of my current startup, I led the fundraise of $1.1mn which got major media coverage, including my interview in a top Business TV channel and multiple print and online media channels.
MC-Evidence 2- Current Startup - My interviews in 2 industry podcasts talking about impact of AI on B2B SaaS sales and 4 thought leadership articles featured in online media outlets talking about the future of AI in B2B SaaS sales.
MC-Evidence 3- Previous Company as CXO - I led the creation of 3 digital products as the CBO, which had enormous growth and became commercial success. Showcasing creation and user growth as covered in the company’s annual reports in FY22, FY23, and FY24.
MC-Evidence 4- Previous Company as CXO - One of the digital products was a jobs platform for blue and grey collar workforce in India. I created an industry job trends report for India which got featured multiple times in major media with my quotes.
Optional Criteria 1 - Innovation:
- Evidence of innovation/product development, proof of product in market and associated traction through revenue.
- Evidence for each business should include your last set of formal accounts, which must be audited or, if audited accounts are not available, cover a period of more than 12 months. Formal accounts must include a profit & loss statement, a balance sheet and must be signed by the directors of the company. Note that financial projections, business plans or articles of association are insufficient as evidence.
- Evidence of domestic and/or international sales should show customer numbers for each country in which the company is operating, including a ranking of your distribution channels with a breakdown of when these sales were achieved for each channel (i.e. online, physical retail, 3rd party distributors, resellers etc.).
OC1-Evidence 5 -Innovation-Current Startup-As a CEO, I drove product roadmap driving innovation in a competitive category. Show product architecture showing novel approach, industry-first features, and R&D expense in the audited financial statements.
OC1-Evidence 6-Innovation-Current Startup-Case studies and Testimonials written by Founders and CXOs of clients showing the innovation and impact on their business.
OC1-Evidence 7-Innovation-Current Startup-Reference Letter from AI Product Leader of a FANNG company stating my innovation in the product.
Optional Criteria 3 - Contributions/Impact:
Business examples of a “significant contribution” include:
- 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;
- Having founded a successful product-led digital technology company or other organisation and leading it.
Documents that will be considered as acceptable evidence include (please provide more than one piece of evidence. The list below contains suggestions – other types of documents can be submitted):
- Letter from an employer wherever applicable. This is in addition to the required letters of endorsement and should be written by another individual;
- Documents detailing your significant contribution towards commercial success (such as evidence of sales pipeline built and delivered, growth generated, leads generated, processes developed and implemented).
OC3-Evidence 8- Contributions/Impact-Current Startup - My role as the “CEO & Co-founder” of AI startup showing me as a majority shareholder and high salary compared to market benchmarks by providing screenshots of Certificate of Incorporation, Shareholding structure, and Promoter Employment Agreement.
OC3-Evidence 9-Contributions/Impact-Current Startup- In my current startup, I as a CEO have signed up major clients across geographies and gained significant revenue since launch. Providing screenshots of breakdown of sales among clients and regions supported by leads generated and processes built. Startup featured in “Top 30 of 300” in 2024 by a major startup media platform
OC3-Evidence 10-Contributions/Impact-Previous Company as CXO-In my previous organization, as the CBO, I built a Digital Platform business, which led to a 6.5% share price jump on a single day for the listed company upon its announcement.