Hi all - My thanks in advance as I’m in need of any help and advice for my application, would really appreciate all feedback as I feel there are a few technicalities within my app. that aren’t so clear cut.
Exceptional Promise in EdTech (Business Applicant)
Profile overview: I’m currently the Managing Director for an EdTech venture that I joined as Employee #1 (only the founder and I). Together, we built an operational platform that is being used by founders and venture building institutions as a whole to setup, launch, and scale ventures. There is a proprietary product innovation framework, AI+PM features, and an operational toolkit within the platform. I hold senior leadership shares in the company (2nd most after founder). It is my first role out of university and I hold 3 1/2 years of experience on the whole. The company has helped over 5000 founders in building their digital ventures and is used in entrepreneurship departments of highly regarded universities for their incubators. It is not a consulting company, we do not consult or coach, our product enables.
Documents:
LoR from CEO/Founder (widely recognized as a product/venture building expert) + PhD leader in Entrepreneurship + Leader in Digital Skills education. Q: (Does the founder have to be removed from the initial 3 LoR, even for the promise application as my experience has been so closely tied to this singular venture)
MC for Exceptional Promise:
Cover letter summarizing overall comp. package incl. monthly profit share and shares, benchmarked within Germany. Outlines briefly the rest of the evidence and each piece’s corresponding relevance, like a glossary.
Last 3 years audited financials showcasing +300% YoY CAGR in terms of profit, over 1M annual revenue while completely bootstrapped
OC #1
Valuation performed by external EdTech and acquisition expert. Incl. profile, DCF, comps analysis, and final valuation.
Attestation of impact on product innovation and dig. tech. sector. Three very different serial founders in tech who utilized our platform to build out their ventures would be willing to write a letter to the impact of our product.
Customer Map incl. screenshot of founders reached via dashboard, map breaking down numbers by location (50+) and 40% in the US, list of credible institutions we have high-ticket white-label deals with
Product insight incl. Overview map outlining innovation framework integrated in the platform, screenshot of AI/ PM tool (no-code)
OC #3
Major strategic initiatives: Letter from CEO confirming all strategic initiatives over the last three years have been led by me with his operational phase out over two years ago. Revenues generated by my product releases incl. core framework and AI tool
The profit of the venture has single-handedly funded a digital software roll-up being built by the founder over the last two years
Numerous blog publications by myself on our own site that deal with product innovation topics
LoR from an external marketing agency that supported me in building out a successful B2B sales funnel from scratch that secured all of our white-label clients
Product roadmap visual that outlines transition from PDF when I first joined, all the way to fully functional operational platform/suite for founders that it is today
Any feedback you guys can offer would go a long way!
LOR: who are your 3 LOR recommenders? The CEO of this startup can be one of them.
MC:
The glossary document doesn’t add as an evidence to the question asked in the criteria. If anything it’s a repeat of content will already show in the rest of the application. Doesn’t add anything.
In addition to the second evidence listed, can you get a support letter from a colleague at this startup? In absence of this you will end up with only one evidence document for MC which is risky.
OC1: overall it looks like 2 evidences of the product innovation, its impact, valuation along with support letters.
OC3: only reference letter as evidence is not enough. The salary information looks like a repeat of what’s provided in MC (if so, it won’t be counted - each evidence should be unique).
Under which criteria are you fitting the honorable mentions? Can you craft those as full evidences under criteria?
Thanks so much for taking the time! It really means a lot. Tried to structure the points addressed below:
LOR: who are your 3 LOR recommenders? → Originally I had the CEO of current company + a PhD graduate that we collaborated with on our product a while ago + external COO of another EdTech company
Even though the CEO and I are still somewhat directly working together, he can be used?
Alternatively, I could place his LoR under OC3, and have another growth/operations CEO write a letter - Though he knows my work significantly less, as we haven’t formally collaborated on any projects, more just professional/industry touchpoints over the year and thought discussions/sparring.
OC1: overall it looks like 2 evidences of the product innovation, its impact, valuation along with support letters. → Am I right in understanding that each piece of evidence can only be 3 sided? That part was a bit confusing - I was even worried, that the three separate letters from customers would be considered as 3 and not 1. Unless you’re suggesting that all four of my choices are redundant, and I should be more concise in choosing the strongest?
In addition to the second evidence listed, can you get a support letter from a colleague at this startup? → Would the support letter from the marketing agency I mentioned count? He was knee deep in the project with us for years - From collaborating with me to run B2B sales and also performance ad strategies.
*If I were to 1) rid comp details from the cover letter 2) maintain the cover letter more as a framing for the rest of the content and 3) place the comp overview within OC3 would that suffice?
Under which criteria are you fitting the honorable mentions? → I was unsure initially, but wonder if something like the soon-to-launch rollup would be considered as impact on the field, particularly if included with a letter from the founder, but acting as CEO of the other rollup?
it’s preferable to have atleast 1-2 LORs from strong experts in digital technology who you have worked with. Hence the first option is better. Please bear in mind that the content of the LOR is also very important beyond just getting a LOR from a senior person.
each evidence documents can be 3 pages. You can modify the margins, font size and spacing. Your overall evidence listed seemed like 2 product evidence essentially. Their impact, valuation and support letters look like part of the 2 evidence document you are planning under this criteria.
if you can demonstrate the marketing agency’s expertise in working with tech companies and product-led companies then it can count however what will be a stronger evidence would be a sales head/lead or a customer
how does the roll up answer any criteria? What exactly are you demonstrating here?
Noted on the evidence format, it looks like I’ll have to see if I can categorize them under two overarching topics.
I was essentially operating as sales head so I’ll be sure to note that.
As for the rollup - My line of thinking is the profit from this venture that I lead has single-handedly funded new software rollup incorporated in the UK that is in the process of buying EdTech companies, scaling them, and is a B-Corp. The rollup will also use our platform in their operational scaleups. I figured this could be framed as impact on the general field of tech, esp. w/in the UK
@Francisca_Chiedu@ask4jubad@elias@May@alexnk@hsafra - Hi guys - I’ve seen your comments scattered throughout old posts and found them extremely insightful. If you can spare even a quick glance at my initial outline to offer any two cents, it would really mean a lot!
Hello,
Seems most of the evidence you’ve gathered consists of letters. For the mandatory criteria (MC), using a glossary might not be considered sufficient evidence by the endorsing body. I recommend obtaining evidence that demonstrates your contribution to building the operational platform. Also, note that an attestation letter for OC1 may not be deemed sufficient by the endorsing body, as this criterion is about innovation.
Hi @May and @Francisca_Chiedu - Thanks a lot for taking the time to offer some insights, much appreciated
It is to say I’ve tweaked some of my evidence slightly since posting, would love to address your points while getting feedback if possible!
Very generally, all three of my recommendation letters speak strongly to my contributions to the platform, and leading the company. Can these letters be assumed to contextualize the remainder of the application?
MC:
Three year financial statement
Comp. overview
OC1:
Valuation deck (multi-million)
Market map/ Comp. landscape (showcasing how we fill a gap in the market)
Customer letters/testimonial screenshots specifically speaking to how the product and company are innovative @May to your point above, if this is contextualized by my letters indicating that I was the one who built this innovative platform, does that suffice?
Letter from external partner regarding innovation within company
OC3:
Geo-Distribution sales map
B-Corp software rollup that our profits funded 100% over the last 2 years (website screenshots, UK incorporation over a year ago)
Letter from customer (serial investor) regarding impact product has had on his UK VC
Customer list of institutional clients (universities, women tech hubs, local governments) to show sectoral enablement
@Francisca_Chiedu would this solve your issue pointed out? Should I exclude it wholly of impact made within company? I could move down the letter from external partner in OC1 and attach revenue screenshots
