I’m currently preparing my application for the GTV (Exceptional Promise) as a Digital Marketer/Performance Marketer.
I have over 10 years of experience as a marketer across various industries. From 2017 to 2021, I worked at the largest commercial bank in my home country during its major transformation from a traditional bank to a digital bank. During this period, I was actively involved in launching fintech products. That’s why I am including my banking experience as part of my evidence for the GTV.
After leaving the bank, from 2021 to the present, I have been involved in launching a cryptocurrency exchange and a climate tech startup, while also completing my MSc in London.
I’d deeply appreciate it if anyone in the community could kindly take a few minutes to review my evidence list and provide any feedback. Below is a breakdown of the documents I plan to submit.
CV
Personal Statement
Recommendation Letters (Both DocuSigned and signed hard copies are acceptable, right?)
• Founder and CEO of the Crypto currency exchange
• CEO of the Climate tech startup
• Founder and CEO of the Digital Marketing Agency
Mandatory Criteria:
Evidence of leading the marketing development that took the crypto currency exchange over 65000 users, over 25000 token holders, daily trading volume over $4m and acquired 80% of the domestic market share.
Employment contract and proof of salary/ 2 times more than country average.
Proof of social media performance report and website traffic.
Web articles and publications about the exchange. (Articles about the whole exchange, not about myself.)
Optional Criteria 1:
5. Evidence of innovation in the climate tech space which has never been done in my country. (This is the first ever climate tech startup in my country, and I worked there as a marketer, does that count in the innovation criteria?) The second startup selected from my country for the Google Startups for Sustainable Development Program.
6. Evidence of leading the marketing plan that took the over 5500 users.
7. Proof of social media performance report, website traffic and the app downloads.
8. Employment contract (if it’s necessary?)
Optional Criteria 3:
9. Letter of Recommendation from former CEO of the biggest commercial bank in my country. (about the transformation of traditional bank to digital bank; about digital experience zones; digital wallet launch; and my key roles)
10. Evidence of the campaign plan, comparison of the change in the number of digital banking customers, digital transactions, and teller transactions between 2017 and 2021.
11. Digital transition contribution award from the central bank of my country. (if it’s necessary?)
Hi Zaya, your application shows strong potential, particularly in demonstrating leadership through the cryptocurrency exchange growth (65k users, $4M daily volume) and the bank’s digital transformation. Focus on quantifying your personal impact in these roles - emphasize specific strategies you implemented, not just organizational outcomes. For mandatory criteria, ensure salary evidence clearly exceeds your country’s average with official tax documents or audited contracts.
Regarding optional criteria, the climate tech innovation evidence needs clearer ties to your direct contributions as a marketer. Highlight unique campaigns or data-driven approaches that differentiated this startup. The OC3 evidence from the bank CEO should explicitly state how your marketing leadership accelerated digital adoption (e.g., % increase in digital transactions directly tied to your campaigns). Avoid repeating similar social media metrics across multiple criteria - diversify with app store rankings, customer testimonials, or partnership announcements.
Your recommendation letters should align with specific criteria - have the bank CEO detail your fintech product launches, while climate tech/clients emphasize innovation. Remove redundant employment contracts from optional criteria unless they demonstrate progression (e.g., promotions/salary increases). Include the central bank award as supplementary evidence if it specifically mentions your marketing contributions to digital transition.
MC looks like the points 1,3,4 are all parts of the same example. Is that so? If so it is pretty much one evidence with different backing support elements versus 2 different evidences.
OC1
5. Need to demonstrate your contribution and impact in this specific innovation. You can highlight your role as a marketeer in making this such a strong innovation in the country.
6. There’s no innovation in leading a marketing plan or the social media metrics? How does this meet the criteria?
7. Salary evidence is removed from OC1 as valid evidence in new guidelines
OC3
8. Ensure the letter highlights not just your role but impact of your contribution in terms of quantifiable company metrics
9. Need to show quantifiable impact from the campaign itself and not just the campaign plan
I think the challenge with your application is the lack of third party and external evidence to prove the mandatory criteria. Depending on how you present the evidence, it may be called self authored.
For innovation, I am not sure you meet the criteria as you are not the founder or senior executive besides the listed evidence do not meet the criteria for innovation.
I think the digital transition award is more suitable for MC.
Thank you all for your time and valuable feedback.
I’ve done my best to incorporate your suggestions and have reformatted my evidence accordingly. Below is the updated version of my application. I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a final look.
• CV
• Personal Statement
• Letters of Recommendation:
• Founder & CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange
• CEO of a climate tech startup
• Former CEO of the largest commercial bank in my country
Mandatory Criteria:
Reference letter from VP of the crypto exchange, highlighting my direct contributions to its success.
Evidence of the exchange’s achievements:
• Annual report
• Media coverage
• Market positioning (including Google search comparisons and app download data)
My contributions:
• Brand and marketing strategy (with explanations of approaches used and attached original marketing slides from marketing plan)
• Social media performance growth (couldn’t access to download original data from meta, supported by the VP’s reference letter)
• Proof that I handled all marketing duties independently
Employment contract and salary comparison to my country standards
Optional Criteria 1 – Innovation:
(Two innovative marketing campaigns that were first-of-their-kind in my country)
Google for Startups – Sustainable Development Program
• Certificate attached
• Campaign: Green Volunteers – a public awareness initiative never before implemented locally, selected by Google
• Includes original slides and Google’s selection criteria
B2B Direct Marketing Campaign: Green Score Leaderboard
• Features blockchain-based certification for participating companies
• Introduces a gamified environmental leaderboard on our website
• Supported by media coverage confirming it was the first of its kind in my country and lack of comparable results on Google
Freelance marketing strategist contract
Optional Criteria 3 – Commercial Success:
(My contributions to the digital transformation of the largest commercial bank in my country)
Key performance data on digital banking adoption
• Comparative figures of digital banking usage over 3 years (from the bank’s annual reports)
• Branding refinement strategy, explanations of approaches, brand visual communication example before and after my involvement (with example print ads)
• Digital banking education campaign and reports, with original marketing slide excerpts and explanations
Certificate of Appreciation from my country’s Central Bank
Thanks for sharing this Zaya, but I would suggest getting someone to look at the application at this point. It’s hard to judge just from a description of evidences.