Hire Me (English)

1)What is an Independent Board Member?

This is a position within the Board of Directors (BOD) of a startup.

However, it is independent in behavior, personality, and judgment.

It also needs to have the full capacity criteria to help a startup grow.

2.Why does a Startup BOD need an Independent Board Member?

i) Most BODs consist of members from the founding team and the startup’s investors.

• Founders are always enthusiastic about new ideas (sometimes crazy), and they might pivot the entire startup in a new direction.
• Investors always have financial pressures to recoup their investment and generate profits as soon as possible.
• Founders may not have experience running a real business.
• Investors are often too experienced, adhering rigidly to old models

ii) Here is where the role of an Independent Board Member becomes valuable:

• This person sits on the BOD without representing the founders or the investors.
• Usually, this person will not have a biased view toward any side.
• They focus on thinking about how to develop the company in the best way, rather than considering the interests of the founders or investors.
• If this person has high credibility and is respected by both founders and investors, they can help mediate conflicts between the two sides.

iii) Therefore, founders and investors should spend time finding such a member to join their BOD as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, in most cases, this almost never happens, especially in early-stage startups.

A BOD managed entirely by investors is not good.

Founders should manage the BOD, while the Independent Board Member supports the BOD in staying on the right track to help the startup grow.

3.Solution for you:

Step 1: Look at the picture below to understand in detail the role of a board member (BOD)

Step 2: You can invite us to take a position as an “Independent Board Member” for your startup to implement the following:

Product: “Category Queen Startup” Training Package

With practical experience as a BOD member in 6 companies from startups to corporations (VinCSS.net – VinGroup, Vuacua.vn, Meta365.ai, Digiart Academy, VuaBanhCanh.com),

Or we are also a growth strategist, global expansion director (Chief Growth & Global Expansion Officer) for many unicorn companies like Gojek SEA, Stella Stay Dubai, AHOY UAE

Rest assured, inviting us is the right choice.

This is a 9-step (9Ps) training roadmap – The Unicorn Trajectory over 6 months to turn a startup into a future unicorn, created by Skye Nguyen and Hai H Nguyen.

This process has been successfully applied to many companies such as: AHOY – Dubai (Taurus), Stella Stay – Dubai (Taurus), Gojek (Decacorn), SuperAwesome ($200M Exited), VinCSS (Taurus), VuaCua, Digiart.Academy, and you can also sign up for your company.

The 9 steps (9Ps) – The Unicorn Trajectory include: Purpose, Potential, Profit-Ability, Product, Positioning, People, Principles, Process, Performance.

Each step is designed to help businesses grow sustainably, efficiently, and be ready for subsequent fundraising or exit stages. You can see detailed explanations and real case studies in our podcast.

Every week, we will work with your team to achieve the following results after 6 months:

i) Build a high-growth business model and large market venture scale:

• Usually, companies focus on product development without establishing a solid business model from the beginning, leading to failure or needing to break the old business model to achieve explosive growth, as in the case of companies like Stella Stays, AHOY, SuperAwesome, VuaCua.
• Help startups build growth strategies and roadmaps, reaching revenue milestones from $3 million to $20 million after 2.5 years. And the next milestone from $20 million to $100 million after 2.5 years, to rapidly grow from a small company in one country to operating in multiple global markets to become unicorns.
• Understand the detailed steps to bring products to market (Go-to-market) as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
• Know the process to identify problems and solutions as quickly and effectively as possible with the smallest capital.
• Understand the importance and benefits of studying competitors. Know the steps needed to start researching competitors effectively.
• Know which growth metrics startups should focus on that investors care about. ii) Position your startup as the leading company in your field (The Category Queen):
• Learn how to build your company into the market-leading company (Category Queen), helping it grow rapidly from a small company in one country to operating in multiple global markets and having the potential to become a unicorn. This method has been successfully applied by us to companies like AHOY.ae, Stella Stays, SuperAwesome, VinCSS (VinGroup), VuaCua.
• Content of 4 PR campaigns to position your company as the market-leading company in your field and position the founder as the market leader to build trust with customers and investors.

iii) Fundraising strategy:

• Understand the requirements investors look for to invest in your startup.
• Apply practical knowledge to create your own pitch deck.
• Recognize the importance of market size in raising capital from investors. Know how to present market size to increase your startup’s attractiveness tenfold when meeting potential investors.
• Know the pros and cons of raising investment capital. Know when is the right time to start fundraising for your startup.
• Know how to fairly divide shares for the team (Founding Team).
• Know how to build a capital table (Cap Table) for the team from early stages to when it grows into a unicorn.
• Help founders build a personal brand that is reputable enough for investors to actively seek out.
• Know how to professionally plan an exit strategy for investors.
• Build Pitch Deck & Investor Dataroom to send to investors for due diligence.
• Know how to prepare resources and time to start meeting and working with investors (Investor Roadshow) until successfully closing the deal.

iv) Expanding to the Middle East:

• Establish a company in compliance with Dubai’s legal and accounting standards to avoid multi-million dollar fines. Here, if something is done wrong, fines are very heavy, and the amounts are calculated in millions of dollars. Skye has experience as a growth director for two companies valued at tens of millions of dollars here and understands the importance of legal compliance.
• Understand legal requirements to establish a business in Dubai, saving costs from $15,000 to $20,000 compared to self-researching and setting up without quality assurance.
• After the first 6 months with results, you will accompany us in the next 12-month journey to boost growth along with raising capital.

Stage 1: The investment level for the “Category Queen Startup” Training Package is $300,000 for the first 6 months (the most critical stage – Formulating development and expansion strategy).

To be paid before the service starts and equity as agreed.

Stage 2: After Stage 1, if the collaboration continues, you will invest USD 200,000 per year for us to remain on the Board of Directors (BOD).

Equity will be 2-3%, depending on our contributions toward achieving revenue growth and valuation targets as agreed.

4)About us:

i) Hai H Nguyen – Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2017

• Board Member & CFRO VinCSS.net, a prominent subsidiary of VinGroup – the largest conglomerate in Vietnam, helped VinCSS raise Series B capital, transaction scale > $20 million.
• Board Member & Fundraising Coach VuaCua.vn: The leading crab restaurant chain in Vietnam with 7 years in the market. Vua Cua successfully raised $150k on the TV Show Shark Tank Vietnam season 4.
• Fundraising Coach HR1 Vietnam: Top 3 headhunting service companies in Vietnam with 10 years in the market with 150 consultants.
• Board Advisors Greentech Asia 2024, being implemented in collaboration with Moody’s Corporation and Village Capital.
• Board Member Meta365.ai: Building NFT Blockchain Market for Real Estate with AR/VR, ensuring seed funding from Hung Vuong Holdings, HUB Global.
• Former Board Member FLYER.us: FLYER.us virtual exam room used by more than 500 English centers with 100 thousand students and funded by Evergreen (Investment company of Ecopark Real Estate Group).
• Former CEO Social Enterprise 3D Animation Viewzz, a leading 3D animation outsourcing company in Vietnam, funded by Mr. Loic le Guisquet, former President of Oracle APAC.
• Former CEO Canavi: Building the job-finding platform for women CANAVI helped connect >4,000 jobs and received $500,000 from ESP Capital, NIK Capital, Hustle Fund.

ii) Skye Nguyen – Chief Growth & Global Expansion Officer for many unicorn companies like Gojek, Stella Stay, AHOY.

• Won high-tech startup awards, Skye’s strategies have turned pre-Series A and Series A startups into market-leading companies with enviable growth trajectories and successful exits across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
• In a world where many startups pursue blind growth at all costs, Skye pursues scalable and sustainable growth models and strategies.
• An untiring advocate for tech founders and the investor community, Skye is known for driving businesses toward innovation, rapid market share growth, and profitability while being resilient even in tough economic

5)Our Case Studies:

i) AHOY:

In the role of Growth Strategy Director, Skye transformed AHOY.ae from a cash-burning last-mile logistics startup into a leading logistics technology company in the Middle East.

This transformation began when Skye recognized the immense potential for mapping software and logistics technology in the Middle East and AHOY’s strength in software, particularly its ability to connect and serve industries requiring automation in the movement of goods, people, and money.

Leveraging this technological asset under Skye’s direction, AHOY decided to pivot to a SaaS business model instead of continuing with the costly last-mile logistics model initially pursued.

This strategic shift led to a series of major contracts with corporations, government agencies, and subsidiaries, increasing AHOY’s revenue by over 25 times in just two years.

This move also enabled AHOY to raise $20 million in a Pre-series A funding round, laying the foundation for extensive technological development and global expansion.

Thanks to these strong strategic moves, AHOY became the “Category Queen Startup” in the transportation technology field in the Middle East.

“Skye is a growth and scaling expert with deep empathy and understanding of people. She always prioritizes what matters most in all business operations.”

– Jamil Shinawi – Co-founder and CEO at AHOY.ae.

ii) Stella Stays:

As the Global Growth Director at Stella Stays, a proptech startup in the Middle East, Skye identified and capitalized on a significant gap in the traditional rental market.

The traditional rental market could not meet the needs of Millennials and Gen Z, who were seeking flexible leases, modern spaces, and premium living experiences with a sense of community.

To meet this demand, Skye implemented a strategy positioning Stella Stays as the leader in flexible rentals, aiming to innovate in the $3 trillion global home rental market.

Initially, the company focused on exploiting luxury vacation homes that only catered to seasonal tourism, a model that could not scale quickly.

When the founder of Stella Stays met Skye and learned about the hefty fees and equity involved, he and the board, including family office investors in the UAE, thought it over and agreed to the terms, committing to a long-term collaboration.

Skye helped Stella Stays pivot its business model to leverage flexible rentals of large buildings, establishing branded Stella Stays residences globally, supported by technology to offer a community-oriented lifestyle and digital living experience.

As a result, two years after Skye joined the executive team, Stella Stays successfully created a new category of flexible rentals and became the “Category Queen Startup,” growing its revenue multiple times and attracting numerous investment and acquisition offers with valuations in the hundreds of millions.

The founder’s initial investment in Skye yielded an ROI of over 100 times.

“Stella Stays is the Most Innovative Solution of 2023” – Entrepreneur.com

iii) Gojek:

As the Growth Operations Director at Gojek, a unicorn company valued at over $30 billion, Skye played a crucial role in launching the GoFood delivery product in the market, capturing 40% of the food delivery market share in Vietnam within six months, with the number of restaurants on the platform leading the market.

“Skye and I worked together on launching the Go-Food delivery platform in Vietnam as part of GoJek’s global expansion plan.

Skye has excellent management and communication skills, collaborating with compassion in a multicultural and rapidly growing environment.

Skye played a key role in the successful launch of the Go-Food service in the international market.”

– Mas Imam Aulia (Aun) Azmi, Head of International Expansion, GOJEK

iv) Vua Cua:

Vua Cua is a chain of six restaurants offering Cà Mau crab dishes, established for eight years.

By April 2023, when the founder of Vua Cua approached us, the company was in a difficult situation:

i) Vua Cua restaurants had been operating at a loss from 2020 to 2023. ii) Accumulated loans had far exceeded the company’s repayment capacity, leading to tense conflicts with creditors. iii) Existing investors had lost confidence and stopped supporting the company due to the founder’s lack of regular updates on the company’s status.

Transformation:

By joining Vua Cua’s Board of Directors, I helped the founders gain confidence in innovating their work methods and business model.

The self-managed restaurants were consuming too many resources, so we transitioned all of them to franchise models. Currently, there are six franchised Vua Cua restaurants.

Additionally, Vua Cua established a new brand, Vua Bánh Canh, growing steadily to 30 stores within four months.

Thanks to franchising, the Vua Cua team could focus on what they do best, which is R&D and producing quality products.

Next, Vua Cua focused its resources on the significant market of exporting its products to the US by partnering with CTWS Inc Group, a leading company in exporting Asian food products to the US market. We export under the “Sea King” brand.

As a result, Vua Cua’s export revenue in 2024 is expected to grow four times compared to 2023, becoming the “Category Queen Startup” in this field.

“Hai H Nguyen helped me transform myself, I became more transparent with investors, worked more systematically and decisively, and thought bigger for my business” – Thư A Đoàn – Founder and CEO of VuaCua.vn

Conclusion:

When you start a startup, the first 6 to 24 months are the most challenging and crucial.

If you waste it, your company will struggle to recover and break through.

Contact us now by filling in the registration form below (Or Email: support@beginguru.com)