💀 Tough to get customers and investors? I know why | 200+ Startup mentor @500Startups | 2x Founder | Japan nutcase 🇯🇵

I speak to fearless founders every day.
They all struggle with the same 5 things:


ººº FUNDRAISING
Raising funds is really hard and the survival of the company often depends on it.

ººº SALES
Low email and call conversion rates make it incredibly difficult to reach any significant revenue goals.

ººº TEAM PRODUCTIVITY
Difficulty in managing and communicating with people spread across time zones and geographies.

ººº PRODUCT-MARKET FIT
Uncertainty about the market fit of the product, too many pivots and little results.

ººº FOCUS
Drowned in work, grappling with priorities and lack of focus, feeling overwhelm and stress.

As a founder you need to fix these.
For a chance at crossing the Valley of D3ath.

_____

When I mentor founders, I give them a hard time. 
I challenge them. Push them to their limit. 
It's a painful process and it’s not for everyone.
That's often the cost of resurrection.

Get in touch if you feel I can help with any of my (ob)sessions:

*One Liner: From Zero to Hero.
*KPIs: Make it to cash, dodging the crash.
*High-Tempo Testing: Fail fast. Fail forward.
*Cold Calls: 20 hacks to ‘manipulate’ any conversation
*Early Research: Validate any idea with $5 (for Post-Its).
*Fundraising: 7 slides I stole from the #1 investor in the World
*Cold Emails: Beat 99% of the World at writing emails that convert
*Remote teams: How to avoid hiring amateurs (and keeping them working for you)

Rui Bom

Blue Water Shipping

Regional General Manager - Middle East

Regional Operations Manager - Energy, Ports & Projects

CEVA Logistics

Project Logistics Manager - ME

Kanoo Logistics

Maintain overview of Projects Market as a basis of identifying and targeting future major opportunities 
Monitor information to identify projects planned, tenders awarded, logistics RFI/RFQs expected, etc. 
Maintain relationships with EPC contractors, their subcontractors, etc to secure early intelligence about future opportunities
Manage the tendering and pricing process for selected opportunities including preparation and expediting of global, regional or local tenders for EPCs and O&G companies
Recruit and/or internally select, train and mentor new project logistics personnel in all main locations across the region
Create synergy between the various divisions to develop in-house business, reduce costs and maintain expenses within the group
Conduct regular audit of Group’s internal capability to support projects and recommend enhancements
Ensure strong relationships with all specialist external vendors – especially heavy-lift transporters
Identify and appoint new vendors including transporters, shipping lines, airlines, clearing agents, etc. and KPI-setting
Lead or assist in rate negotiations across the region with both vendors and customers
Ensure the QMS is extended to incorporate procedures specific to the delivery of Projects
Ensure the delivery of each Project is fulfilled as per contractual and quality commitments
Attend and chair kick-off meetings upon contract award
Assist local teams with preparation for project or opportunity SOPs
Setup internal KPIs as part of the project delivery plan
Ensure communications excellence including progress updates are maintained with clients
Conduct workshops and in-house training specifically for projects, pricing & tendering, data sourcing, etc
Manage Regional Commercial Dept. handling general freight and related requests, project specific and O&G spot requests including heavy-lift and ODC cargoes
Support Group’s business opportunities and initiatives 
Reporting to Executive General Manager - Logistics

Regional Projects Manager & Manager - Regional Commercial Dept.

Agility

Managed a Project Logistics team of 31 employees ranging from Managers to Field Coordinators
Strategized with dept Managers on cost-effectiveness & maximum employee utilization
Managed key & high-profile logistic movements with support from the team
Conducted fortnightly/monthly meetings with clients to discuss performance, corrective actions, forecast, etc
Held weekly ops meetings with dept to discuss & address concerns, failures, obstacles, etc
Monitored business trends with clients to identify areas of improvement, business development, etc 
Secured details of new opportunities thru research & networking
Introduced & conducted business development meetings & presentations with all future clients within the UAE
Prepared presentations & reports as required by clients prior to meetings
Responsible for all key pricing of logistics movements (inbound/outbound, air/sea/overland, general cargo (bulk)/heavy lift, part/full charter, etc)
Prepared technical submissions for RFQs, RFPs, RFIs, bids/tenders, etc
Lead short-listing & negotiation meetings for new opportunities
Met with key vendors & business partners for networking & strategic negotiations
Ensured Accounts Payables are on schedule to maintain continued service from vendors 
Ensured customer invoicing is accurate & on time by applying checklists
Second-level of escalation for the dept’s Accounts Receivables 
Arranged & conducted internal and external kick-off meetings for key logistics movement including preparation of project-specific org charts, SOPs, execution plans, JMS, route surveys, etc 
Assisted on preparation of risk & EHS documents required for any key logistics movement
Prepared monthly sales pipeline for Corporate Mngmnt 
Participated with key organization stakeholders on budget preparation
Conducted in-house training (directly or thru HR) 
Assisted other depts as & when required
Discussed & strategized opportunities, logistics plans, daily affairs with immediate line manager as & when appropriate

Manager - Project Logistics

Based inside EPC offices as project implant
Responsible for introduction of assigned project to global offices and agents
Coordinate with global offices and agents for air, sea and overland export from origin to arrival Abu Dhabi to include documentation preparation in line with project’s duty-exemption requirement
Coordinate with respective departments for clearance of international imports 
Coordinate with respective department to arrange suitable transport of cleared shipments from ports of arrival to various assigned locations (jobsite, fabrication shops, temporary storage locations, etc)
Coordinate with respective department to arrange suitable transportation of local shipments to assigned locations (jobsite, fabrication shops, temporary storage locations, etc)
Follow-up on documentation submission for duty exemption after shipment clearance
Coordinate with respective departments for export shipments pertaining to the project per country of destination’s import policies
Conduct weekly meetings with engineering, expediting and shipping departments 
Prepare weekly and monthly shipment forecasts for existing shipments/orders
Prepare out of scope quotations
Assist in preparation of project specific journey management systems
Review and supervise invoicing for air, sea and overland shipments
Prepare daily, weekly and monthly shipping status reports

Customer Relations Manager

TransOceanic

Involved with regional yearly budgets, business restructuring and SG&A
Teamed up with Heads of Department for alignment with changing regional and global requirements 
Prepared contracts, agreements and MOUs between the regional organization and clients, partners and vendors
Conduct workshops and team-building exercises within the departments to introduce key personnel to each other 
Represented the region during the organization’s regional business integration
Ensured smooth integration with the region by providing necessary reports and documentation as required within the set timelines by the Integration Project Team 
Coordinated with concerned departments and personnel to ensure timely follow-thru and compliance of integration policies
Conducted personal meetings with individual local employees to ensure the integration prerequisites were clearly understood
Conducted personal or group conference calls or traveled for personal meetings with other regional employees for the same reason

Manager - Strategic Planning

Personally handled all operational activities for key customers including procurement and booking of freight
Studied packing lists to determine appropriate form of shipping
Ensured accurate and apt updates to the client on the status of their cargo via daily, weekly and monthly status reports
Coordinated with vendors and agents both locally and internationally to collect clients’ goods from global locations for delivery in good order up to final destination maintaining cost-effectiveness for the client
Maximized profit per shipment by consolidation of freight
Personally supervised heavy-lift loadings and prepared report for clients accordingly
Communicated directly with either the Procurement, Materials or Logistics Manager from the clients’ project control office and/or at their site office
Opened job files once Purchase Orders from clients were received including logging of all relevant info for smooth handling of shipment up to file closure
Closed job files by billing shipment(s) and dispatch of the same with accurate backup to client either on a case-by-case or bulk basis
Worked closely with designated Accounts Receivables Executive to ensure receipt of amounts due by clients within the payment timeline specified during the contract or quotation approval
Participated in weekly or monthly meetings with clients, vendors or partners to ensure smooth project execution
Reported to Director – Project Logistics(ME)

Senior Manager - Operations

Closely reviewed and studied all incoming RFQs and RFIs to action the relevant scope of work with various global offices
Conducted conference calls and internal meetings between relevant departments to ensure appropriate and timely responses to any major incoming bids
Liaised with global offices, vendors and partners in securing competitive freight and service rates
Supervised the technical response ensuring compliance as specified in the inquiry
Ensured competitive pricing was provided to client including value added services to highlight the organization’s commitment
Personally put bid responses together (hard copies or electronically or both)
Hand-carried bid responses to ensure timely and professional delivery to client’s offices
Supervised all outgoing pricing from within the region
Assisted the Business Development and Marketing Departments in preparation of presentations and technical responses to client queries
Traveled to concerned offices globally to assist with bid preparation and/or training
Maintained bid log on a weekly basis with distribution to concerned global counterparts
Dually-reported to Senior VP – Project Logistics (ME) and Senior VP – Pricing, Bids & Proposals (Houston)

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The Battle

Rui Bom

Humeira Aidarous Al Hashmi

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