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Hey There

Looking for someone to help you with growth, acquisition or retention?

A Bit About Me

I'm a growth leader with more than 15 years of experience in driving acquisition & retention for startups at different stages of their journey.

Although I've been fortunate enough to go through 4 exits with different teams, I firmly believe that the key to sustainable growth is hard work and lots of experimentation. 

As a seasoned expert, I am committed to driving meaningful change and delivering tangible outcomes for the entrepreneurs, teams, and investors I collaborate with. My approach is characterised by a hands-on style that prioritises action and results.

 

I'm excited to leverage my experience and skills to help you unlock sustainable growth.

David Sheridan, Onedox

“...Ivo is always willing to try new alternatives for growth and always taking calculated risks”"

Gemma Godrey, Moola

“One of the most remarkably talented people and an absolute pleasure to work with...”

Mutaz Qubbaj, Squirrel

“Definitely an asset on the marketing front. Highly recommend. Could also help with your crowdfunding plans”

Startup
Experience

2021 - Present

Growth Lead @ loveelectric

A diverse car leasing project that combines B2B, D2C and B2B2C routes to market.

From 0 to hundreds of cars sold per month in less than 6 months since inception.

Skillsets:  Paid Search, JTBD Interviews, Paid Social, CRO, Email automations, CRM integration, SEO, Viral Campaigns, Lead Gen, Lead scoring & Offline conversions.

Growth Team Size: 3; Growth Potential: 🚀

2020 - 2022

Growth Lead @ Boring Money

A DIY Investors Hub with 1M+ visitors / year

Grew affiliate revenue from comparison tables for different financial products (ISA, LISA, SIPPs) by more than 10X within 18mo of project start. 

Skillsets: Paid Search, JTBD Interviews, Automations, Partnership management, SEO, CRM Integrations.

Growth Team Size: 3 + large content team

2020 - 2022

CMO @ EverUp

A money app: Premium Bonds on Steroids + Debit Card + Crypto

More than 70% of new users were coming from referral campaigns within 1 year of introducing the referral scheme. It became the most cost-efficient channel for acquisition.

Skillsets: Viral campaigns, Gamification, JTBD interviews, Paid Social, Automations, Intercom integration and utilisation, Activation, Monetisation, 2 Crowdfunding rounds

Growth Team Size: 2

2021 - 2022

Interim Head of Growth @ MoneyDashboard

One of the most popular budgeting apps in the UK.

I was responsible for core acquisition & retention KPIs during the due diligence phase before the company got acquired by Clearscore. Still there was space for quick maneuvers - we got thousands of new users with a single blog article. find out how

Skillset: Paid Performance, Retention, Gamification, SEO, Data modelling, Due Diligence

2017 - 2020

Head of Digital Marketing @ MOOLA

A Digital Wealth Manager. The company was acquired by a FTSE-250 company JLT and then Mercer in 2018.

We did big campaigns with MoneySavingExpert and MoneySuperMarket. According to the MSE these were the best performing campaigns in this industry until that point.  We got 1,000+ investors depositing more than £1000 within 16 hours of the campaign going live.

Skillset: Paid Search, Paid Social, Gamification, SEO, Automation, Partnerships, JTBD Interviews, CRM Integration, Events, Due Diligence

Growth Team: 1 with 3 levels of compliance

2017 - 2019

Head of Digital Marketing @ Onedox

A household admin app that allowed users to connect all their accounts in one place.

From 0 to 60K+ users within 18 months. Very high retention. 

Skillset: Paid Search, Automation, Retention, Monetisation, Paid Social, Referrals,  2 Crowdfunding Rounds

Growth Team: 2

2016 - 2018

Head of Digital Marketing @ Squirrel

One of the first budgeting apps in the UK which launched ahead of its time.

Improved conversion by 2X within 12 months of project start. We did 2 crazy crowdfunding campaigns which raised more than £1mln each.

Skillset: Paid Search, Paid Social, Activation, Retention, Monetisation, SEO, Influencer Marketing, Referrals

Growth Team: 2

2015 - 2016

Co-Founder @ MyFutureNow

A pension consolidation service. The company was acquired by L&G in 2019.

Tested different routes to market during pre-PMF phase and decided to switch to B2B-only route to market in 2016.

Skillset: Pre-PMF acquisition, Fundraising, Product, JTBD Interviews, CRM Integration, Salesforce

Growth Team: 2

2012 - 2015

Co-Founder @ iNVEZZ

A marketplace for DYI investment products. The company was acquired in 2017 by Investoo Group.

We built a traffic engine that was generating 300,000 visits /mo with £0 ad spent before we even had the product ready. And the best part it was driven by content. find out how

Skillset: 24/7/365 Founder, Product, Google News, SEO.

Growth Team Size: 3 + 12 Journalists + 2 editors

2007 - 2012

Founder @ MyClicks

A digital marketing agency heavily focused on PPC and SEO.

I guess I was lucky at the time. This was the first thing straight after the first job. Got to the right industry at the right time by accident. Fast forward 20 months - we were managing budgets millions of pounds for gaming clients with a team of 12 people.

Skillset: 24/7/365 Founder, Paid Search, SEO, Content, Client Relationship

Marketing Team: 12 people in Sofia & London

Projects lasting less than 6-months not included.

Skills
& Expertise

  • Growth Leadership: Experiment Roadmaps, Routines, Growth Process, Ideation & Testing

  • Paid Search Marketing: Hands on since 2006. Still remains a great channel if you can get your costs right.

  • JTBD Framework: The best source of ideas for all-things-growth.

  • Paid Social: Managed budgets of £100K+. Great for app promotion and leadgen.

  • SEO & Google News - please get your PMF right before jumping on SEO. Otherwise managed SEO on scale during my agency times with Myclicks.

  • Conversion Rate Optimisation - From Analysis to Iterations & Testing

  • Conversion Tracking & Analytics: GA4, Mixpanel, Offline Conversions, Google Tag Manager

  • CRM Setup and Utilisation: Salesforce, Hubspot, Intercom

  • Email marketing: All platforms +  Automations with connectors like Zapier

  • Crowdfunding - I've been through 7 different campaigns of crowdfunding with different teams. No crowdfunding campaigns are the same.

  • Virality: Good Referral Programme = Incentives + Gamification + Clear Value Exchange + Adequate Product

Education

Others

2019

Harvard Business School| Competing on Business Analytics & Big Data

2018

Stanford Business School  | Innovative Marketing for Strategic Advantage

2000 - 2004

Technical University Sofia | Computer Science |  Bachelor's Degree

Accelerators:

  • 2022 - Startup Core Strengths - London

  • 2018 - Fintech Innovation Lab - London

  • 2016 - Octopus Labs - London

  • 2015 - Startup Bootcamp - Insurtech - London

  • 2012 - Progressive PPC Lab - Tel Aviv

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