OLD Zanda Search

Role: Marketing Coach & Communications Consultant | Industry: Executive Search | Year(s): 2020

Overview

Zanda is an executive search firm serving European & US markets with hubs in London and New York. They are typically engaged by Series A to Pre-IPO-stage businesses and specialise in Chair, NED, CFO and Senior Finance headhunting.

Alicia had an impact from the off, and very quickly identified areas of improvement and suggested a clear action plan around the agreed deliverables. Communication throughout was clear and concise. It was great that Alicia was able to run with things and come to us with ideas, as we had a vague idea of what we wanted to achieve, however, with Alicia's expertise and steer we were really able to visualize new concepts and in the end witness a great outcome.

With her strong breadth of experience, Alicia was able to provide expertise across a number of different areas with the results after 8 weeks being, a totally transformed website, better social media engagement, implementation of better communication channels, a standardized branding format and brilliant ideas around a new product we are launching.

We are in a much better position following Alicia's impact, and her value add is clear, not only across Marketing but across the wider business operation. A truly collaborative individual that has a superb easy going fun personality and has the sense of urgency to get things done to a high standard. Would highly recommend Alicia to any business!
Dav Masaon
Founding Partner, Zanda

Achievements
& Results

Marketing Coaching

We ran frequent large scale events that brought together angel investors, VCs, corporates, media and the tech community to invest in and work with our portfolio companies. I organised eight large pitch events a year, seeing an average of 80 attendees per event. I also organised more intimate events and follow-up communications for the syndicate fund and with ecosystem partners such as Wayra UK, Silicon Valley Bank and Rathbones. I launched a quarterly Female Founder Office Hours initiative to further promote investment in women founders from our various funds. 

These events secured significant investment and BD opportunities for the portfolio, brought new investors into the tax-efficient funds, and expanded our network.

Portfolio Support

In addition to investor relations and topical workshops, I led a number of platform initiatives:

  • Improved portfolio onboarding and launched Slack community
  • Negotiated and secured deals worth over $200K for a Portfolio Dealbook (AWS, Segment, Stripe, Zendesk, Notion, HubSpot etc.)
  • Managed mentor and supplier referral network and facilitated introductions to portfolio companies
  • Implemented portfolio job board and promoted open roles and candidate introductions
  • Consolidated portfolio Covid resources and responses (e.g. assistance to government and public health projects and discounts for small businesses and the public).

Communications & Operations

In addition to investor relations and topical workshops, I led a number of platform initiatives:

  • PR
  • Content Marketing and Social Media
  • Monthly Newsletter and Email Campaigns
  • Award applications (wins include…)
  • Marketing collateral production and editing (presentations, information memorandum)
  • CRM Implementation and Training
  • Hiring: applicant tracking operations, first phone call screening, interview and offer management, intern management.
  • Team Investor events
  • Investor reporting

The Fair By Design Roadshow

The FBD Roadshow was a series of large events I organised across the UK with the team and our campaign partners at Barrow Cadbury. Our aim was to bring together various stakeholders to tackle the Poverty Premium. We also worked with regional partners such as Wayra UK, KPMG, Oldham Council, and Birmingham City Council. We were pleased to have a large number of attendees from credit unions, housing associations, local government, corporates, and local press.

The agenda consisted of networking sessions and live partnership case studies and panels discussing topics like:

  • Improving Access to Credit
  • The Role of Corporates in Enabling Financial Wellness
  • Reducing Fuel Poverty & Improving Efficiency: Latest Innovations for Social Housing

The Roadshow was an integral part of our mission and connecting our portfolio companies to relevant routes-to-market.

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