GetGuided is a travel-tech company providing innovative solutions for the traditionally offline industry players. As co-founder of GetGuided, I took on several roles to deliver impact for the business. These included:
Product Leadership: Set the vision and goals for 4 products and aligned them with the company strategy and longer-term vision. Worked closely with diverse teams towards the OKRs, bringing them together around product roadmap. Made sure that the features are prioritised and the sprints are planned with a clear guidance and support.
Product Discovery: To write user stories and build CJMs, actively engaged with stakeholders, understanding their key requirements and “jobs-to-be-done”. Generated 150+ leads through the initial conversations, which led to 300+ suppliers and 200+ buyers using the platform. Applying various analytical tools, monitored the usage and added new features or adjustments to the backlog. As an example, the bounce rate dropped from 70% to 50% due to the improvement in the UX and UI.
Product financing: Successfully raised £115K from 8 different investors, in the form grants and investment. This capital fuelled the start and growth of the product for 4 years, adopting lean methodology. Additionally, ensured that the reporting, bookkeeping, accounts, GDPR and other policies were up-to-date. This aided the smooth product development and team growth necessary for it.
Product support: Have took on other miscellaneous duties and responsibilities where needed to support the key activities listed above.
Vivolution - United Arts (2020) – Focused on customer/product discovery and validation of the value proposition, using modified GV Sprint methodology. Explored new channels, such as Pinterest, where attracted of 13.9K users to the page with 3.3% engagement.
Magpie.Travel (2020) – Interviewed 50+ warm leads to add to the customer discovery and the product development strategy. Initiated new feature ideas based on the user stories.
GGDD.io (2020) – Converted GetGuided into a free platform bracing the travel industry, after it was acquired by investors. Working on product marketing and user retention.
ShareClever.com (2015) - This social platform helped people share excess resources with others in their area. We used lean approach for quick MVP release, which reached 10K users, sharing 80kg+ of food and 140+ various items.
Sumaks (2014) - I have co-founded a smart-appliances start-up in Azerbaijan, targeting B2B and B2G sectors. The start-up currently is one of the growing start-ups with a diverse product range, thanks to strong initial market research.
ASAU Incubator (2014) - I have introduced the concept, planted the vision of Entrepreneurship and have helped to establish first start-up incubator at Azerbaijani State Agricultural University with 3 active start-ups. I've co-patented an invention with a solar-energy startup.
Azmetr.com (2014) - My first attempt at a startup was with a local focused platform that combined a map, a navigator and a detailed business directory. After signing up 60+ businesses manually, we understood the solution did not provide the value proposition aimed.
During the 8-week period worked with the real and educational case studies from various companies, such as Alliants, Lambda and others. Learned about unit-economics, CJM, story-mapping, building sales-funnels, designing and testing and roadmap and sprint planning.
Won a £45K funding from the Scottish Enterprise to participate in a 12 months RSE fellowship and mentorship programme delivered by the Entrepreneur Business School. During the programme, grasped knowledge about the business fundamentals, product marketing, product development, business finance, team building and more. The course analysed and discovered the gaps at GetGuided.
During the dissertation research, collaborated with Skyscanner, Fanduel and others to identify theongoing problems and tried to offer solutions. The research on recruitment and retention in techcompanies has concluded that, offering flexibility, inclusion and benefits decreases the employeeturnover rate.
As part of the degree, I participated in and won UEBS Business Simulation Game with our class team.
In BSc degree, earned place in the Dean's High Honour and Honour List 5 times starting from the Fall semester of 2011 till the last semester of studies. Received a recognition as one of the most active student leaders, running large charitable events and student societies for 1500+ students, raising $5K.SELF-
Self-paced Courses: Advanced Product Management (5 hours); Become a Product Manager (13 hours); Agile crash course (2.5 hours); Welcome to Business Development & B2B Sales for Startups (6 hours); Adobe XD UX UI (11h)
Interest areas of research: Operation Management; Building and scaling start-ups; Product Management; Project management; Design; User Psychology; Operations Management; Data Management; Scrum; Podcasting
Recent reads: User stories applied; Sprint; Scrum Guide; Jobs-to-be-done; Modern Web Design process; Lean Start-up, Customer-funded business, Airbnb story, Network Effect; Product Management guide (online resources); Road to scale (online resources)
Languages:
Azerbaijani - native
English - full proficiency
Russian - full proficiency
Turkish - full proficiency
Spanish - limited proficiency (learning)
Technical Skills:
Basic technologies - Microsoft Office, Research & Presentation tools
Internal management technologies - Slack, Trello, Quip, Zoom/Meet, Airtable, Miro
User testing technologies - CrazyEgg, Docsend, Hubspot, Sender, Analytics
Product related technologies - HTML, Yaml, Firebase, Webflow, No-code/low-code tech, Adobe XD
Achievements:
Resident entrepreneur - Edinburgh Innovations; Young Edge winner - Scottish Edge; Top 40 start-ups in 2017 - Booking Booster, Top 50 start-ups - Expedia Accelerator; Resident - RBS business accelerator programme; Speaker-TEDx (Oct.15'); Volunteer Mentor - 3 Day Start-up.
00447933184685
cavid.nadirov@gmail.com
linkedin/in/cavidnadirov