Ahmet Can

I manage the finance, HR, and event logistics teams. I am in internal champion of implementing initiatives to streamline operations and increase efficiencies.

BTV is start-up accelerator and VC fund with an angel network listed on Nasdaq Baltic that invests in scalable technology start-ups/companies focusing on seed and early stage investment. Mentor and advisor, supporting Baltic Tech Ventures in assessing industry-related deals. https://www.baltictechventures.com/team

• Advisor to this innovative B2B and B2C blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) based educational technology (edtech) platform stewarding the strategic development and resource mobilization to deliver GTM strategy. • Develop and execute a strategic plan to raise funding including grants and seed capital to achieve growth goals. • Bootstrapped to viable product with several pilot customers and robust sales pipeline in less than a year.

Spearheaded acquisition negotiations during the sale of Boomset to Hopin, commanding a premium valuation during the pandemic and closing the transaction in one month’s time. • Post-acquisition, worked with management team to identify areas of overlap and opportunities to cross-sell. • Oversaw business operations for cross-functional teams including partnerships, international expansion, finance, sales, and customer service. • Enabled cross-selling 50% faster by leading dashboard and process migration. • Grew margins by 30% through restructuring and re-negotiating contracts.

Hired by founding CEO to help turn around this event technology SaaS provider struggling for market share and facing stagnant growth and customer and employee attrition. Transformed company to become a dominant market player by reconfiguring sales, customer service, and operations into a highly focused and customer-centric team environment. • Achieved 50%+ YOY revenue growth for three consecutive years. • Pivoted the company during the pandemic from a live event management to a virtual platform, keeping the company afloat and returning to profitability by the end of the year. • Increased profit margins by 20% by streamlining client delivery processes through restructuring. • Led team of 30 including Finance, Sales, Customer Success, Partnerships, HR, and Operations. • Built and streamlined all Human Resources and recruiting functions. Invigorated staff performance by aligning incentives, reorganizing and retraining teams, and developing talent from underutilized employees. • Reduced customer attrition by 30% by instituting proactive customer engagement, removing friction in contract process, and offering new products. Increased NPS score from +30 to +70. • Negotiated the strategic, financial, and legal aspects of all deals, including partnerships, distribution, and M&A. • Successfully Implemented ISO27001, SOC 2, and GDPR compliance.

Consulting, advisory, and board level services for senior management and investors involving startups and growth oriented companies. Focus on finance, operations, human resources, corporate strategy, business development, market opportunities, funding and exit strategies, management structure and development, growth management and cost containment, sales strategy and compensation structure. Clients in the not-for-profit, insurance, education, fintech, advertising, e-commerce and SaaS sectors. • Established human resources function and created a culture of success for rapidly-growing, highly profitable start-up in the $2 billion home warranty sector. • Through combination of social engagement programs, referrals and job boards, sourced and hired a wide range of employees including executive, middle management, sales and customer support personnel. • In first six months, hired over 130 full-time employees and reduced employee attrition turnover from 50% to 20% by thorough candidate screening and improved training. • Increased consumer perception of company by reducing call wait times, improving business practices, increasing employee morale, and right-sizing staff. • As part of the executive management team, worked strategically to improve business metrics and reduce customer attrition.

Hired by Founding CEO to help scale this SaaS hospitality management platform. • Raised angel and venture capital funding, ensuring sustained double-digit growth. • Boosted working capital by 100% and reduced client attrition by 50% in first six months. • Led the Sales and Customer Service teams, optimizing processes and fostering a customer-centric environment. • Established performance goals for each department and KPIs including sales pipeline, client retention, and NPS. • Revamped the sales process, leading to a 30% jump in sales and higher lifetime value clients. • Grew global team in U.S. and India from 10 to 200 over two-year period. • Decreasing employee churn by 25% by implementing new programs, systems, and vendors such as PEO, compensation, commission, stock incentive, and 401(k) plans.

• Led the Account Management team, helping the company to innovate at scale by optimizing processes, solving strategic problems and fostering a customer-centric environment. • Established operational and performance goals for each department and key impact metrics including sales pipeline, client retention and NPS scores. • Cross-trained the implementation and customer service personnel to boost customer service efficiency. • Reduced client attrition by 25% through combination of incentivizing account managers, optimizing internal communication and documentation processes and improved client training. • Spearheaded new marketing and branding campaign.

• Hired by founding CEO to establish the U.S. infrastructure and grow the business for this publicly listed innovative digital technology company. • Played a major leadership role during company’s rapid growth to $1 billion capitalization and strategized on relocation of headquarters from U.K. to the U.S. • Created and directed Human Resources operations and grew the New York office from five to 100 employees, raising the bar in terms of employee composition and performance. • Prepared financial analysis and present recommendations to the CEO in conjunction with the Strategic Planning unit. • Authored white papers, prepared marketing material and media kits in conjunction with corporate rebranding effort from 121Media to Phorm. • Managed satellite locations and supervised day-to-day operations of the management team.

As the company's first non-founding executive, I played a significant role in the development and growth of WhenU, a VC-backed pioneer in online behavioral marketing.