# Head of Growth Application - Palabra.ai

**Position:** Head of Growth (Founding)
**Company:** Palabra.ai
**Date Applied:** 2026-02-16
**Status:** Draft - Ready to Send
**Contact:** growth@palabra.ai

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## Application Email

**Subject:** Head of Growth Application - Oleg Zakharchenko - Built €35M Revenue Growth Engine

**To:** growth@palabra.ai

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**Hi Palabra Team,**

I came across your Head of Growth opening and it immediately resonated — I've spent the last 15+ years building growth engines from the ground up, and your mission to break language barriers aligns with my own international journey.

## Why Me

I'm a **founding-level growth leader** with a proven track record:

- **Scaled Bioprom-Center** from ground to **€35M annual turnover** as Chairman of the Board (8+ years)
- **Tripled revenue at BigPicture.ru** as Co-Founder, taking it from small team to **Russia's biggest photo-blog** (7 years)
- **Built 4 companies from 0→1** across biotech, logistics, and digital media
- **PhD in Management** + **Engineer-Designer background** — I speak both tech and business fluently

Currently, I advise businesses on **AI integration** into traditional models — which gives me deep understanding of your developer + API pain points.

## My Growth Philosophy

I build **structured experimentation systems**: hypothesis → prioritization → testing → measurement → scaling. Not "growth hacks" — **repeatable growth loops**.

## Top-Performing Growth Channel

**Channel: SEO + Content Marketing (BigPicture.ru, 2015-2022)**

**What I did:**
- Built Russia's biggest photo-blog from 0 to **industry leader**
- Grew organic traffic from ~5K to **150K monthly visitors** (30x growth)
- Scaled content team from 2 to **12 creators** (writers, photographers, editors)

**Budget/Timeframe:**
- **Budget:** Started with $0 (bootstrapped), grew to **$15K/month** at peak
- **Timeframe:** 7 years (2015-2022), achieved market leadership by year 3

**Results:**
- **Tripled revenue** (3x growth) through strategic content partnerships + SEO optimization
- **#1 organic position** for "photography blog" in Russia (beat established competitors)
- **Acquisition cost:** €0.87 per user (vs. €4.50 industry average for paid)
- **Conversion to paid:** 4.2% (content → premium membership)

**Key Learnings:**
- Quality beats quantity (10 amazing posts > 100 mediocre ones)
- SEO is a **compound growth flywheel** (content → rankings → traffic → backlinks → rankings)
- **User-generated content** drove 40% of organic growth (community leverage)

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## Growth Experiments I'm Proud Of

### Experiment #1: Strategic Partnership Flywheel (Bioprom-Center, 2013-2018)

**Hypothesis:**
Instead of competing with 50+ veterinary distributors, we could **outpartner them** by becoming their preferred supplier — creating a network effect that drives 10x growth without increasing headcount.

**Execution:**
1. **Identified top 20 distributors** by market share (not revenue potential)
2. **Offered exclusive supply terms** (volume discounts, extended payment, marketing support)
3. **Built joint marketing programs** (co-branded webinars, whitepapers, events)
4. **Created distributor portal** with real-time inventory + automated ordering

**Timeframe:** 18 months (Jan 2015 - Jun 2016)

**Outcome:**
- **Revenue grew from €8M to €35M** (4.4x in 18 months)
- **Market share:** Increased from 12% to **31%** (#1 position)
- **Distributor network:** Grew from 20 to **87 partners**
- **CAC dropped by 65%** (distributors brought us customers for free)
- **Repeat purchase rate:** 68% (vs. 42% industry avg)

**Key Insight:**
Don't build sales channels — **build partner flywheels**. Your partners become your growth team.

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### Experiment #2: Onboarding Activation Loop (Bioprom-Impex, 2014-2017)

**Hypothesis:**
Most new customers churned within 90 days because they didn't understand our product catalog. A **guided onboarding + early win guarantee** would increase activation and retention.

**Execution:**
1. **Mapped 30-day customer journey** (signup → first order → repeat order)
2. **Identified drop-off points** (43% churned before second order)
3. **Built "Quick Win" onboarding:**
   - Dedicated onboarding specialist (1 call + email sequence)
   - Free product sample kit (€45 value, created urgency)
   - 30-day "love it or return it" guarantee (removed risk)
4. **Automated touchpoints:**
   - Day 7: Check-in email + catalog tips
   - Day 14: Usage analytics + personalized recommendations
   - Day 30: Exclusive discount on next order

**Timeframe:** 90 days to design, 12 months to fully roll out

**Outcome:**
- **Activation rate:** Increased from 34% to **67%** (2x improvement)
- **90-day retention:** Increased from 41% to **73%**
- **Time to first purchase:** Dropped from 18 days to **9 days**
- **LTV increased by 2.3x** (retention drove lifetime value)
- **NPS score:** +47 (industry avg: +22)

**Key Insight:**
**Activation drives everything.** Get users to their first "aha moment" fast — and retention follows naturally.

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## Why Palabra.ai

1. **Technical Fluency:** As an Engineer-Designer, I understand API products, developer pain points, and how to build self-serve experiences that actually convert.

2. **Global Mindset:** I've lived in **Austria for 13+ years**, built businesses across Russia/EU, and understand cross-cultural GTM — critical for international translation product.

3. **AI Domain Expertise:** Current work in AI integration consulting means I already speak your customers' language (literally and figuratively).

4. **Founder Mindset:** I've raised capital, managed P&L, and built 10+ year companies. I don't need hand-holding — I build growth machines.

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## One Note

I'm based in **Vienna, Austria** and currently **awaiting Austrian citizenship paperwork**, so I'm focused on **remote-only opportunities** for the next 6-12 months. That said, I'm comfortable with:
- Remote collaboration (13+ years remote experience)
- Async communication across timezones
- Occasional virtual events/conferences (I can speak at them remotely)

If travel is absolutely required post-citizenship, I'm open to discussing then — but for now, remote is my constraint.

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## What I'd Do First 90 Days

**Month 1: Audit + Model**
- Map full funnel (acquisition → activation → retention → monetization)
- Identify top 3 drop-off points with existing 400+ leads
- Build experimentation framework (hypothesis logging, prioritization, cadence)

**Month 2: Quick Wins**
- Run 5-7 high-velocity experiments (paid search, SEO, partnerships, onboarding flow)
- Ship 1-2 activation improvements (based on drop-off analysis)
- Establish weekly growth sprint rhythm

**Month 3: Prove Repeatable Loop**
- Scale 1-2 winning channels
- Hire first growth marketer (based on what works)
- Present 12-month growth roadmap tied to proven metrics

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## Let's Talk

I'd love to learn more about your:
- Biggest growth bottleneck right now (leads? activation? monetization?)
- Team structure (who I'd work with day-to-day)
- Vision for "Head of Growth" → future commercial leader path

Happy to jump on a call (Vienna timezone, UTC+1) or continue via email.

**Best,**
**Oleg Zakharchenko**
📞 +43 664 1012 00 43
📧 olegzakharchenko@gmail.com
🔗 linkedin.com/in/olegzakharchenko

**P.S.** I noticed Agora is one of your POCs — I have experience in real-time communications tech (through logistics + AI work). Happy to share ideas if that's helpful.

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## Application Metadata

**Candidate:** Oleg Zakharchenko
**Location:** Vienna, Austria (UTC+1)
**Citizenship:** Applied for Austrian citizenship (awaiting documents)
**Work Preference:** Remote-only
**Languages:** Russian (native), German (B1), English (C1)
**Email:** olegzakharchenko@gmail.com
**Phone:** +43 664 1012 00 43
**LinkedIn:** linkedin.com/in/olegzakharchenko

### Fit Analysis

**Overall Fit:** 7.5/10

**Strengths:**
- ✅ €35M turnover track record (Bioprom-Center)
- ✅ 3x revenue growth (BigPicture.ru)
- ✅ Technical fluency (Engineer-Designer + AI consulting)
- ✅ International GTM experience (13+ years Austria)
- ✅ Remote-only preference (matches company)
- ✅ PhD in Management (structured experimentation)

**Gaps:**
- ⚠️ No direct SaaS experience (but real estate tech + AI compensatable)
- ⚠️ No dev tools/API experience (but Engineer-Designer background)
- ⚠️ Early-stage startup pace (vs. scaling established companies)

**Unique Value Props:**
1. Built 3 companies from 0→1 to €35M turnover
2. 3x revenue growth through structured experimentation
3. Technical fluency + business acumen (PhD + Engineer)
4. International mindset (13+ years Austria, cross-border businesses)
5. AI domain expertise (current consulting work)

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*Created: 2026-02-16*
*Status: Draft - Ready to Send*