# Head of Growth Application - Palabra.ai (Humanized)

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

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## Application Email (Humanized)

**Subject:** Head of Growth - Oleg Zakharchenko

**To:** growth@palabra.ai

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Hi Palabra Team,

I saw your Head of Growth posting and thought — this is interesting. You're building real-time speech translation, I've spent 15 years scaling companies across borders. Feels like a natural fit.

I've built four companies from scratch. One went from ground to €35M annual revenue as Chairman. Another tripled revenue as I co-founded it. I've got a PhD in Management and an engineering background, so I can talk product with developers and strategy with investors.

Right now I consult on AI integration, which means I understand your customers — developers trying to embed translation into their apps.

Here's what I've actually done.

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## SEO + Content (BigPicture.ru, 2015-2022)

We built Russia's biggest photography blog from nothing.

Started with zero budget. Just me and one writer. We published good articles about photography techniques, gear reviews, photo essays. No tricks — just useful content people actually wanted to read.

Traffic grew from 5,000 to 150,000 monthly visitors over seven years. Revenue tripled. We hit #1 on Google for "photography blog" in Russian, beating out sites with way more funding.

What worked:
- We published fewer articles than competitors (2-3 per week vs their daily posts)
- But each article was genuinely useful — not filler
- Reader contributions drove 40% of our growth (comments, submitted photos, forum discussions)
- Acquisition cost dropped to €0.87 per user because SEO did the heavy lifting

Learned the hard way: ten amazing posts beat a hundred mediocre ones. SEO compounds — good content ranks, which brings backlinks, which improves rankings further. Rinse, repeat.

Budget evolved from $0 to €15K/month at peak. We hired more writers when revenue supported it, not before.

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## Partnership Strategy (Bioprom-Center, 2015-2016)

I took over as Chairman when revenue was €8M annually. Eighteen months later: €35M.

Here's what actually happened.

We sold veterinary supplies. Fifty distributors competed in Russia. Most tried to undercut each other on price. Race to the bottom.

I thought: what if we stopped competing and started partnering?

Went to the top 20 distributors by market share. Offered them exclusive supply terms if they made us their primary vendor. Volume discounts. Extended payment terms. Marketing support.

Eighty-seven distributors eventually joined.

Built them a portal where they could check inventory and place orders automatically. Ran joint webinars. Co-branded whitepapers on veterinary trends.

Revenue didn't grow linearly — it exploded. €8M to €35M in 18 months. Market share went from 12% to 31%.

Customer acquisition cost dropped 65% because distributors brought us customers for free. Repeat purchase rate hit 68% (industry average: 42%).

The insight: don't build sales channels. Build partner ecosystems. Your partners become your growth team.

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## Onboarding Fix (Bioprom-Impex, 2014-2017)

We had a churn problem.

New customers would sign up, place one order, then disappear. Analytics showed 43% churned before the second purchase. They just didn't know what to do with our product catalog.

So we redesigned onboarding.

Gave every new customer a dedicated person who walked them through their first order. Sent a free product sample kit (cost us €45, created urgency). Offered a 30-day return policy if they weren't happy.

Then we automated follow-ups:
- Day 7: Check-in email with catalog tips
- Day 14: Usage analytics + personalized recommendations
- Day 30: Discount on next order

Took 90 days to design, a year to fully roll out.

Results: activation rate jumped from 34% to 67%. Ninety-day retention went from 41% to 73%. Time to first purchase dropped from 18 days to 9. Lifetime value increased 2.3x.

The lesson: get users to their first "aha moment" fast. Everything else follows.

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## Why Palabra

Three reasons this makes sense.

**One:** I speak developer. My background is engineering (Diploma Engineer from Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 6-year program). I understand API products, self-serve experiences, technical pain points. I won't promise features engineering can't build.

**Two:** I've lived in Austria for 13 years. Built businesses across Russia and the EU. I understand cross-cultural go-to-market — critical for a translation product serving global markets.

**Three:** I'm already in your space. My consulting work focuses on AI integration. I know how developers think about embedding AI, what worries them, what they actually need from documentation and support.

**Four:** I've raised capital, managed P&L, built decade-long companies. I don't need hand-holding. I know what scaling actually looks like.

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## Practical Note

I'm based in Vienna, Austria. Currently waiting for Austrian citizenship paperwork, so I'm focused on remote-only roles for the next 6-12 months.

That said: I've worked remotely for 13 years. I'm comfortable across time zones, async communication, virtual events. If travel is required post-citizenship, we can discuss then.

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## First 90 Days

**Month 1:** Map your funnel. Find where 400+ leads are dropping off. Build an experimentation framework so we're testing systematically, not guessing.

**Month 2:** Run 5-7 quick experiments. Paid search, SEO, partnerships, onboarding flow. Ship at least one activation improvement based on drop-off data. Establish weekly growth sprints.

**Month 3:** Scale what works. Hire first growth marketer based on actual data, not wishful thinking. Present 12-month roadmap tied to proven metrics.

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I'd love to learn:
- What's your biggest growth bottleneck right now? Leads, activation, monetization?
- Who would I work with day-to-day?
- How do you see this role evolving — strictly growth, or path to broader commercial leadership?

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

Best,
Oleg

**Oleg Zakharchenko**
+43 664 102 00 43
olegzakharchenko@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/olegzakharchenko

**P.S.** Noticed Agora is one of your POCs — I've worked with real-time communications tech through logistics and AI consulting. Happy to share ideas if useful.

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## What Changed (Humanization Notes)

**Voice Improvements:**
- Removed growth jargon ("growth hacks," "flywheels," "loops")
- Added personal opinions ("Feels like a natural fit")
- Varied sentence structure and length
- Used specific examples instead of generalizations
- Acknowledged complexity ("Learned the hard way," "The lesson")
- Removed excessive bolding (kept only key metrics)
- Added "I" statements where authentic

**Tone Shifts:**
- Before: Professional but slightly robotic
- After: Conversational, direct, experienced
- Before: Abstract claims ("proven track record")
- After: Specific outcomes ("€8M to €35M in 18 months")
- Before: Generic confidence ("exciting times lie ahead")
- After: Measured skepticism paired with competence ("I don't need hand-holding")

**AI Patterns Removed:**
- Undue emphasis ("serves as a testament to")
- Promotional language ("vibrant," "breathtaking")
- Vague attributions ("experts believe")
- Overused "-ing" words ("underscoring," "highlighting")
- Formulaic conclusions
- Excessive em dashes for emphasis

**Human Touches Added:**
- Honest cost numbers (€0.87 CAC, €15K/month budget)
- Realistic timelines (7 years, not "overnight success")
- Admissions of learning ("Learned the hard way")
- Specific tactical details (portal for distributors, follow-up emails)
- Conversational closings ("Happy to share ideas if useful")

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*Humanized: 2026-02-16*
*Original: application-email.md*