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Jonny Plein
Cofounder of YASO / Cofounder of Pouch (Exited) / Startup Advisor
Professional Background
Jonny Plein is a seasoned entrepreneur and startup advisor renowned for his innovative approach to social commerce technology, especially in helping Western brands successfully scale in the dynamic Chinese market. Currently, he is the driving force behind YASO, where his primary mission is to leverage social commerce technology to enhance market reach and performance for brands navigating the complexities of e-commerce in China.
Jonny's career trajectory showcases his expertise across various domains, including e-commerce, SaaS (Software as a Service), and marketing technology. What sets him apart in the tech-savvy startup ecosystem is not just his impressive resume but his ability to combine technical knowledge with a deep understanding of market dynamics. His strategic insights and hands-on experience have made significant contributions to the growth and success of the businesses he has been involved with.
Before launching YASO, Jonny served as a co-founder and head of growth at Pouch, a startup that was elegantly acquired in December 2018 for a commendable seven-figure sum. Under his leadership, Pouch disrupted the market through innovative solutions that facilitated seamless online shopping experiences. Following his tenure there, Jonny transitioned into a startup advisor role, focusing on fundraising strategies, where his expertise has empowered numerous startups to secure essential funding for growth.
Jonny's role as Director of Business Development at Global Savings Group further sharpened his skills in navigating international markets. He not only led strategic initiatives but also pioneered the browser extensions sector, establishing Global Savings Group as a leader in that space. His ability to adopt and pioneer new technologies has been instrumental in his professional journey.
Education and Achievements
Jonny's academic background is impressive and reflects his commitment to continuous learning and expertise in his chosen fields. He studied for the ACA qualification at ICAEW, showcasing his financial acumen and readiness to tackle complex business challenges. Furthermore, he has completed the Advanced Growth Series training at Reforge, enhancing his strategic decision-making skills.
In addition to his formal qualifications in business, Jonny pursued linguistic capabilities by studying Mandarin at That's Mandarin in both Beijing and Shanghai, achieving HSK level 3. This initiative not only underscores his dedication to understanding the Chinese market but also highlights his commitment to communicating effectively with diverse stakeholders in a globalized economy.
Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics with Chinese Studies from the prestigious University of Nottingham. His education has provided him with a solid foundation in economic theory and practices, while his focus on Chinese studies further positions him as an expert in cross-cultural business and market penetration strategies.
Notable Achievements
Jonny Plein has an impressive list of accomplishments that reflects his business acumen and tenacity. Not only did he successfully sell his first business, Pouch, for a seven-figure sum, but he also raised £2 million in pre-seed funding for YASO. These achievements signify not only his capability but also his entrepreneurial spirit and understanding of the funding landscape in the tech sector.
His diverse experience with different organizations has allowed him to wear many hats—whether as a corporate finance executive at EY, where he brewed his financial expertise, or as a business development associate at CRCC Asia, it’s clear that each role has shaped his multifaceted career. His time as an angel investor illustrates his commitment to fostering innovation by supporting startups that resonate with his vision of leveraging technology for enhanced market engagement.
Jonny's involvement with organizations like Enactus Nottingham as the Head of Project Development further underscores his dedication to social entrepreneurship and nurturing talent in others. His ability to foster growth in new and emerging startups highlights his capacity as a leader dedicated to creating impactful business ecosystems.
In conclusion, Jonny Plein's multifaceted background, coupled with his unwavering passion for technology, entrepreneurship, and cross-cultural understanding, positions him as a leading figure in the realms of e-commerce and social commerce technology. His journey reflects the essence of innovation in business and demonstrates how strategic insight can drive substantial growth in today's competitive market landscape. His future endeavors, particularly with YASO, promise to set new benchmarks in the industry, making him a pivotal figure to watch in the years to come.
Highlights
Last week I posted on Linkedin about the struggles of completing a funding round. It must have resonated with people as it went (a little) viral.
My DM's were flooded and the most common question by far was "How do I find angel investors?"
As a result, I have written my most comprehensive article to date on the topic. I spoke to 600+ Angels when raising for YASO and had over £1m in Angel commitments for a pre-revenue, pre-product, funding round.
The knowledge I have shared in this article is the real deal. I wrote this because I cannot help everyone in my DMs directly, and I want to give back to the startup community that has been so good to me.
So I am helping in the most scalable way I know...Content!
Please do your LinkedIn community a favour and like/engage with this post. The more people that read it, the better!
Happy Friday!
After what was a tough 2023 for many businesses, 2024 is looking much better and from a personal perspective we hit a huge milestone for YASO last week.
We signed our 4th brand and they are by far the biggest household name we have signed to date 🌳 💄
You would have either used their products, seen their products or, aspired to own their products.
We have signed one brand a month since the start of the year and look to continue that pace.
This means we have passed the significant milestone of crossing 7-figures of contracted revenue and we did this with just a 2.5-person Sales Team:
Effie Chen on Outreach / Demos Adam Knight on the big pitch Myself or James Campbell 甘吉 on legal contracts, depending on who has the capacity.
This is only possible because we deeply understand our ideal customer's problem. Now, A lot of people say that, but what does it mean in practice? I have tried to break that down below:
- We make brands money, not productivity gains 💷
Often tech solutions end up being a "nice-to-have" not a "must-have". Tools that, for example, offer productivity gains are a nice-to-have for most Brands. In this market, you have to be a must-have
- We solve a complex problem with a simple solution 🎯
Selling to China is difficult, You have multiple platform barriers, language barriers and cultural barriers. We have managed to package this complexity into an elegant solution, a single entry point to all of Chinese e-commerce.
This was only possible because Adam & James had been in the space for 10 years and deeply understood the pain points brands were facing when trying to "do" China.
- We innovated a commercial model that aligned both parties' interests 🇨🇳
Old China market entry models meant that if things went badly, one party came out significantly better than the other. We have aligned incentives making sure both us and the Brands benefit when things go well, but share the pain if they don't.
- We focused on technology 📱
A lot of brands are stunned when they get demos of the systems we have built vs what else there is on the market. We have focused on building one single entry point for Chinese ecommerce, so brands don't need to deal with 100s of poorly formatted Excel as they do with other partners.
I am sharing this because I am incredibly proud of how, after a tough 2023, our small team is bearing the fruits of their labour, but more importantly, to show other founders that you can get great results with limited resources if you focus on the right things!
#founders #sales #growth #China
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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