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Jonny Plein
Cofounder of Kuai Commerce
Professional Background
Jonny Plein is an accomplished startup cofounder and a chartered accountant who has made significant strides in the ecommerce and marketing technology sectors. With a keen insight into venture capital, startup fundraising, and technology transactions across various regions including the UK, Europe, and China, Jonny brings a robust portfolio of experience that reflects both his entrepreneurial spirit and his affinity for the rapidly evolving tech landscape. His successful exit from his first startup signifies a profound understanding of the intricacies involved in launching and scaling innovative businesses.
As a dynamic leader, Jonny has co-founded Kuai Commerce, where he actively contributes to shaping the vision and operational strategy of the company. His prior experience at Global Savings Group, where he served as the Director of Business Development and the Global Lead for Browser Extensions, has endowed him with a rich expertise in business development, market penetration strategies, and team leadership. In these roles, he demonstrated his ability to cultivate strong partnerships, navigate competitive landscapes, and drive revenue growth.
Jonny’s entrepreneurial journey commenced with Pouch, a company he co-founded, where he served as the CFO until its successful acquisition in December 2018. His experience in corporate finance, previously honed at EY, has provided him with a strong foundation in financial analysis and strategic investment, skills he employs regularly in his current ventures. Additionally, his role as a Business Development Associate at CRCC Asia and Head of Project Development at Enactus Nottingham reflects his commitment not only to business success but also to social entrepreneurship and community engagement.
Education and Achievements
Jonny's educational background is equally impressive, equipping him with a blend of financial acumen and cultural fluency that is essential in today’s global marketplace. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with Chinese Studies from the University of Nottingham, which laid the groundwork for his understanding of the intricate relationships between economics and cultural dynamics in business.
Further, he has pursued advanced training in growth strategies through the Advanced Growth Series at Reforge, a program that underscores his commitment to continual learning and professional development. To enhance his communication skills and his ability to navigate the Chinese market, Jonny studied Mandarin at That's Mandarin in both Beijing and Shanghai, demonstrating his proactive approach to building international connections and engaging with diverse cultures.
In addition to his formal education, his ACA qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales exemplifies his strong financial background. This distinction is highly regarded in the business community and reflects his expertise in accounting and financial management, which have been pivotal in his various roles.
Notable Achievements
- Cofounder at Kuai Commerce: Jonny played a crucial role in establishing this innovative company, aiming to reshape ecommerce through technology-driven solutions, driving forward its vision and operational strategies.
- Director of Business Development at Global Savings Group: In this capacity, he successfully led initiatives that significantly enhanced business growth and market reach, showcasing his ability to align business strategies with market demands.
- Cofounder and CFO of Pouch: This achievement stands out as a highlight of his career, culminating in a successful acquisition, which reflects his skill in navigating startups through critical growth phases.
- Corporate Finance Executive at EY: Here, Jonny honed his skills in financial strategies and corporate advisory, providing services that assisted clients in optimizing their financial performance.
- Engagement in Social Enterprise: During his time with Enactus Nottingham, he served as Head of Project Development, focusing on social entrepreneurship and innovative projects that generated positive community impact.
Overall, Jonny Plein exemplifies a commitment to innovation, growth, and cross-cultural collaboration. His various roles and achievements in startup ecosystems, coupled with his extensive educational background, make him a significant figure in the realms of ecommerce and venture capital. His passion for technology transactions and fundraising in diverse markets reflects his readiness to leverage opportunities in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
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
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- 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.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
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.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.