Ashraf is available for hire
Hire AshrafAshraf Heleka
Verified Expert in Finance
Management Consulting Expert
San Diego, CA, United States
Toptal member since December 29, 2022
Bio
Ashraf is a strategy expert with over 12 years of experience in management consulting, investment banking, and strategy roles at startups. He has four years of experience in strategy and operations at early-stage startups, where he helped drive growth. Before that, he was a consultant at McKinsey, focusing on digital transformation and strategy. Ashraf freelances to drive impact for his clients and continue honing his craft.
Career Highlights
Director of Strategy
Lecturio
Senior Associate
McKinsey & Company
Education Highlights
Master's Degree
INSEAD
Case Studies
eCommerce Due Diligence
Corporate StrategyM&A Strategy
New Financial Product Launch
New ProductsProduct Strategy
eCommerce Cost Diagnosis and Strategy
Profitability AnalysisProfit Optimization
Expertise
- Competitive Analysis
- Corporate Strategy
- Financial Modeling
- Growth Strategy
- Learning & Development
- New Products
- Product Strategy
- Strategy
Work Experience
Head of Product
2023 - PRESENT
Product School
- Reported directly to the CEO to help solve executive-level strategic problems and drive key initiatives. Managed a team of 11 experts, product managers, designers, and content creators.
- Launched two best-selling courses. Led a team that ideated, developed content, created marketing and sales, and launched two courses aimed at product management professionals.
- Redesigned a website, created sales documentation, and enabled sales reps to increase revenue by XX%.
Focus areas: Product Management, Training, Training & Training Content Development, Digital Marketing Strategy, E-learning, Sales, Marketing, Strategy
Director of Strategy
2021 - 2022
Lecturio
- Reported directly to the CEO to help solve executive-level strategic problems and drive key initiatives.
- Explored a shortlist of five new product ideas, prioritized one product continuing education for physicians, formulated strategy, and aligned cross-functional stakeholders to launch in three months.
- Redesigned a sales process and provided analysis, research, and content creation to improve salesforce effectiveness by over 10%.
- Launched new content formats by analyzing learner data, interviewing students and instructors, and working with the product team, leading to increased learner engagement and satisfaction.
Focus areas: Competitive Analysis, Growth Hacking, M&A Strategy, Change Management, Organizational Design, Digital Marketing Strategy, E-learning, Sales, Marketing, Strategy
Product Development and Strategy Lead
2020 - 2021
Reforge
- Co-created two highest-grossing courses on "Product Strategy" and "Product Leadership" by interviewing three product experts, synthesizing their insights, and building a storyline that formed the course script.
- Wrote and edited marketing materials, including blog posts and copy to sell both courses, generating around $4 million in the first year revenue.
- Engaged with the community, coached students, and continually conducted user research to improve the student experience and product.
Focus areas: Growth Hacking, Growth Strategy, Education, Change Management, Organizational Design, Digital Marketing Strategy, E-learning, Marketing, Strategy
Senior Associate
2016 - 2019
McKinsey & Company
- Redesigned an internal training program for emerging McKinsey managers to be more interactive, yielding an over 20% increase in net promoter score (NPS).
- Developed a five-year strategic plan for a greenfield university leveraging best practices from international universities, MOOCs, boot camps, and other learning modes.
- Diagnosed the eCommerce profitability of a US-based specialty retailer, identified $X00 million in cost savings initiatives, and developed a strategy to reduce costs for the top three drivers, representing around 1X% improvement in margin potential.
- Conducted due diligence on the supplier and category management capability of a $X00 million eCommerce player.
- Co-created a new-to-market financial product promoting homeownership across an underbanked population, around one million households.
- Developed a high-level strategy and project-managed 20 macroeconomic and finance-focused projects for a governmental entity aimed at diversifying the overall economy by increasing non-oil export contribution to GDP by around three times.
- Formulated strategy for launching a greenfield digital bank with targeted annual revenue of $X00 million, defined two-year product roadmaps, matched customer segments to key products, and identified fintech partnerships.
- Assessed a major regional airline's sales channel strategy.
Focus areas: Corporate Strategy, Digital Transformation, M&A Strategy, Competitive Analysis, Change Management, Organizational Design, Retail & Wholesale, E-learning, Finance, Marketing, Strategy
Senior Analyst | Investment Banking
2012 - 2015
CI Capital
- Led a team of two interns in valuation for the around $X00 million acquisition of Citibank's consumer banking business by Egypt's largest publicly listed company.
- Built four advanced operating and financial valuation models for targets in many industries, including consumer goods, real estate, and financial services, with a total valuation of $1.5 billion; synthesized key findings to develop sales documents.
- Spearheaded the effort to launch the first real estate investment funds in the Egyptian market by researching regulations, developing a pitchbook, and negotiating financial terms with three prospective clients, including real estate developers.
- Managed portfolio of collateral loans of over $200 million for ultra-high net worth individuals from the Middle East.
- Coached two junior analysts on financial modeling, valuation methodologies, and pitchbook creation.
Focus areas: Financial Modeling, Competitive Analysis, Pitch Decks, Organizational Design, Finance, Strategy
Education
2015 - 2016
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
INSEAD - Paris, France
2013 - 2015
Master's Degree in Finance
The American University of Cairo - Cairo, Egypt
2005 - 2010
Bachelor's Degree in History
University of California, Irvine - Irvine, CA
Skills
Finance
Financial Modeling, Profitability Analysis, Forecasting
Output Software
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Docs
Industry Expertise
Retail & Wholesale
Other
Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Product Strategy, Growth Strategy, New Products, Competitive Analysis, E-learning, Benchmarking, Digital Transformation, Learning & Development, Growth Hacking, Profit Optimization, Pitch Decks, M&A Strategy, Education, Consumer Banking, Creative Problem Solving, Communication, Scenario Analysis, Change Management, Organizational Design, Digital Marketing Strategy, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Training, Training & Training Content Development
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