Vrijen S. Attawar

CEO & Co-founder | AI Career Coach | Management Consultant
New York, US.

About

Highly accomplished and entrepreneurial leader with a proven track record in driving revenue growth, optimizing operations, and launching innovative products across consulting, SaaS, and education sectors. As CEO and Co-founder of Careerspan, successfully raised $1.25M to develop an AI-powered career coaching platform. Expertise spans strategic product development, sales enablement, management consulting, and business development, consistently delivering quantifiable results such as identifying $4M in revenue opportunities at McKinsey & Company and generating over $650K in B2C revenue at The Keys Admissions. Adept at leveraging data-driven insights and fostering cross-functional collaboration to achieve ambitious business objectives and empower individuals. Also eligible for STEM OPT.

Work

Careerspan (formerly The Apply.AI)
|

Chief Executive Officer

Summary

Led the strategic vision and operational execution for an AI career coaching platform, transforming professional storytelling for job seekers.

Highlights

Successfully raised $1.25M across two funding rounds to accelerate product development and market expansion for an AI career coaching platform.

Leveraged deep domain expertise in university admissions and career consulting to define comprehensive product vision, integrating cutting-edge technical innovation.

Oversaw the successful deployment of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to over 100 users, validating market demand and user engagement.

McKinsey & Company
|

Consultant

Summary

Provided strategic consulting services, leveraging data-driven insights to optimize business performance and drive revenue growth for diverse clients.

Highlights

Conducted comprehensive quantitative analysis on 5-year pricing trends for 3 key business lines, representing 30% of total revenue, identifying $4M in low-lift up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.

Managed and coordinated an 8-week internal study for a 3-person design team, supporting the development of an in-house Salesforce analytics add-on for the Marketing & Sales practice.

Gainsight
|

Sales Enablement MBA Intern

Summary

Drove sales efficiency and productivity by optimizing tech stack utilization and enhancing training programs for a large sales organization.

Highlights

Spearheaded tech tool enablement for an 80+ person sales organization, encompassing seller onboarding, upskilling, and workflow optimization for core sales motions.

Defined departmental priorities by analyzing Salesforce and Outreach usage data and conducting user interviews to identify seller pain points and suboptimal workflows.

Developed and delivered tech tool training materials for new sellers, resulting in a 2x increase in Q3 cohort's prospecting email volume, a 3x increase in call volume, and a 30% reduction in overdue tasks compared to Q2 peers.

Optimized tech tool provisioning through workflow automation, securing buy-in from three departments and sales leadership, which reduced email requests by 70%.

THE KEYS ADMISSIONS
|

Co-founder & Head of Sales and Business Development

Summary

Co-founded and led sales and business development for a boutique university admissions consulting firm, achieving significant revenue growth and client satisfaction in Singapore.

Highlights

Generated over $650K in annual B2C revenue through high-touch client interactions, achieving a 90%+ conversion rate on referrals, a Net Promoter Score of 9.6, and a revenue-to-marketing-cost ratio of 25:1.

Conducted customer interviews and analyzed results from biannual focus groups to refine pricing strategy, leading to 80%+ clients opting for highest-margin services.

Provided admissions consulting, career coaching, and standardized test prep training for 5 years.

THE ACADEMY
|

Business Development Associate for College Consulting Division

Summary

Drove business growth and market penetration for a K-12 tutoring and enrichment program through strategic product messaging and marketing initiatives in Singapore.

Highlights

Revamped product messaging to effectively target Singaporean market customers, resulting in a 2x rise in leads-to-conversion rate, a 10x increase in client portfolio size, and a B2C revenue increase of $425K+.

Successfully persuaded the board to adopt a differentiated marketing approach over the master brand strategy, increasing lead conversion across all three brands by an average of 15%.

Volunteer

Access Johnson
|

VP, Marketing

Summary

Led marketing initiatives for an on-campus club dedicated to supporting neurodivergent and disabled students.

Highlights

Developed and executed marketing strategies to promote inclusivity and support for neurodivergent and disabled students within the Cornell community.

Education

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Master of Business Administration

Strategic Product and Marketing Immersion

Grade: N/A

Courses

High Tech Club

Access Johnson (VP, Marketing)

Consulting Club

Entrepreneurship Club

Emory University

Bachelor of Arts

Economics

Grade: N/A

Awards

Winner, "Most Market Ready"

Awarded By

6th Annual Cornell Animal Health Hackathon

Awarded for developing the most market-ready solution during the hackathon, demonstrating strong business acumen and innovative thinking.

Certificates

Customer Success Manager (Level I)

Issued By

Gainsight

ScrumMaster®

Issued By

ScrumAlliance

Skills

Business Tools & Data Analysis

Qualtrics, SPSS, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Tableau, Monday.com, Airtable, Quantitative Analysis, Data Visualization.

Project Management

Scrum, Agile Methodologies, Project Coordination, Workflow Optimization, MVP Development.

CRM & Sales Enablement

Salesforce, Gainsight, Outreach, Sales Operations, Tech Stack Management, Seller Onboarding, Upskilling.

Business Development & Strategy

Market Analysis, Revenue Growth, Business Model Innovation, Pricing Strategy, Product Messaging, B2C Sales, B2B Partnerships, Go-to-Market Strategy, Market Penetration.

Leadership & Entrepreneurship

CEO, Co-founder, Team Leadership, Venture Capital, Fundraising, Product Vision, Strategic Planning, Mentorship.

Consulting & Coaching

Management Consulting, Career Coaching, Admissions Consulting, Client Relations, User Interviews, Professional Storytelling.

Artificial Intelligence

AI Applications, Machine Learning Concepts, Product Development in AI, AI Career Coaching.

Interests

Sci-Fi Writing

Hard Sci-Fi, Speculative Fiction, Isaac Asimov, Cixin Liu.