Built by someone who's been on both sides of the problem.
Spent 25 years building things in Asia. Co-founded a digital agency in Hong Kong in 2003, led regional digital for adidas across 13 markets, then joined Mindshare China in 2012.
As Chief Strategy Officer, built the agency's awards program from nothing into the most recognized in Asia. More than 1,000 entries over a decade. 300 wins by 2020. The process worked. The cost, in time, in team bandwidth, in late-night feedback sessions, was real.
To be clear about that cost: a strategy team that ideally would have been doing brilliant client work spent a significant portion of their lives finding angles, drafting scripts, writing entries, and waiting on one person's edits. That person was me. This is an attempt to optimize that.
As CEO of Mindshare China from 2021, oversaw 500+ additional wins and three consecutive top-10 global rankings in the WARC Media 100. The agency was named Greater China Media Agency of the Year, China Digital Agency of the Year, and in 2023, Global Media Agency of the Year Silver at Campaign Global.
Silver. Second best in the world.
Still think about that one.
After 13 years in the multinational machine, am now walking my son to preschool, investing in sports and entertainment ventures across Asia, and, between drop-off and pickup, building Shortlist.
Running a serious program
costs the wrong people.
The fully-loaded cost of a single serious entry, fees plus the senior time it actually takes, runs $6,000 to $12,000. Multiply that across a competitive season and the awards budget is a real line item. Most of that cost lands on the two or three people in the agency who can least afford to give it.
The category selection is guesswork. The writing is rushed. When the results come in, nobody really knows what went wrong.
For agencies in Asia, the problem compounds. English is unlikely to be the team's first language. Jury members, often Western, skim entries in seconds. A brilliant campaign dies in translation before a judge has read past the first paragraph.
This was true at every agency worked with and competed against. It's still true now.
The process that gets you there doesn't have to cost the beach.
Every campaign that deserves a proper entry gets one. Not a rushed submission on deadline night. Not a direction chosen because it was the first one remembered.
You don't know where to enter until you've already paid.
Upload your brief and materials. Shortlist reads everything and generates entry directions per show and category, each with a win likelihood score, strategic angle, and ROI index. Know where you have a real shot before spending a dollar.
You can't see your own blind spots.
Two evaluation modes: Jury mode scores your entry across six dimensions, the way a judge would. Coach mode shows your untapped potential and a prioritized fix list. Both run on the same entry. Weaknesses caught before submission, not after.
The scramble after a shortlist is its own emergency.
The moment your entry is ready, Shortlist generates the full press kit: LinkedIn, X, Instagram, press release, PDF, and Outlook-safe HTML email, all in your agency voice. No brief. No back and forth. Done.
Most director briefings happen before anyone knows what the jury needs to see.
Generate and score your awards video script in the same workspace. Category-specific guidance. Win likelihood scored. Arrive at the director briefing knowing exactly what needs to be on screen.
Your work stays your work.
- 01
Every project, draft, and evaluation is locked to your account. No other agency sees it.
- 02
Shortlist runs on Anthropic's Claude API. Under their terms, content submitted via the API is never used to train their models. Your sandbox is your sandbox.
- 03
Award intelligence is built from two decades of professional experience and verified public records, not from your submissions.
- 04
All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Unlike most platforms that touch your content, this one was designed by someone who spent 13 years protecting client work inside a multinational. The paranoia is professional.
It's live. You can use it today.
Here's exactly what's built. No "coming soon" footnotes. No dashboard mockups standing in for features.
- 01Entry directions with win likelihood scores per show and category
- 02ROI Index: return on entry investment per show and direction
- 03AI co-writing across all entry fields, in your agency voice
- 04Show-specific jury intelligence for 20+ international festivals
- 05Jury mode: scored like a judge, catches weaknesses before submission
- 06Coach mode: untapped potential score and prioritized fix list
- 07Press kit generation: LinkedIn, X, Instagram, press release, PDF
- 08Score comparison and delta tracking across draft iterations
- 09Agency profile uploaded once, applied to every output
- 10Budget planner: model entry spend across your target calendar
- 11Team invites and shared workspace, no seat limits
- 12Video script generation, review, and category-specific guidance
- 13Multi-season historical context in all direction generation
- 14Deadline calendar with urgency alerts across all shows
- 15Outcome tracking: shortlisted, finalist, medals
Built for organizations serious about winning.
Full platform access from day one. No seat limits. No project caps.
For boutique agencies and indie shops running a focused awards calendar.
- Full platform access
- Up to 5 shows tracked
- Unlimited entries
- Shared workspace
For agencies running a full international season across multiple regions.
- Everything in Studio
- 20+ shows tracked
- Press kit generation
- Video script scoring
- Outcome tracking
For networks coordinating awards programs across markets and disciplines.
- Everything in Agency
- Multi-market workspaces
- Priority features
- Founder-led onboarding
- SAML SSO
Start free at gotshortlisted.com · No credit card required.