Cory Bolotsky
VC Platform Consultant | Establishing community and talent strategies for the world's top VCs
United States
Overview
Work Experience
VC Platform Consultant + Coach
2020 - Current
Partnering with global venture capital firms, I develop and implement platform strategies that drive value. Recent clients include: Cowboy Ventures, Spero Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Eniac Ventures, Inovo Ventures, F-Prime, NTTVC, and many others.
Founder
2023
Synchronize is a community experience that meets your members where they want to engage. During my 7 years leading the VC Platform Community, I noticed a recurring pain point: Without a synchronized community system, members are forced away from the platforms they are comfortable with, affecting your community’s chance of success. To fix this, I built Synchronize, a solution that seamlessly integrates into members' online activities such as Slack, Email and Web, driving higher participation and a thriving community. Our platform caters to some of the largest communities globally, spanning founders, operators, executives, hobbyists, and more. Looking for a solution for your community platform? Reach out at: www.synchronize.so
Founding Board Member
2017 - 2024
The VC Platform Global Community is a peer-learning vehicle for those who actively work in VC and are in charge of creating, growing, and supporting communities for their firm’s portfolio companies. Since joining the Board of Directors at VC Platform in 2017, and playing a near-full-time role until we were able to hire an executive director, the community has grown to 2,000+ members from 1,000+ venture funds representing over $2.5 trillion in AUM with members across 45 countries. My role? ➡️ Co-creating the community’s name and brand (inventing the term ‘VC Platform’.) ➡️ Orchestrating the annual summit which grew from 45 people to a 600+ person event. ➡️ Building and running the community’s infrastructure. ➡️ Establishing a sponsorship program and turning the community into an official 501(c)3 trade association, helping us to surpass $1M in annual revenue.
VC Platform Global Community is an invite-only community made up of hundreds of platform leaders.
Executive Recruiter
2018 - 2020
True Search is a leading executive search firm working with high-growth technology companies. My role included: ➡️ Advising investors and executives on strategic hiring decisions and talent acquisition strategies. ➡️ Guiding clients through the process of hiring key executives. ➡️Cultivating relationships with investors and executives to identify business opportunities and acquire new clients. ➡️Identifying, qualifying, and nurturing relationships with world-class executives, effectively engaging them as candidates across open search opportunities. Clients I worked with directly included Bain Capital Ventures, Emergence Capital, General Catalyst, and more as well as portfolio companies for investors including G20, Accel-KKR, Firstmark, Menlo Ventures, Owl Ventures, Accel, .406 Ventures, LLR Partners, and Providence Equity.
Head of Platform & Community
2016 - 2018
Led platform and community initiatives at Underscore VC, an early-stage venture capital firm with $200M+ AUM and a community investment model. My role included: ➡️ Supporting portfolio companies in recruiting senior executives to roles on leadership teams and boards. ➡️ Leading brand development and marketing strategies for the firm, including events, content, and engagement. ➡️ Building the firm’s community of 1,000+ technology executives. ➡️ Supporting the investment team with sourcing, diligence, and managing investment syndicates. ➡️ Supporting portfolio founders with advice and networking to maximize value-add support at scale. ➡️ Developing and managing internal operational systems and data tracking for the investment team and community.
Director of Global Operations
2014 - 2016
MassChallenge HQ is leading the global expansion efforts for MassChallenge while supporting the work of existing global hubs. ➡️ Developed and authored comprehensive operations guide and expansion strategy for internal use ➡️ Oversaw all operations and managed internal systems and processes supporting 45 employees across 3 offices ➡️ Supported all global activities and expansion activity including international program delivery, partnership development & management, talent recruitment & onboarding, and legal structure initiation. ➡️ Conducted, designed and published research analysis of success metrics for over 4,000 engaged companies ➡️ Investigated prospects for sustainable growth including global capital campaign and equity investment fund
Co-Founder & Director of Operations, MassChallenge Israel
2013 - 2014
MassChallenge Israel is MassChallenge’s first-ever location outside of Boston to support early-stage entrepreneurs throughout Israel. ➡️ Developed and executed a high-level plan for organizational expansion working directly with the Founder & CEO to rapidly build an international presence and impact with minimal funding, staff and resources ➡️ Designed and ran judging and application processes working with 75 expert judges to identify top applicants ➡️ Ran events and marketing efforts to introduce MassChallenge to Israel attracting 100+ startup applications
Startup Concierge
2011 - 2013
➡️ Monitored communications and managed customer service for 125 startup companies and 22,000+ stakeholders to sustain a transparent and supportive internal and external organizational culture ➡️ Supervised and directed daily responsibilities and tasks for three operations interns ➡️ Managed and oversaw all daily operational needs of company’s 25,000 square foot office for 450+ tenants
Fellow
2012 - 2015
.406 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused primarily on Cybersecurity, Healthcare IT, Data/Analytics, and Cloud Infrastructure. Fellows support the partnership in sourcing and evaluating companies for investment within the firms investment thesis.
.406 Ventures provides capital and support for early stage technology companies.
Executive Director of Startup Massachusetts & Founder of Startup Summer
2012 - 2012
Launched under the Obama administration, the Startup America Partnership had state-level leaders who worked with entrepreneurs and startup organizations across their region to support existing programs and make the state a better place for entrepreneurs to build startups. As Executive Director of Startup Massachusetts, I launched Startup Summer to provide students with internships opportunities at startups and fill company’s talent gaps. Startup Summer dissolved after catalyzing Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's MassTech Intern Partnership (MTIP) and the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA)'s TechGen program. With the support of the Patrick Administration, MA Senator Karen Spilka and a 14-person Board of Advisors of top startup leaders, Startup Summer activated over $3M in funding for MTIP and TechGen, with both programs still active independently.