Taylor Black
Program Mentor at Swissnex in San Francisco
Seattle, Washington
Overview
Work Experience
Director of AI & Venture Ecosystems, Strategic Programs & Communities Team
2021 - Current
In my role as Director of AI & Venture Ecosystems within the Strategic Programs and Communities team at Microsoft’s Office of the CTO, I design and lead cross-company initiatives that integrate innovation, product development, and community engagement to foster the next generation of groundbreaking technologies. Drop me a DM :)
Microsoft Advertising provides digital advertising solutions.
Program Mentor
2024
Mentoring Swiss startups in penetrating the US market, in a program that has resulted in the evolution of 154 startups, 3 unicorns, and a collective market value of over $2.1 billion. Swissnex has also facilitated the creation of 4,200+ jobs and the successful sustainability of 67.8% of startups, with 14.5% being embraced by industry giants like Apple.
Strategic Advisor
2024
Fellow
2023
As a Fellow at Conduit Venture Labs, I collaborate with visionary entrepreneurs and technologists to support the creation and scaling of high-impact ventures. Leveraging my expertise in AI, deep tech, and venture ecosystems, I provide strategic guidance, mentorship, and operational insight to help early-stage startups navigate complex growth challenges.
Conduit Venture Labs is an information technology company.
Managing General Partner
2022
At Fizzy Ventures, I specialize in building and scaling high-impact ventures within both corporate and startup ecosystems. My work spans venture studio operations, where I help entrepreneurs and technical teams navigate the complexities of product-market fit, growth, and scaling. On the corporate innovation front, I consult with enterprise clients to design and implement innovation frameworks that foster agile, entrepreneurial thinking within large organizations. By combining strategic foresight with hands-on operational support, I guide both startups and established companies in creating sustainable, innovation-driven growth.
Fizzy Ventures offers product-focused advice to startups during idea validation and product-market fit stages.
Startup Mentor
2022
Startup Mentor
2021
Founding Member
2021 - 2024
Round is a curated community of technology executives and senior leaders who support, grow, mentor, and learn from each other. The Round experience supports leaders who are at the forefront of technology, working on products and services that have an outsized impact on the world. Round members lead high impact teams across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Design and related functions. Our members value humility, empathy, and curiosity; and seek to foster inclusive and thriving work cultures.
Round is a community of technology executives and senior leaders that support, grow, mentor, and learn from each other.
Raised $11,699,987.00 from FUSE, J4.Ventures, Moai Capital, Primary Ventures and Liquid 2 Ventures.
Founding Member of the Innovation Forum
2021 - 2023
The Innovation Forum is a private peer network focused on connecting and supporting innovation leaders. We come together to share best practices, learnings, insights, and support one another. In addition to our incredible peer community, members access industry trend reports, collaborative events, emerging technology, and startup introductions.
Forum Ventures is a fund, program, platform, and community for B2B SaaS startups.
Startup Mentor and Investor
2019 - 2023
Venture Out supports pre-seed, aspiring entrepreneurs with strong domain expertise from large tech companies to launch startups. I guide startup teams from early-stage ideation and experimentation to product-market fit by helping them design and carry out effective experiments and make data-driven business decisions
Venture Out supports pre-seed, aspiring entrepreneurs with strong domain expertise from large tech companies to launch startups.
Raised $1,204,375.00 from M12 - Microsoft's Venture Fund, Flying Fish Partners, Founders' Co-op, Liquid 2 Ventures and Liquid 2 Ventures.