The end-of-year rush can be busy and overwhelming. There are goals to hit, loose ends to tie up, and a laundry list of open items to close out before the New Year’s Eve countdown. Despite the chaos, it also offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the past year, recognizing the wins, lessons learned, and special achievements.
For Bolster, 2022 was a year of continued progress—supporting a growing number of clients, continuing to add transformational executives to our on-demand marketplace, launching new tools and features within the platform, and bringing impactful talent onto our own team.
Let’s look back on our favorite moments of 2022:
We launched Bolster Prime and Bolster Ventures to better serve startup founders and CEOs.
In February, we announced Bolster Prime and Bolster Ventures—two new ways that Bolster is flipping the script on startup success. Bolster Prime is a mentorship program for scaling CEOs, matching experienced, “been there, done that'' executives and subject matter experts with CEOs looking to grow faster and drive value further. For select CEOs who invest in themselves and their teams as a part of Boster Prime, we co-invest through Bolster Ventures, an early stage venture fund that adds capital to the equation for startups.
We released the third book in our Startup trilogy, Startup Boards.
Following the release of the second edition of Startup CEO in 2020 and Startup CXO in 2021, the second edition of Startup Boards was released in June. This book was designed to be an easy-to-read operator’s manual for private company boards of directors, giving practical advice for building, managing, and leveraging a board. Co-authored by Bolster CEO Matt Blumberg alongside Brad Feld and Mahendra Ramsinghani, the new edition emphasizes the importance of diversity within boards, and the role independent directors can play in creating more inclusive boardroom environments.
We tapped into the Bolster network of experts to help founders, CEOs, and executives lead during turbulent times.
Our Navigating Choppy Waters webinar series gave us the opportunity to hear from a wide range of experienced leaders about managing the current economic climate. We heard from VCs sharing their pragmatic advice about raising money and spending wisely, as well as CEOs sharing best practices learned from past experience with downturns. We also got specific insights into keeping employees engaged, continuing to drive profitability, and effectively reflecting on the current year and planning for the next one.
We matched transformational executives with high-growth startups and scaleups.
Our on-demand marketplace is packed with diverse, highly qualified leaders ready for full-time, interim, fractional, project-based, advisory, or board roles. Through both independent and assisted searches, we matched hundreds of executives, advisors, and board members with companies looking to scale their business and add dynamic, impactful talent.
We spent meaningful time on our business, on ourselves, and on our community.
The Bolster team closed out the year by coming together for our annual offsite, Accelerate, giving us an opportunity to collaboratively work on the business and invest in our personal development as professionals and leaders. The highlight of our time together, though, was the opportunity to engage in the community. We partnered with Comp Sci High, a public charter school in New York City, to conduct mock interviews and participate in career roundtables. We were inspired by the students and the school’s commitment to developing the emotional, professional, technical, and civic skills that will help students become the next generation of leaders.
As we look ahead, we’re excited for what 2023 holds for Bolster. Whether you’re looking for the right leaders to supercharge your company or are yourself a leader looking to find the perfect next opportunity, we can’t wait to support your growth in the new year. You can join us by creating a Bolster account or follow along on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
