Alex Boch, serial entrepreneur, AR/VR expert
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Hi, my name is Alex Boch. I ran businesses in multiple industries as a Founder, CEO, COO as well as Strategy and Business Development Director. I worked and lived in 4 countries and traveled the world. For the past 15 years I have lived in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Moscow and now fully reside in New York.
I grew up in Moscow, Russia and went to the Moscow State University Law School where I got my summa cum laude degree in Law. I started my first business when I was 17, it was a small beverage distribution company which operated in Moscow region with a population of about 15 million people. The business was very successful and I sold it to concentrate on my studies. During my school years I taught high school students Entrepreneurial Law and was lucky to get an offer from Clifford Chance, the largest law firm in the world at the time. Legal consulting environment didn't feed my entrepreneurial passion and I wanted to get a strong financial knowledge of business, so I went to work for one of my clients - ABN AMRO Bank. That was a very interesting journey when I relocated from Russia to The Netherlands and then to Germany and for the first time realized how interesting the international environment is. After |
spending 4 years there I wanted a change, so I joined a small bank in Russia which we later sold to Morgan Stanley. All this prepared me for a key change in my life - an MBA. 2 years of full-time studies at Wharton Business School, sleepless hours of studying Finance, Venture Capital, Accounting and other interesting courses let me finally understand the core of any business - or so I thought.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT EXCEL SPREADSHEETS, IT'S REAL STUFF, COME BUILD THE BUSINESS |
When I was in my first year of MBA studies I met Oliver Samwer, who completely changed my life forever. We only met for 5 minutes then but he totally changed my perspective on what I want to do. He said: "Alex, this is not about excel spreadsheets, it's real stuff, come build the business with me." My second year I fully devoted to taking Entrepreneurship, Finance and Venture Capital courses and upon graduation and on the next day after my second wedding (my first marriage fell apart in my first MBA year) I flew to Berlin to join eDarling.com, now the largest online matchmaking company in Europe.
Then came the following chapter of my life when I became the founder and CEO of Lamoda and Looksima - both in the e-commerce and Fashion industry, both leaders in their segments. Together with my partners we looked at multiple other business models, including online marketplaces, coupon businesses, bakeries, auto traders and many others. We have been looking for growing industry segments to launch a business and became experts in them in parallel.
Then came the following chapter of my life when I became the founder and CEO of Lamoda and Looksima - both in the e-commerce and Fashion industry, both leaders in their segments. Together with my partners we looked at multiple other business models, including online marketplaces, coupon businesses, bakeries, auto traders and many others. We have been looking for growing industry segments to launch a business and became experts in them in parallel.
YOU LEARN MUCH MORE FROM YOUR FAILURES THAN FROM YOUR SUCCESSES |
Fast forward to 2013 and I learned about a completely new and exciting technology - 360-degree video. No one, literally no one, was talking about it then. Facebook only acquired Oculus Rift in Summer 2014 and YouTube only started to support 360 videos in 2015. We were almost 2 years earlier than the whole world with this idea! So I have invested a ton of my money in this business, raised angel funding, sold my real estate to get a slim chance of building a global multi-billion dollar company (and I thought I was smart)... and I failed. I lost all of it within 2 years. Hundreds of thousands of debt, credit cards maxed-out, another divorce, complete emotional and physical burn-out and very nasty betrayal from my business partner really made me think there is much more to learn from your failures than successes and that for some people money really can change their moral values. The way out of this was difficult but I made it, so happy to share my tips for you to avoid these situations.
Now being back in New York, I work full-time with startups in different industries, advise brands and businesses on strategy, financial modelling, business planning, operations and business development and share my life experience with those who need it. I was blessed to receive a world-class education and work for international companies. I founded businesses in different industry verticals, worked and lived in a few countries, hired and motivated very diverse teams and individuals. I know what it takes to get through all of this and I want to share my experience and knowledge with you. Subscribe to my newsletter or talk to me if you need help or advice on strategy, finance or even your relationships. I want to get to know you!
Now being back in New York, I work full-time with startups in different industries, advise brands and businesses on strategy, financial modelling, business planning, operations and business development and share my life experience with those who need it. I was blessed to receive a world-class education and work for international companies. I founded businesses in different industry verticals, worked and lived in a few countries, hired and motivated very diverse teams and individuals. I know what it takes to get through all of this and I want to share my experience and knowledge with you. Subscribe to my newsletter or talk to me if you need help or advice on strategy, finance or even your relationships. I want to get to know you!