Bostjan Troha-Karo
BUSINESS CONSULTANCY
Business management specialist, seasoned entrepreneur, founder, and executive with proven skills and hands-on experience in senior and C-level positions who will tell you like it is, no candy-wrapping, no sugar-coating.
Business & Marketing Strategies
Development of mid and long-term strategy, the definition of the BHAG, nailing the vision and mission statements. Competition and SWOT analyses, positioning, and branding strategies.
Innovation Strategy
Alignment with business strategy, defining processes and structures how to search for novel solutions, synthesize ideas into business concepts and product designs and select which projects get funded
Focus & Alignment
Introduction and development of focus and alignment tools, such as Objectives and Key Results, development of internal communication channels, and 360 review systems.
Fundraising
Development of investor decks, materials, and due diligence questionnaires for venture capital and venture debt financing.
Operational Excellence
Development of company-wide processes, guidelines, and implementation of RACI matrices to achieve accountabilities, trust, and commitment.
Human Resource Management
Defining recruitment strategies, work ethics, company culture, clear career paths for each individual, and making sure the right people are in the right seats.
Years of Experience
C-Level Positions
VC-Backed Startup Exits
Teams Built and Lead
Letters from the Trenches
Experience
Worked in international companies with interdisciplinary teams and on global products.
Founded and lead several successful VC-funded startups in video games, military industry, med-tech, and HORECA entertainment.
Two businesses were acquired in successful exits.
Served as CEO, COO, CCO, and EVP in several businesses, spanning various industries, including med-tech, military, video games, gaming, mobility, marketing, hospitality, real-estate, and prop-tech.
Founder & Principal
Troha&Co (investments in distressed economies)
Hands-on leadership in recruiting and investing in startups in distressed economies, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Lebanon, and Egypt. Troha&Co is dedicated to solving the toughest problems countries face today. We’re building entrepreneurial success stories with local people.
Partner
Real estate investment in hospitality
Managing and raising funds to repurpose stately homes in the north of Italy to luxury hotels.
EVP Strategic Partnerships
Cosylab/ArrowFast (medical technology)
We have been working with MedTech industry leaders and on the most advanced scientific projects around the globe for 20 years. Our in-house team of 220 engineers helps startups from planning to developing their medical devices and making sure it’s certified for the targeted market.
www.cosylab.com, www.arrowfast.tech
Founder
Barthletix (Casual Esports)
Barthletix (renamed to Huvii) generates acquisition and retention and boosts revenue for bars and restaurants by engaging guests with collaborative and competitive games played with their smartphones and displayed on your big-screen TVs for all to enjoy. Anyone can join and play with or against other customers.
Barthletix is a digital sports bar where everyone is engaged and immersed in playing football, soccer, darts, race cars, play trivia or blackjack, and roulette.
COO & SVP Strategy
Visionect / Joan (Developer of electronic paper solutions)
Defining, owning, and leading the corporate strategy, including fundraising. Developing, communicating, and implementing the product and company strategy internally and externally so that all employees, partners, suppliers, and contractors understand the strategic plan and how it carries out the company’s overall goals. Driving decision-making that creates medium- and long-term improvement. Establishing and reviewing key strategic priorities and translating them into comprehensive strategic plans. Monitoring the execution of the strategic plan. Facilitating and driving key strategic initiatives through the inception phase. Translating strategies into actionable and quantitative plans. Acting as a resource across an organization to increase broad cohesion for strategic plans.
Developing and cascading the organization’s strategy/mission statement to the staff, and implementing appropriate rewards/recognition and coaching/corrective practices to align staff with company goals. Developing and communicating career paths. Maintaining and monitoring staffing, levels, Knowledge-Skills-Attributes (KSA), expectations, and motivation to fulfill organizational requirements. Developing and communicating company and staff OKRs. Implementing and enabling the organization’s people policies and practices in alignment with business objectives and core values. Recruitment and selection. Training, mentoring, coaching, and staff development.
www.visionect.com, www.getjoan.com
Creative Director
Renderspace / Pristop, Digital marketing agency
Leading the creative team in the region’s first digital marketing agency.
Driving and defining digital transformation for client corporations and enterprises. Developing next-gen customer experience with gamification, virtual reality, augmented reality, 360 videos, and more.
www.renderspace.si, www.pristop.si
Chief Creative Officer
Interblock, Luxury gaming products
Creating and executing innovative concepts in the fields of slot, bingo, and classic casino games. Developing Virtual Reality concepts with Oculus Rift, such as virtual casinos and VR marketing material. Working with a team of 50+ engineers and artists to deliver cutting-edge products for the land-based casino market.
Working on mobile games, such as Monster League Racing (Android, iOS), cross-media products, such as holographic gaming, cross-media hybrid entertainment/gaming products, gaming products with skill-based RTP for global millennials-focused markets, developing player retention mechanics and economy systems.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
ZootFly, Video game development studio
Serving as CEO and co-founder of a global video game studio with over 70 team members from 13 countries and over 150 outsourced professionals. Strategic positioning of the studio, multi-million dollar contract negotiation, securing funding of early-stage projects to the tune of over $5 million per project, and strategic alliances with such key players as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Ubi Soft. Leading the creative team, developing original concepts, and designing games for the world’s largest publishers. Acting as Game Director for most studio’s products, including the critically acclaimed Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death, which grossed $45 million worldwide on a $5 million budget.
Serving as Game Director on other games, such as Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory, First Battalion, Panzer Elite Action: Dunes of War, Prison Break: The Conspiracy, and Narco Terror, along with numerous concepts, such as Ghostbusters.
The company was acquired in 2013 by Mr. Joc Pececnik.
Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer
Guardiaris, Military trainers, and simulators
Working as COO for a developer of military simulations and training systems. Responsible for the successful day-to-day running of all aspects of the business. Ensuring delivery of high-quality projects for clients such as Thales, BAE Systems, and the Slovenian Ministry of Defense. Always within time, cost, and quality parameters. The company was acquired by Panna in 2013.
Selected Clients
My little solo game project (that will never be finished)
The game was inspired by the German expressions classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the works by Franz Kafka. Obviously, the Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) for such a game is about 1.
So, press play and dive head first into the weird world of Dr. Caligari. The footage is Alpha gameplay recording.
