A small, senior firm built around one operator.

Mikolay Ventures is led by Vincent Mikolay. That means when you engage the firm, you get him — in the room, on the calls, looking at the numbers.

Two decades of work across three worlds that rarely meet: senior roles inside multinational operating companies, leadership in government and international trade, and investment and venture platforms. The through line is the same — organizations under real pressure, stakes that matter, and a table that needs someone who can hold strategy, capital, and people in the same conversation.

I spend my time with boards, owners, and CEOs when something important is on the line: performance that has slipped, a transition that has to go well, a decision no one around the table wants to make alone. The work is part advisor, part operator. Mostly it’s about being useful to the person carrying the problem.

Engagements are global. I’ve led international trade and diplomacy for a U.S. state, worked inside Fortune 100 operating companies with customers and supply chains on every continent, and built early-stage ventures in North America and abroad. Cross-border complexity — different legal systems, different incentives, different definitions of “good” — is part of the job, not a surprise. I keep the client list short on purpose: a handful of engagements at a time, chosen carefully, run personally.