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Serial entrepreneur Dmitry Koltunov shares his journey from Soviet refugee to tech founder, exploring how embracing both his technical and creative identities fueled his success building multiple companies and a Broadway musical.

• Coming to America as a refugee at age 9 shaped Dmitry’s unique relationship with risk-taking
• How limiting beliefs about "what a founder looks like" almost kept him from pursuing entrepreneurship
• The powerful revelation that self-doubt persists even for highly accomplished people
• Why creatives often hide their artistic pursuits in corporate settings despite their transferable skills
• Reframing your creative and professional pursuits as "batteries" that charge each other
• Understanding the connection between artistic creation and entrepreneurship — both start with blank pages
• Building an authentic community as an underappreciated advantage in business and personal growth

More on Dmitry:

Dmitry Koltunov is a serial entrepreneur, technologist, and storyteller based in New York City. He’s the founder and CEO of Arbor, an AI-powered platform that helps communications teams quickly turn long videos into compelling content (video clips, social posts, emails, and articles)—without losing the human touch. Previously, he was the co-founder and CTO of ALICE, a hospitality tech company that grew into a global brand and was eventually acquired by Expedia. Dmitry is also a community builder in the startup world, leading the NYC chapter of the Startup Leadership Program and mentoring first-time founders. A lifelong creative, he’s also a musical theater writer currently developing a new show for Broadway. He holds degrees in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA charterholder.

Follow : linkedin.com/in/dmitry-koltunov

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