Interview with Oleg Korolov - CAMentrepreneurs Digital Lead Webmaster

Richard Lucas - CAMentrepreneurs Founder

Oct 06, 2024

This newsletter is one of a series of interviews with important figures in our pro- entrepreneurship eco-system.

Richard: Please introduce yourself, post links to places you can be found online.

My name is Oleg and I work in UX/ Marketing, as part of a data-driven research organisation, focussing on the adoption of electric vehicles in the UK. I am also involved with various groups of entrepreneurs and freelance creatives - one such group being CAMentrepreneurs. Having studied architecture in university, what really fascinates me is solving design problems in a way that puts the user front and centre - be it creating a portal for data tools as part of my full time job, or helping to grow the CAMentrepreneurs community by unifying it around a single coherent brand.

My linkedin can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/o-korolov/
The company I work for: newautomotive.org
My portfolio: korolov.co.uk
Obligatory shoutout to CAMentrepeneurs: camentrepreneurs.com

Please describe the role you have in CAMentrepreneurs, and why you decided to get involved.

Initially, I found CAMentrepreneurs through Linkedin, as I was interested in freelance and entrepreneurship, and wanted to meet some likeminded people. I also wanted to improve my then-nonexistent networking skills. This led to me attending several events, liking what I saw and the potential that the community had, and at some point I decided to get more involved after an announcement from Richard, looking for someone to overhaul the website.

Initially I joined the core team in order to consolidate and refresh the organisations branding and online positioning, so that the website could become a useful part of the CAMentrepeneurs ecosystem - and so that the website would become a lot more lightweight and futureproof for any future volunteers to get onboard. In practice, the project meant talking to chapter leads and running workshops in order to create an understanding of the brand, and its future goals - before jumping into the design aspect of the website from the ground up. If full stack UX design is a thing - this is it.

Now that we have the website, the goals have shifted, and we are looking at the community aspects of the brand, and its ongoing growth. CAMentrepreneurs is fairly unique in the fact that it uses a TEDx franchise model, so that anyone willing to do the work can start their own chapter and use communal resources to promote it (the website is key to this). One of the things that we are now figuring out is how to allow for flexibility of individuals to run their chapters as they see fit, whilst maintaining the uniform branding and toolset we provide. In a sense, the role has shifted from design to digital community building - but I do find it very exciting.

Richard: What is your “sweet spot” of the sort of people and companies you like to do business with ?

At the moment, I really enjoy working with smaller startups and teams - as they give me the flexibility to explore interesting ideas outside the normal scope of the job description. I think that even larger and more mature companies can really benefit from the small team dynamic as sometimes the best ideas can be hampered by hierarchies and admin overhead. My current job at New AutoMotive really benefits from that, as we have around 10 full timers so I know who is working on what, and there is plenty of leeway to be agile and explore opportunities within the business. My current role is actually somewhat different from the role I joined for, but I enjoy the change and the opportunity to develop my professional skills and interests as the companies needs change. The role with CAMentrepeneurs again benefits from that dynamic - and I find that very valuable and exciting.

Having said that, I am open to working with a wide range of people and groups - as long as I can personally get behind their idea, product, or team. I am fairly lucky in the sense that I can work with groups and companies that I am genuinely passionate about, and whos goals I personally believe in - but I also believe that being excited about your work is critical to long term results.

Richard: Where might you be in 5-10 years from now if things go the way you want them to ?

Whether as an employee or as a freelancer/ founder etc - I want to be in a position where I can lead a team of people and facilitate the great team dynamics and results I have come to see during the last few years of my career. I have seen some truly great leadership and I believe that it should be seen as obligatory, rather than the exceptional that it is. In terms of the projects that I would want to work on - it is hard to predict which sector would be next, however I want to make positive change - whether working in climate tech (New AutoMotive) or community building (CAMentrepreneurs).

Richard Anything I didn’t ask you would like to share

Yes, I am currently going through redundancy - so I am looking for a job, ideally within climate tech or adjacent industries. I have 4 years of experience with design and marketing, with experience in leading the end-to-end design process, collaborating with dev and research teams, and delivering engaging, user-friendly interfaces. I was also in charge of several advertising accounts, and marketing strategy. You can find my work portfolio and get in touch here

Alternatively, if you have a project in mind then I am always happy to talk.

Richard: How can people get in touch with you if they want to ask more questions or want to help?

Linkedin is the easiest way to get in touch with me and I tend to be fairly responsive. I am happy to talk about the topics I have discussed above, or to answer any questions - so come say hi! ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/o-korolov/) Alternatively, go to

https://korolov.co.uk for my portfolio!

Richard

Many thanks not just for the interview and your support of CAMentrepreneurs, but also your work on my website.

Events in October

CAMentrepreneurs Oxford Autumn Gathering

Monday 14th October @ 18:00 with Special Guest Elliott Cooper, Global Professional Stunt Performer, Professional Gymnast, Former Captain of England, 2022 ITF Taekwondo World Champion and founder of 3 start-ups will be asking the question "Are you boring enough to be World Class?" Tickets here

CAMentrepreneurs with London Business School Sparkx

Wed October 23rd 6:30 - 9:00 PM Connect with passionate peers and future founders from LBS and CAMentrepreneurs. Engage in dynamic discussions and gain insights into innovative entrepreneurial ventures. Open doors to potential collaborations as co-founders or team members.