Lucy Coulden

Joined as an advisor to shape partnerships & growth strategy, stress test the commercial model & support early partner conversations.

As COO, run day to day operations across partnerships, fundraising & growth. Built cadence, reporting, investor materials; manage 50+ investor pipeline. Secured 2 anchor partners; launched Miami activations; built workflows to repurpose 30,000 dormant contacts.

Built a global contributor programme from zero: operating model, roles, cadence, onboarding, helpdesk and escalation pathways. Took programme from concept to launch and scale, onboarding 200+ ambassadors and building a 100+ waitlist.

Led investor relations and senior stakeholder engagement across a complex ecosystem. Built narrative and briefing materials, convened founders and stakeholders, and maintained alignment and delivery discipline during volatile periods.

Built and ran CEO office cadence through major organisational change: agendas, decision tracking, briefing flow, and follow through. Acted as CEO proxy for investors and senior stakeholders. Led Polkadot Circle initiative and delivered flagship convenings; built executive support team and supported leadership transitions.

Ran executive operations for four C suite leaders across Marketing, Finance, Legal, and People. Built and maintained investor data room for fundraising. Led hybrid work strategy research across 250+ staff and supported rollout with clear recommendations and operating cadence.

Supported Founder CEO as a high trust operator: briefing, stakeholder coordination, and operational follow through. Delivered internal and external events end to end and managed sensitive communications and logistics across global schedules.

Supported Managing Director, Europe and the London team with executive operations, briefing, and priority follow through. Coordinated reporting and stakeholder flow for 22 Bishopsgate during build phase. Managed office operations, suppliers, and onboarding documentation.

Supported deal team (team of 8) including MD and Principal. Coordinated investment committee materials and sensitive documentation. Delivered client events and offsites, including a 120 person event with £100k budget. Supported a £3.8m office refurbishment and acted as liaison across finance, ops, and leadership.

Supported HR Director and senior investment stakeholders. Managed recruitment coordination from support to Partner level, including MBA recruitment events and firm wide conferences. Collated performance reviews and compensation documentation with high discretion and tight deadlines.

Grade: 2:1

Completed a 2:1 BA (Hons) in History at Queen Mary University of London.

Completed the Google AI Professional Certificate (professional development).