Cory Munchbach '09 has valuable advice for Boston College students.
Cory Munchbach ’09 on the Value of Always Growing
Cory Munchbach, Carroll School of Management ’09, was employee 17 at BlueConic, a customer-data platform designed for a privacy-first era. Eight years later she is the chief executive officer. While her career path has not always been straight, in retrospect it forms a beautiful mosaic.
Cory had been working as an analyst at Forester Research, covering the marketing technology space. She wanted a change—and specifically something that would “let her get her hands dirty.” Armed with Series C funding, the BlueConic founders were seeking an industry expert to bolster their team. “My knowledge matched their need, and their opportunity matched my desire for a chance to learn a lot. It was a great fit,” explains Cory.
Her first official title was director of product marketing and her first task was to decide which category of marketing technology fit BlueConic best, then craft the value proposition and bring their product to market. “Even when it is a tiny, one-person job, product marketing is such a broad function,” Cory says. That horizontal perspective, one that considers how all the pieces fit together, has characterized every role she has held since.
Always be growing
In a world where it is typical to change jobs every few years, being with one company for nearly a decade seems almost sedentary. For Cory, it has been anything but. Asked to describe her path at BlueConic, Cory laughs. “I’m a bit of an outlier. My professional goals are less milestones and more around personal growth. Is it hard? Is it a little uncomfortable? Am I learning something new? If the answers are ‘yes,’ then I could stay in any context indefinitely.
“There have been times when I was ready to do something a bit different, and I wasn’t sure the company would have the appetite to keep me on,” she continues. “I have been very, very fortunate that our founder has been steadily supportive, even when that meant carving out a new role, because he was confident that I could be valuable to the company.”
Cory sees that hunger to continually learn as critical to her job as CEO. “It’s important for me to really understand what every function is doing. For instance, no one wants me coding our platform, but I need to be able to ask the right questions. If I can’t, then I have homework to do.”
On being an entrepreneur
“I have undying respect for founders—people who can take risks and have that kind of courage and optimism. As CEO, I get to ride on their coattails and help make their dreams come true.” However, she is clear that founders aren’t the only entrepreneurs.
“It’s important to recognize that there is more to entrepreneurship than being a founder,” Cory explains. It’s an attitude that she calls the “owner mentality.” “When you feel ownership, you behave differently than when your relationship is merely transactional. Even though I am not a founder, I own the outcomes.”
She counsels people who are interested in this path to have patience—and to be self-aware. “Do some soul-searching. Figure out what your superpowers are, what your weaknesses are—and what context you are working in. Then navigate that situation.” As she notes, “You can do different things as CEO than you can your first year out of college.”
That is doubly true if you are a woman. Cory continues, “In a moment when there has been so much progress around more equitable workplaces, it is still harder to be a woman entrepreneur.”
“I was the only woman on the executive team for a long time; there is a huge privilege in that. I am super-comfortable being the only woman in the room—and it is my responsibility to carve out space for people who are not as comfortable being the only one. I challenge my peers to do the same. Don’t close the door behind you; keep it wide open.”
Having faith in the process
Cory graduated from BC in 2009, into the first year of that recession, so she understands the stress of an uncertain future. “It was awful,” she recalls. Looking back, she also thinks the anxiety was unnecessary. To current undergraduates she advises optimism, “You are at an amazing university. You are obviously talented and capable, and there are a lot of tools at your disposal. You have already made excellent choices. Now, give yourself a break. Have some fun. And trust the process.”