Kelly Rodriques

Extracted Attributes

• Alma Mater

  Fresno State (Graduated 1989)

• Current Role

  CEO of Forge Global

• Former Roles

  CEO of Pensco, CEO of Totality, CEO of Novo, Operating Partner with Ignition Growth Capital

• Founding Roles

  Co-founder of Blowtorch Entertainment, Founder of Operative Capital

• Athletic Honors

  NCAA national indoor championship team captain (1986), 3-time U.S. National championship finalist in pole vaulting

Timeline

• Captained the NCAA national indoor championship track and field team at Fresno State and represented the U.S. in the World Games in Helsinki, Finland. (Source: Web Search)

  1986-01-01

• Graduated from Fresno State and began working in Silicon Valley. (Source: Web Search)

  1989-01-01

• Co-founded Blowtorch Entertainment, raising significant funding to produce and distribute movies and build social media tools. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2007-11-01

• Announced that Blowtorch Entertainment was shutting down after several of its investing hedge funds went out of business. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2009-07-30

• Received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Fresno State Department of Athletics. (Source: Web Search)

  2021-01-01

• Scheduled to speak at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2025 on a panel discussing the tension between banks and fintechs. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-09-09

Blowtorch Entertainment

Blowtorch Entertainment is a new media company that was co-founded by Kelly Rodriques and Paul Schiff (producer of My Cousin Vinny, Rushmore, and Date Movie). In November 2007, multiple Hollywood trades reported that Blowtorch Entertainment had raised significant funding to produce and distribute movies and to build a series of social media tools. Blowtorch describes itself as "a media and entertainment company that creates, enables and distributes fun, authentic and provocative content. We go where our audience goes: online, theaters, live events and mobile." According to The Economist, Blowtorch is "making video content for 18- to 24-year-old" and "it will allow audiences to influence movies via the web." In the December 27, 2007 issue of Fortune, Blowtorch was featured as one of "Six Leaps of Innovation." According to Fortune, "Schiff is in charge of producing and acquiring a stable of low-budget (under $5 million) feature-length films. Rodriques's job is to build social networks around the movies, inviting 18- to 24-year-old audiences to gather online before, after, and during the film." Blowtorch Entertainment owns the rights to the film Spin, (previously titled You Are Here) starring Bijou Phillips, and is in post-production on the feature film Tenure. Tenure is a 2008 American comedy film, written and directed by Mike Million and starring Luke Wilson, Gretchen Mol, and David Koechner. The film was produced by Paul Schiff and is being released by Blowtorch as their first original production. Blowtorch will also be handling the U.S. theatrical release of the film Young People F***ing, which was initially released in Canada on June 13, 2008 and has received favorable critical reviews. Blowtorch is setting up its own theatrical distribution network in the U.S., and the company's home-video distribution is handled by Vivendi Visual Entertainment. As of July 30, 2009, Blowtorch Entertainment was all but shut down, after several of the hedge funds that invested a total of $50 million into the venture went out of business. Blowtorch Chief Executive Kelly Rodriques notes that the company's board of directors has mostly disbanded and that its search for movie deals has ceased. Most of the venture's financing came in the form of debt from undisclosed hedge funds and 90% of this money has been returned to the investors. Moving forward, Rodriques expects to pay back the remainder of the funding with proceeds from the two properties currently in development. Blowtorch does not currently have a functioning website. However, Blowtorch is currently being revived by two young film pioneers Alec Rodriques and Chris Madera. Alec Rodriques, the son of Kelly Rodriques, has taken on the company name, and in teaming up with fellow film fanatic Chris, they hope to take visual film media to the next level.

Web Search Results

• Smart Humans: Forge Global's Kelly Rodriques

  ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ## Takeaways ‍ ‍ ‍ ## Bio Kelly Rodriques is the CEO of Forge Global, a leading global private securities marketplace. He’s accrued decades of domestic and international experience founding and successfully operating growth companies in the financial technology sector and his fintech experience spans both investing and financial services leadership. Formerly, he was the CEO of Pensco, Totality and Novo and was an Operating Partner with Ignition Growth Capital; He founded and remains managing partner of Operative Capital, an early stage financial technology investment fund. ‍ ## Full Transcript ## Level up your private markets game [...] ## Alts are being democratized right now ## Smart Humans: Forge Global's Kelly Rodriques Subscribe to Smart Humans on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. ‍ “It's no wonder that people want to invest in pre-IPO companies…if you want to get that same kind of return that you used to get in an IPO back in the early 2000s, you almost have to come into the pre-IPO space.” - Kelly Rodriques ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ## Takeaways ‍ ‍ ‍ ## Bio

• Forge Global CEO Kelly Rodriques to Speak at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2025

  Share NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forge Global Holdings, Inc. (“Forge”) (NYSE: FRGE), a leading provider of marketplace infrastructure, data services, and technology and investment solutions for the private market, today announced that CEO Kelly Rodriques will be speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2025 which takes place September 8-10, 2025 in Park City, Utah. Rodriques will be participating in an Insight Exchange or panel discussion titled “Can’t We All Get Along? The Growing Tension Between Banks and Fintechs” on September 9, 2025 at 4:05 pm MT. The event agenda and more details about the discussion, can be found on Fortune’s website. About Forge [...] SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forge Global, Inc. (“Forge”), a leading private markets platform, today announced that it has been selected as the Liquidating Trustee of the Liquidating Trust that will hold customer-linked assets following the Chapter 11 proceedings of Linqto, Inc. Pursuant to the court-approved process, Forge will assume responsibility for administering assets held on behalf of former Linqto customers through post-emergence structures established under Linqto’s plan of reorgan... Back to Newsroom Forge Global Logo ### Forge Global NYSE:FRGE Release Versions English ### Contacts Media Contact: Lindsay Riddell press@forgeglobal.com [...] SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forge Global Inc. (“Forge”), a leading private markets platform recently acquired by Charles Schwab, is proud to be honored on Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. An honoree in this year’s Finance and Personal Finance category, Forge was recognized for its ongoing efforts to build a more transparent, accessible and efficient private market ecosystem, providing qualified investors with access to some of the world’s mos... ## Forge Global Announces Stockholder Approval of Merger

• Forge - Meet Our Team

  All insightsReports and highlightsNews and trendsPrivate market educationTips and tutorials Forge Investment OutlookPrivate Market UpdatesIPO calendarPrivate Magnificent 7Emerging trendsPrivate company newsUpcoming IPOsAll guidesPrivate market basicsPrivate shares transactionsValuations, pricing and market trendsSelling in the private marketFAQsGlossaryCompany page and tradesProof of ownershipBid and ask submissionsForge fund offeringsInsights About UsLeadershipPeople & CultureCareers About Log InSign Up Log In Sign Up About / The Team # Executive leadership team Kelly Rodriques Chief Executive Officer ### Kelly Rodriques 26+ years investing in and building financial services companies; former CEO at PENSCO (acq. NASDAQ: OPB), Totality (acq. NYSE: VZ) and NOVO (acq. EPA:PUB). [...] James Nevin Chief Financial Officer ### James Nevin 25+ years of financial and capital markets experience, including most recently at the LSEG. He spent over a decade at LSEG in roles including Managing Director of the Funds, Research and Content business lines, Managing Director and Head of Data Solutions, and CFO and Managing Director of the Information Services division. Cathy Dondzila Chief Accounting Officer ### Cathy Dondzila [...] Individual InvestorsEmployee ShareholdersInstitutional InvestorsPrivate Companies Accredited InvestorsSeed & Angel InvestorsAsset Managers & Hedge FundsFamily OfficesVenture Capital FirmsWealth Managers & RIAsWho We Serve

• Kelly Rodriques - Top Dog Alumni Awards

  “He taught me a level of discipline and commitment and planning I’d never seen before. I followed his program and went from being top 50 in the nation to being top five [in pole vaulting]. He taught me I could dream huge and go bigger than I ever thought.” Rodriques was a member of the conference championship track and field team, team captain of the NCAA national indoor championship team in 1986 and a finalist in the U.S. National championship three times. Notably, he represented the U.S. in the 1986 World Games in Helsinki, Finland. He was also one of three Fresno State pole vaulters to hold the NCAA record for three decades. [...] Rodriques graduated in 1989 and went to work in the Silicon Valley. After a few years, he was able to start his own company. He has since been CEO of several companies, all of which have gone public through an IPO or sold to bigger companies such as Verizon, Opus Bank and Fidelity Information Systems. Rodriques is currently the CEO of Forge Global, a leading financial technology company with over $10 billion in transaction volume. Over the course of his career, Rodriques has made time to work in other areas outside of Silicon Valley. He went to Hollywood and produced three feature-length films, and often coaches youth athletics. [...] ## Quick Links menu Press Escape to close. Tab/Shift+Tab move between items. ## Quick Links Top Dog Alumni Awards # Kelly Rodriques, 1989 ## 2021 Outstanding Alumnus Award Department of Athletics Kelly Rodriques“Fortune favors the bold.” These are the words Kelly Rodriques has carried with him throughout his time as a champion pole vaulter at Fresno State and CEO in the Silicon Valley. Kelly Rodriques

• Kelly Rodriques - Forge

  # Kelly Rodriques Forge San Francisco Bay Area, US 500 connections, 3856 followers ## About As an experienced 4x fintech founder, operator, and now as CEO of Forge Global NYSE:… ## Experience ### Forge [Forge N/A - Present N/A ### N/A N/A N/A - Present N/A ### N/A N/A N/A - Present N/A ### N/A N/A N/A - Present N/A ## Education N/A ## Publications N/A ## Honors & Awards N/A ## Certifications N/A ## Volunteering N/A ## Languages N/A ## Organizations N/A ## Activity - I'll be in Austin this week for SXSW. One of the things SXSW does particularly well is bring together people thinking about the future from very… Shared by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image [...] - This February, I’ll be taking the ice in the 2026 Travis Roy Hockey Classic (TRHC) — part of the NHL Foundation’s Go Forward! initiative, which… Liked by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image - D-8! 🚀 72nd TGV Global Conference Celebrating our 10th Anniversary — AI Disruption & Asset Tokenization | Dec 9, 2025 (Online/Zoom) Hope everyone… Liked by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image - I'm proud to be announcing the 10th year ANNIVERSARY of our True Global Ventures conference, closing off 2025 with a bang at our 72nd Global… Liked by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image [...] - What if SpaceX and OpenAI both IPO in 2026? Recent reports suggest the two most valuable private companies, SpaceX and OpenAI, are exploring public… Liked by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image - Big news for me: I’m joining Acrew Capital as a General Partner. At OpenAI, I helped build and deploy a technology that shaped how the world thinks… Liked by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image - Arguably, all Silicon Valley-styled venture capital stemmed from my grandfather, General William Draper of Draper Gaither & Anderson. From there Bill… Liked by Kelly Rodriques View Post Activity Image