Don't try to be something you're not – Phoenix Startup Week Day 4

Co-written with Jesse Millard and photo contributions from Thomas Hawthorne Today the Phoenix Startup Week speaker theme was about knowing who you are, understanding your competencies and don’t try to turn your company into something it’s not, including the next Google. TK Kuegler of Wasabi Ventures kicked off the day at GoDaddy and gave startups advice on … Read more

Wasabi Ventures to open Phoenix offices in 2015

Video contribution by Jesse Millard and photo contribution by Thomas Hawthorne Wasabi Ventures, a bi-coastal venture capital firm and incubator for early stage startups, plan to open offices by the end of 2015 where they intend to fund and found 20 startups within two years, said TK Kuegler, founder and partner at Wasabi Ventures. Kuegler … Read more

Overcoming obstacles to achieve your dream – Phoenix Startup Week Day 3

Photo contribution by Thomas Hawthorne Whether it be raising capital, building your product, attracting customers or balancing work and life, there will be obstacles at every turn. Phoenix Startup Week filled the Tempe Center for the Arts with speakers who shared their motivational stories about overcoming obstacles to achieve their dream and offered advice on how … Read more

Why it's important to connect with the right customer – PHX Startup Week

Photo contribution by Thomas Hawthorne Newsletters, ads, social media, online…the list goes on about all the different ways to reach customers – and it’s not as easy as it looks. Darren Wilson, co-founder of Blind Society, presented at Phoenix Startup Week about owning the power of connection and doing it well. Too many companies try to … Read more

Building a startup nest – Phoenix Startup Week Day 2

It’s day two of Phoenix Startup Week and Scottsdale Director of Scottsdale Economic Development Danielle Casey kicked off the day’s events at the DeskHub theater in downtown Scottsdale. The City of Scottsdale is an entrepreneur’s dream, Casey said. Scottsdale is supporting startups and entrepreneurs so they can grow and find top talent through city led … Read more

Space travel to startups, 3D printing without limits – PHX Startup Week

Photo contribution Thomas Hawthorne While the majority of us won’t become astronauts, we can certainly learn to 3D print like one. In December 2014, NASA emailed a design file of a ratchet wrench to the International Space Station where the astronauts 3D printed the first tool in space. Back here on Earth, if you want to … Read more

Entrepreneurship re-energized, Phoenix Startup Week begins today

Photo contribution Thomas Hawthorne Entrepreneurs, investors, government officials and startups filled the room at 111 W. Monroe for the kickoff of the inaugural Phoenix Startup Week. The event is a five-day extravaganza consisting of 130 events spread throughout the Valley with a multitude of speakers, workshops, mentoring and more on entrepreneurial topics such as raising capital, … Read more

Bellabeat: health gadgets designed by women for women

At CES 2015 we came across a women-centric tech gadget company that is certainly ahead of the competition for design with their latest innovations. Bellabeat, a company that creates health and fitness-conscious products made by women, for women, unveiled three new products that promote a happy and healthy woman, even during a 10-month pregnancy. Leaf … Read more

Seed Spot launches nine new startup ventures

From the top of a rooftop overlooking downtown Phoenix, Seed Spot announced the nine new startup ventures who have been inducted into Spring 2015’s incubator program. To kick it off, Seed Spot CEO and co-founder Courtney Klein spoke briefly about her incubator, which has seen an 88 percent success rate of startups who have been … Read more