Weekend reads: entrepreneurial success, trimming messages, conquering procrastination

Local entrepreneur Pat Sullivan has just released a free ebook titled “10 Keys to Entrepreneurial Success from a Two-time Entrepreneur of the Year.” The 10-chapter book showcases personal anecdotes and tips and tricks for an individual to become a successful entrepreneur. Get it free here. With endless knowledge and skills in his field, Sullivan has co-founded several companies including … Read more

Grayhawk Capital closes $70M Venture Fund II

Grayhawk, a southwest venture capital firm, announced the closing of its $70M Venture Fund II. Out of that fund, they have made four investments to date, all software related, and two out of four were from Arizona: Contatta $1.4M Series Seed Preferred and appsFreedom $2M Series A. Out of state investments include: Alianza (Utah) $2.5M … Read more

Pinnacle Transplant wins Venture Madness, $30K

Pinnacle Transplant Technologies, a Phoenix-based biotech company, and client company at the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI), was named the Venture Madness champion and took home the grand prize of $30K. The competition began with 64 startups and drilled down to one winner. “It’s been a fun experience,” said Gabriel Hyams, Pinnacle Transplant CEO. “This opens my eyes … Read more

Top 4 startups battle for $50K at Venture Madness

Eight startups pitched their ideas this morning at Venture Madness, only four will will move on to the final rounds this afternoon. The advancing companies are Contatta, Pinnacle Transplant Tech, ReplyBuy and Clear Demand. The final four in the Venture Madness competition will compete for a portion of that $50,000 prize this afternoon at Talking … Read more

Only 8 startups left in Venture Madness

After head-to-head live pitches Thursday morning, the eight companies that moved to the next round of Venture Madness, were announced Thursday afternoon at the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training game. Venture Madness is a competition presented by Invest Southwest and the Arizona Commerce Authority that started with 64 startups pitching their ideas against each other. After … Read more

Final 16 startups to battle it out at Venture Madness

Venture Madness, presented by Invest Southwest in partnership with the Arizona Commerce Authority, introduces the final 16 competing startups that will pitch live for a chunk of the $50,000 prize. Additionally, Venture Madness announces today that Geoffrey Moore; a best-selling author, Venture Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Chairman Emeritus, TCG Advisors, The Chasm Institute and The Chasm … Read more

32 startups advance to round 2 in Venture Madness

Venture Madness, presented by Invest Southwest, in partnership with Arizona Commerce Authority announced the next round of 32 startups, from the original 64, to advance to round two in the head-to-head competition. Round two is critical as the public vote will directly help their favorite startup advance to the live pitch portion of Venture Madness … Read more

64 startups to battle it out for $50K at Venture Madness

Venture Madness, presented by Invest Southwest in partnership with Arizona Commerce Authority, announced it’s 64 startups from around the southwest who will compete head-to-head for a portion of the $50,000 prize. How Venture Madness works: Think of it as the “Battle of the Brackets” where startups duel it out bracket-style for the top slot. After … Read more

Slide(show me the money) – Capital raises in 2013

2013 proved to be an excellent year for the tech community and raising capital is always exciting news for the ecosystem! AZTB brings you a slideshow to display some of the capital raised by tech companies all over Arizona. Read more: appsFreedom, Contatta, nGage Labs, Integrate, HiringSolved, ClearDATA, Mobivity, Infusionsoft, AudioEye, Post.Bid.Ship. If your company raises capital, make … Read more

What made Free Lunch Friday 2013 awesome – slideshow

One of the first events we launched in 2013 was our Free Lunch Friday series. Founder Danny Beckett Jr. wanted to put together a national movement that not only celebrated entrepreneurs and their hunger for growing a business, but to bring them together to network, learn, collaborate and even make friends. On March 29, 2013 … Read more