32 advance in 2016 Venture Madness competition

It’s down from 64 to 32 startups who will advance to Round 2 in the Invest Southwest 2016 Venture Madness competition and walk away with a piece of the $100,000 prize. Of the 32 finalists, one of them will win the 2016 People’s Choice winner and take home a $5,000 prize. Vote for your favorite company … Read more

Voting opens for Venture Madness top 64 startups

Time to break out the brackets for Venture Madness 2016! This event, brought to the Valley by Invest Southwest and Arizona Commerce Authority, is where the top 64 startups go head-to-head in a pitch competition and vie for a portion of the $100,000 prize and the chance to be crowned champion. The first elimination round begins tomorrow … Read more

Galvanize expands to Phoenix Warehouse District

An urban campus where students and entrepreneurs can build their skill set in data science is expanding to Phoenix. Mayor Stanton announced today that Galvanize, the Denver-based education company, will open their 9th campus right in the heart of the Downtown Warehouse District. Co-founder Jim Deters also announced that insurance company Allstate will be working … Read more

Customer success and community– Interview with Gainsight's Anthony Kennada and Mike Manheimer

After the initial product purchase, that person on the other side of the phone line that manages your account is a member of a growing community whose mission is to maintain a positive and long-term technical and business relationship with customers and increase product adoption to help businesses succeed. These headset heroes are known as Customer Success teams that … Read more

Smart doorbell Ring, expands to Scottsdale, brings 200 jobs – interview with CEO Jamie Siminoff

Before you open the front door, whip out your smartphone and check to see who is on the other side. Santa Monica-based Ring, the smart doorbell, is bringing their operations to Scottsdale and filling about a 9,000-square-foot space with 200 jobs. Since the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show where we first saw the product as DoorBot … Read more

FreshLime for home services professionals expands to Phoenix –interview with CEO Jay Bean

When it comes to choosing marketing platforms to grow ones’ home service business, those that aren’t tech savvy may struggle and rely on businesses such as Angie’s List, Amazon or Home Advisor to do their marketing for them. As a result, the owner may lose out on building a customer base. [youtube]https://youtu.be/k65HaoiR650[/youtube]   Utah-based FreshLime, … Read more

On-demand car repair service YourMechanic expands to Phoenix – interview with CEO Art Agrawal

Instead of taking your car in for repair, managing life without transportation and paying exorbitant prices, have the mechanic make a house call. YourMechanic, an on-demand car repair service, has expanded to the Valley from San-Francisco. “We follow the demand [and] Phoenix is in the top five cities we received requests,” CEO and co-founder YourMechanic … Read more

DoorDash delivers favorite food on-demand, launches in PHX

It’s 11:00 a.m. and you are craving True Food’s kale salad, but they don’t deliver …until now. San Francisco-based DoorDash, an on-demand marketplace that offers delivery-as-a-service to restaurants has officially launched in Phoenix. According to DoorDash Director of Expansion Ryan Broderick, what interested the company in expanding to phoenix was the lively food industry. “I … Read more

The Startup Journal: finding the right team

Every business has a purpose and every founder knows the problem they are trying to solve. One common problem for founders is how to find others who possess the same mindset and share your vision. So how do you find the right people? For this Startup Journal entry, Meghan Martinez, CEO and Founder of Keasy, gives her advice on … Read more