It’s time to pass the baton…
StartupAZ is seeking a new CEO to continue to execute the organization’s mission and vision.
Like any startup, StartupAZ launched with an idea. A question, really. If startup founders were better connected to each other, could they in turn build better businesses? Businesses that built great products, hired superior talent, raised the right capital (at the right time), and grew faster? Could that level of connectivity change the landscape throughout the region? Could that type of generosity — founders leaning in and learning from each other — raise the bar?
In 2015, we set out to answer these questions. Six years and 78 startups later…I think we’re on to something.
StartupAZ exists to help the region’s most innovative companies improve their leadership, performance and connections while inspiring generosity and philanthropy within their communities. We honor this mission a few different ways — mainly by convening early stage, high-potential founders through StartupAZ Collective (SC), a 12-month experience designed to engage the next generation of company builders by helping them unlock the tools and talent to grow. The experience centers on them finding their tribe — a cohort of peers at a similar stage and growth rate — as they collectively navigate the challenges of early stage growing pains. To date, 78 founders/CEOs have participated in SC and every year we recruit a new batch (learn more). The KPIs we track tell the performance side of the story.
The 30 currently active Founders/CEOs in SC represent:
$201.5M in capital raised ($110M in 2021 alone)
$984M in combined company value
984 jobs
$110M+ projected revenue for 2021
Meanwhile, founders like Gregg Scoresby (CampusLogic), Lawdan & Hamid Shojaee (Axosoft/PureChat), Brad Jannenga (Chassi/WebPT), Chris Ronzio (Trainual), Mike Kovarik (Attribytes), Danny Loschiavo (BoldLeads), Jamie Baxter (Qwick), Colin Turner (Postscript), Sarah Bevier (SLP Toolkit), Jacob Findlay (Fullbay), Ken & Ron Robertson (Picmonic) along with others have taken the Generosity Pledge and begun to pay it forward by investing in this work while also giving generously of their time.
And we’re just getting started.
StartupAZ is about engaging the funnel — the funnel of resources that exists to help entrepreneurs who set out to solve big, meaningful, commercially-viable problems. At the top of the funnel is where every entrepreneur starts. It’s the events, spaces, tools and humans that help turn an idea into a business. Every community provides just enough resources to start. Launching with a product and finding revenue? That’s the startup gauntlet and it’s hard. It has to be. Incubators and accelerators can provide the playbook but this is the survival-of-the-fittest stage. Success finds those who out-prepare by delivering a product customers love with a mindset of finding product market fit as fast as possible. Growth becomes an exercise in leadership and self-awareness. It’s where founders recruit talent and build teams, implement and refine strategic plans, optimize sales strategies and build market share. It’s where execution matters. It’s the only thing that matters. This is the area of the funnel in which StartupAZ focuses and it’s all we’ll ever focus on. Whatever it takes to help founders grow…and give back. Performance driving generosity, driving performance. That’s the flywheel and it’s the single most important thing we do as an organization. Inspiring successful founders to pay it forward as mentors, angel investors, and philanthropists drives our charitable purpose.
It’s time to bring in the next leader to drive StartupAZ’s mission and vision forward. To focus on the core and to continue to build new collaborations and initiatives that help founders build ecosystem-defining businesses. Our next leader will embody the traits of a community builder, the experience of a business builder and a bias for action that knows how to GSD and work collaboratively across citywide, statewide, nationwide, and global ecosystems.
What’s next for me? New challenges and opportunities await but I will remain an active board member, guide, and champion of this work. Professionally, I will be narrowing my focus on what inspires and improves the lives and learning experiences of today’s youth. The future founders, company builders, community leaders, creators, and problem solvers. It’s where I intend to spend the next, and presumably final, chapter of my career.
For now, I want to celebrate six inspiring years building this organization alongside my role model, friend and StartupAZ co-founder, Mario Martinez; my steady guide and indispensable board chair, Tom Curzon; my confidant and mentor, Ji Mi Choi; our founding board members, Jacky Alling, Sarah Strunk, and Brad Jannenga, along with our current board of directors; Gregg Scoresby, Hamid Shojaee, Brenda Schmidt, and Jim Prendergast — all successful founders and inspirational leaders that embody StartupAZ’s mission. This has been a team effort and not possible without StartupAZ’s small but mighty team, including Christie Kerner, Diana Vowels, Jennifer Wong, and Dorian Gonzalez. And finally, the story is far from complete without expressing my enduring admiration for StartupAZ’s growing community of company builders that inspire me every single day. Good times ahead!
Learn more about the CEO role here.
Onward!
~Brandon
