Brandon Clarke said startups have been a part of his life since 2008, when he launched his first company, DrivenMedia. That opening into the entrepreneurial world, combined with his Phoenix roots, drove him to give back to the city and its startup community in a more meaningful way by co-founding StartupAZ Foundation.
“There were some assets and resources that weren't being accessed quickly enough," Clarke said, so he and other local entrepreneurs put their heads together to form a network.
StartupAZ was born in 2015 to empower a new generation of Arizona entrepreneurs. The nonprofit was created with a $100,000 grant and has grown to a $400,000 operating budget every year, Clarke said. Clarke is the only full-time employee, and he has three part-time workers.
The nonprofit provides a support system for entrepreneurs and connects them to resources. Alongside its board of directors, StartupAZ has corporate support from several groups such as APS, Arizona Community Foundation,PHX Venture Partners LLC and Partnership for Economic Innovation
"Now we're the fifth [largest city in the U.S.], it felt there were some assets and resources that weren't being accessed quickly enough by our founders and our founder community," Clarke said. "And we just felt that a concerted effort to help startups grow faster and, in turn, have a lasting impact on the resiliency of the Phoenix economy, which would be good use of everybody's time."
How big is StartupAZ’s network? We have 16 co-founding CEOs of early stage startups, generally, tech or tech-enabled businesses. So maybe they're doing about $500,000 to $2 million in revenue. That's a fairly specific zone that we look for companies we recruit.Our primary initiative we've started is called StartupAZ collective, a cohort-based experience where founders of companies that fit that profile make a 12-month commitment to each other and effectively to the program where they have access to not only the resources of each other, but also higher level resources we as an organization plug them into based on some of the challenges and some of the friction points they're running into.
Typically our cohorts are 10 to 12 members and we'll run anywhere from two to three cohorts each year. We do a big summer retreat that kicks the experience off. And then after the retreat, these cohorts come back together once a month for what we call accountability check ins.
How do you think the pandemic has and will impact people interested in starting their own businesses? One of the implications of the pandemic is an economic downturn we've been experiencing, maybe less so than some other regions, some other cities. But anytime you see an economic downturn, you will see an emergence of entrepreneurship. People lose their jobs. They feel somewhat helpless and are trying to find something to replace that income. And so they'll often kind of seek out entrepreneurial endeavors. Any city should be really good at supporting the creation of small businesses at the end of the day, small businesses will and always will remain kind of the lifeblood of any local economy.
What one piece of advice do you have for local startups right now? I think advice to any entrepreneur is to have self-reflection and self-awareness and have a strong sense of self in your capabilities and your skill level. I think oftentimes entrepreneurship gets presented as a very solo endeavor. There's obviously some great solo entrepreneurs and they typically provide a particular service in their entire businesses around keeping their core customers or clients happy. I think once you declare that you're going to go solve a big problem the self awareness and self reflection around what your skill level is to not only take on that problem, but also to recruit the people around you to go solve that problem with you.
A lot of that comes down to... am I the best person to go solve this problem? Do I have the skillset and the capabilities building that? From a pure advice standpoint, it's just really being reflective in what your capabilities are and what your ability is to attract people to that mission. Also just aiming incredibly high, being willing to take big risks. Cause obviously only with big risks come big rewards and then also being incredibly comfortable with fear of failure. I think oftentimes if we've emerged into this world where failing fast is important and has become a little bit cliche, but the exercise and failing fast is actually helping you get better with the process of it.
Brandon Clarke
Title: Co-Founder/CEO
Company: StartupAZ Foundation
Age: 45
First job: Paperboy
Why do you get up in the morning and do what you do? Problem solving and optimism. I’ve spent the last half-decade trying to remove friction for more startups to grow faster and change lives. It’s a daily pursuit with glimpses of progress.
How do you celebrate life? Being with my family, and coaching my two youngest kids in competitive soccer.
Your 'aha' moment (business or personal): Realizing you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with.
