I landed in the hottest tech city, in one of its coolest spaces to talk tech.
10 leaders. 1 week. Everyone told me the same thing.
I’m sitting in The Henry, one of THE places for doing business in Phoenix. It’s here that I took an early morning meeting. Then, jumped on Teams. And wrapped up the day over a Manhattan while answering an endless number of emails.
The Henry is part cocktail bar, part cafe, and part co-working space.
Like Phoenix itself, it’s an interesting mix of culture, community, and people who get s**t done. At scale.
When I visited earlier this year in January, everything was fresh to me. Along with some help from my pal Jay Kolbe, I managed to put together some impactful meetings at the last minute. I met with tech investors and founders, business leaders, sports technology innovators, and more. It made an impression on me that you can read here.
This time, with a bit of “history" and significantly more lead time, I navigated my return to Phoenix differently. This opened doors to meetings with top business and tech leaders across the region. During my week here, I’ve had conversations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Tucson.
They all zeroed in on the same thesis: Steve, help us tell the tech story here.
Here’s what a week in the Valley (and a day trip to Tucson) looks like.
Coffee with a person whose job it is to convince the world to come to Phoenix. A downtown conversation with the person who gets companies to build here. A Scottsdale chat with the CIO digitally transforming city government. A Tucson lunch with the team running one of the country’s most impressive innovation networks. And an immersive conversation with the office that turns university research into high growth startups.
Different people in, seemingly, different worlds. Maybe not.
Because each of them, in their way, said a similar thing.
It’s this: the work they’re doing and that’s happening in the region is extraordinary. But it needs a bigger megaphone.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested across semiconductors, bioscience, and aerospace and the people behind it all are heads down doing the work.
Nobody is exploring the “why” while telling the stories of the people making it happen.
That’s what Tech in PHX is for.
We’ll tell the human stories behind the tech rise: the people, the decisions, the why.
Many media outlets report the facts. It’s time to talk about the people.
Because the cities I see getting tech right clearly understand that tech is just part of a bigger story. There are four key pieces to it all: industry, universities, community, and culture. It’s the second two that most cities overlook or outright dismiss when building their high tech business visions.
But those are the guidelines for this platform. We’ll dig into all of it. A lot.
Why me and why now?
This is a fair question because I’m not from Phoenix and I don’t currently live here.
However, I’ve spent decades in Milwaukee doing exactly this work. Most recently through Experience Milwaukee.
What I’ve found in Phoenix is a place that’s crafting one of the most impressive economic development showcases in the world. But the stories don’t match that work.
Two cities with the same mission: get more megaphones!
What’s coming?
Interviews with civic and tech leaders shaping the region. Notes from rooms where Phoenix tech is happening, including cafes like the one I’m sitting in.
If you want to build here, invest here, work here, live here, or just want to understand the place you call home a bit better, Tech in PHX is for you.
If you’re leading the way here and you’re looking for a bigger megaphone, I got you. You can reach me at steve@techinphx.com anytime.
More soon, Phoenix!