Check Out All PHX Founders Podcast Episodes

In this episode of the PHX FWD Founder Podcast, Gregg Scoresby sits down with Jeff to talk about the lessons he learned building companies, starting from a working class upbringing in Chicago. Jeff shares how early experiences like mowing lawns, shoveling snow, and knocking on doors shaped his mindset as a founder. Those early hustles taught him persistence, independence, and the importance of creating opportunity instead of waiting for it. The conversation also explores Jeff’s journey into tech...

In this episode of the PHX FWD Founder Podcast, Gregg Scoresby sits down with Jacob Carter, founder of Nurture Boss, to talk about building one of the leading AI platforms in the multifamily housing industry. Nurture Boss is an AI powered leasing assistant that helps apartment operators manage the entire renter journey from the first inquiry through lease renewal. By automating communication, scheduling, and follow-ups, the platform allows property managers to respond instantly and operate more ...

In this episode of the PHX FWD Founder Podcast, Gregg Scoresby sits down with Naru, founder of STAX AI, to discuss the real journey to product-market fit. STAX AI didn’t originally start in the retirement industry. The company began as a broader AI document processing platform designed to serve multiple industries. But having too many potential customers turned out to be a major problem. Everything changed when the team made a difficult decision: focus on a single niche market and walk away from...

What does it take to refound a company and rebuild its culture? In this episode of the PHX FWD Founder Podcast, Gregg Scoresby sits down with Josh Turley, CEO of RTA Fleet, to talk about leadership, culture, and transforming a legacy company. Josh shares the story of how RTA evolved into what they now call The Fleet Success Company, along with lessons about trust, values, and building teams aligned around a clear mission. They also discuss the realities of leading a company through diffi...

In this episode of the PHX Founder Podcast, Gregg Scoresby sits down with Reid Hiatt founder of Tactic , to talk about what it takes to build and scale a startup. Reid shares the story behind Tactic and how the company helps organizations manage hybrid work, office space, and team coordination in a modern workplace. The conversation explores the realities of startup growth, navigating enterprise sales, and the lessons learned while building a company from the ground up. If you're a founder, oper...

In this episode of the Phoenix Founders Podcast , we sit down with Trevor Larson , Co-Founder and CEO of Nectar , to explore how employee recognition fuels engagement and retention in companies of all sizes. From humble entrepreneurial beginnings to leading one of the fastest-growing HR tech platforms, Trevor shares his insights on building a scalable business, navigating pivots, and recruiting top talent. Trevor walks us through his early side hustles, from painting citrus trees to eBay arbitra...

In this episode of the Phoenix Founders Podcast , we sit down with Anita Grantham, Head of HR at BambooHR, to explore the critical role of culture in high-growth companies. With a career dedicated to building and sustaining company culture, Anita shares invaluable insights into how businesses can scale while maintaining their mission, values, and people-first mindset. Anita takes us through her unexpected journey into HR, from planning corporate events and working on a cruise ship to becoming a ...

In this episode of the Phoenix Founders Podcast, we sat down with Cayden Phipps and Kieran O’Brien, co-founders of ShopGenie, to discuss their journey of building an innovative SaaS company in the auto repair industry. ShopGenie is an all-in-one CRM platform that streamlines operations for independent auto repair shops through automated text reminders, online scheduling, digital marketing services, and more. Cayden and Kieran share their entrepreneurial backgrounds, from flipping sneakers and st...

In this episode of the Phoenix Founders Podcast, we sat down with Kentaro Kawamori, CEO of Persefoni to discuss his entrepreneurial journey and the impressive development of his company. Persefoni is an enterprise SaaS company focused on climate management and accounting, helping companies calculate and manage their carbon footprints. Kentaro shares his background, including his experience as CIO at Chesapeake Energy, where he discovered the need for better carbon accounting solutions. He discus...

Before Phoenix became one of the fastest growing tech markets in the country, we had a handful of visionary, ambitious founders building software companies. One of them is Clate Mask. He co-founded Infustionsoft, now Keap, at a time when no one was paying attention to the needs of small businesses, much less championing them. Keap is now one of the most prominent software companies in the Valley, serves thousands of customers all over the world, and Clate is one of the most experienced founders in our ecosystem. The best thing about Clate is his love for helping other founders. He freely shares advice, mentorship, and encouragement with everyone brave enough to start a software company. He's seen it all, and experienced every founder challenge (a few times over). He's even written a book about it, which he's recently updated and re-released. Gregg sat down with Clate to talk about his journey, and hear about his evolution to the kind of leader he is today.

When Rachel started working on a solution to the headache that is patient payments in healthcare, she knew she had a tall mountain to climb. And climbing is always easier when you have a partner on the adventure, which is why she sought out a co-founder for the journey. It wasn't long until she met Elizabeth, and the two of them make a great team. Together, they're taking on one of the biggest problems in healthcare.In this interview, Gregg uncovers how this dynamic duo met, how they're overcoming all the startup challenges with humor and grace, and how they've built a company that's scaling FAST.Listen to more episodes, watch video interviews, and subscribe at phxfounders.com.

Few things can prepare someone for being a founder. But poker might be one of the exceptions. In this interview with Bryce Deeney, founder and CEO of Equipifi, Gregg learned that paying millions of hands (yes, millions) is a great way to learn how to safely take risks and weigh odds. And learned about Bryce's humble beginnings that ignited his entrepreneurial spirit.This interview is full of insights on when to go fast, when to overthink before making a move, and when to fold your hand.

When we think about the worst epidemics in this country, “loneliness” doesn’t usually top the list. But it should. 44 million Americans struggle with loneliness. And not just older Americans. For the first time in history, it's highest among young adults. Loneliness is a condition we all need to take seriously. And we need founders like Cindy Jordan, who have made it their life’s purpose to address this epidemic head on.Cindy's tackling a problem that impacts all of us, because we all know someone who suffers from loneliness. This interview touches on mental health, so if you’re struggling, please take care while listening. And if you're interested in receiving help, we’ve put information on Pyx Health in the show notes.

Anthony Kennada tells us his story of learning how to be resilient. He got bit by the startup bug early in his career, working for some of the fastest growing tech companies in Silicon Valley. Then decided that Phoenix was the best place to start his company, AudiencePlus. In this interview, we learn about what shaped Anthony into the founder he is today, what keeps him motivated, and why he has unprecedented ambition. Listen to more episodes, watch video interviews, and subscribe at phxfounders...

We kick off Season 2 of the PHX Founders Podcast with one of the most successful founders in Arizona, Matthew Pitinsky, CEO of Parchment.

In our final episode from S1 of the PHX Founders Podcast, we continue our conversation with Chris Ronzio, founder and CEO of Trainual, and we're also joined by his co-founder, CMO, and brother, Johnathan Ronzio. This episode is a testament to what it means to be a scrappy startup. When money is tight, creativity needs to flow. The humble beginning is when founders need to say "go for it" more times than they think possible. Of all the ideas you test, one or two might work. Especially if they include Mr. Wonderful.

Our conversation with Chris veered into some interesting places. From starting any business he could imagine as a kid, to learning to live with Type 1 Diabetes, to distance running in Antarctica. In Part 2 of our conversation, Chris continues to lay bare the gritty details of Trainual's early days. Every founder will appreciate his vulnerability and humor.

It’s hard to be around Chris Ronzio, founder and CEO of Trainual, and not feel energized. He brings that excited, passionate energy everywhere he goes, and it’s infections. He’s also a workhorse, who never stops trying and learning. Which is why it’s not surprising that Trainual has become one of the fastest growing software companies in Phoenix. Everything about Trainual reflects Chris’s energy, tenacity, and creativity. In our conversation with Chris, we learned where that entrepreneurial spirit started, and how he became a successful founder by becoming great at bringing order or chaos.

Scarlett Spring is building a software company in a sector of healthcare that is notoriously underfunded and difficult to navigate. Or is it? Scarlett might know something about the future of personalized care and doesn’t mind the headwinds. She has enough belief in what her company is building to keep proving validity. She has enough experience know how to get through the roadblocks. And she has enough humility to keep learning.

When you’re a seasoned healthcare executive, biotech founder, and prominent board member, starting a software company should feel easy, right? When you’re Scarlett Spring, founder and CEO of Taproot, it feels like any other new thing. Which is why she went back to the basics to learn. In our interview with Scarlett, we got a lesson in humility, and a reminder that no matter when you start a company, or how much experience you have, it’s always hard. We also heard her advice on how to make the hard stuff easier. This episode is for every founder who struggles. So…. Every founder.

In the first part of our conversation, we learned that Nirit faces the same challenges as every other software founder. Raising capital is hard, building a customer base is hard, building a team and culture is hard. But Nirit has a trick to keeping her company steady and her eye on the prize…. her obsession with metrics.

Nirit Rubenstein feels a deep responsibility to take care of others, but don’t think for a moment that means she’s a pushover. From training pilots in the Israeli Armed Forces, to building a new kind of credit improvement company that values people over corporations, she is relentless. Nirit is highly focused, obsessed with metrics, and deeply committed to improving the lives of others. In part 1 of our interview with her, we find out why.

In this episode we learn more about how he got on a path to both engineering and entrepreneurship. Both start when he was a kid in a foreign country. He didn’t know the language, or the culture. But he had curious brothers, his dad’s TI calculator, and a desire to make friends.

Enoch Ko is a founder who has a solid handle on process, iteration, and relentless learning. He’s also incredibly tenacious, a skill he developed as child when he immigrated not once, but twice. We’re going to hear how Enoch sparked his entrepreneurial spirit and learned how to connect with people in unconventional ways, starting with a T1 calculator.