Tapping Into an At-Home Workforce

Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com

10 TAPPING INTO AN AT-HOME WORKFORCE 22 PEEK 32 TECH RIDGE 44 CORNERSTONE TECHNOLOGIES STARTING A NEW LIVE, WORK, PLAY—IN A TECH-FUELED EVENT PRODUCTION COMPANY JOURNEY IN UTAH ST. GEORGE

Silicon Slopes Features

Photo by Christopher Ferguson

Peek: Discovering Tech Ridge: The Build- Cornerstone the Slopes ing of a Community Technologies

Why the travel activities Visionaries in St. George How this local company platform expanded into are creating a new hub for became a tech-fueled, 22 Silicon Slopes in order 33 business and technology— 44 industry-leading event to grow its business. set within a landscape that production provider. By Chris Rawle offers unparalleled quality By Chris Rawle of life. By Chris Rawle Cover Story Mutual Beneficence

Part-time, at-home fl exible work can be a win-win 10 for employees and the companies they work for. By Meg Morley Walter

Keeping small legal problems from becoming big ones.

Carta and Salt Lake City: Why? Using Unity to Defeat Prejudice 08 Carta jumped into Utah in late 2017, looking to 30 Understanding stereotyping in order to build tap into the area’s workforce, networks and cultures of transparency and fi nd commonality. quality of life. By Amy Osmond Cook By Mike Wu Future forward Education that Works 36 What the history of Silicon Slopes can teach us 09 Neumont College of Computer Science seeks to about its future potential. send out graduates who are immediately ready By Blake McClary to work on large-scale, critical projects for their employers. Dope Flow By Aaron Reed, Ed.D. Why the tech community should collaborate to 38 defi ne and promote Utah’s tech brand. Are You Ready for PR? By Brad Plothow 16 A few questions to ponder before you bring in a PR agency. Teaching Hub By Joshua Heath Identifying and implementing strategies to make 40 Utah a world-class education destination. Social Impact Done Better By Ari Bruening 18 A partnership between Salesforce and United Way will help companies connect their employees with Put Gratitude to Work opportunities to make an impact. Tips for helping your employees feel more By Jerilyn Stowe 42 appreciated in 2018. By Crystalee Beck Why Utah Won't Birth the Next 20 Twitter Founder Liquidity With a rich heritage of foundational tech, paired When is the right time to take some money off with our unique strengths and opportunities, Utah’s 48 the table? prepared to launch a tech revolution all of its own. By Robert Shelton and Richard Seal By Andrew Joiner The Secret ofthe internet Spreading the Love What’s the common thread that unites the world’s 27 How Salt Lake County is working to bolster 50 biggest tech companies? small business. By Joseph Woodbury By Garrett Clark

Growth Hacking Humans 28 Human problems can’t be solved by better understanding your market, your technology or your organization any better—you have to learn to “hack humans.” By Jason Herndon

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DESIGNERS Phone number: 385–374–0880 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Email: [email protected] Brian Hugo CULINARY Meg Walter SPRING 2018 Amanda Nogales Volume 2 • Number 2 CRAFTS

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Silicone Slopes Ad Spring 2018 FINAL.indd 1 4/5/18 10:27 AM Silicon Slopes Carta and Salt Lake

By Mike Wu, City: Why? Head of People, Carta

Silicon Valley is a great allows VC fi rms to monitor portfolios and manage their place to start a tech limited partners in a centralized dashboard. company. But it can be All told, Carta’s products and services are a signifi cant a diffi cult place to scale improvement in breadth and capability from the days when one, especially when the we focused on digitizing paper stock certifi cates. Since Henry mission of a company is Ward and Manu Kumar founded the company in 2012, we’ve to create seven billion raised almost $70 million in venture funding. We have over owners, map the global 350 employees in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Seattle, New ownership network and York City and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Last September, we unlock private market purchased Silicon Valley Bank’s analytics business, and we are liquidity. With such now the country’s leading 409A valuations provider. ambitious goals, Carta Carta is a FINRA broker-dealer and serves as a qualifi ed needed to add more custodian for RIAs. We are also an SEC-registered transfer locations to attract talent, scale quickly and keep costs low. agent, and our software can help companies run structured With this in mind, Carta expanded operations to Salt liquidity programs and assists clients in staying compliant Lake City at the end of 2017. Utah is a business-friendly with the SEC and IRS. state, and Salt Lake is full of young and talented fi nancial There isn’t a better product on the market for professionals graduating from schools like Brigham Young companies and investors to create a single-source of truth University and the University of Utah. Utah-based companies for their cap tables and manage their equity ownership. raised $623 million from private investors in 2016 and $627 million in the fi rst three quarters of 2017. The growth CARTA AND SILICON SLOPES in private market funding and Utah’s industrial banking We already have 50 employees in our new space on West infrastructure positioned Salt Lake as an optimal place Temple. Typical of a fast-growing startup, there are plenty to scale Carta’s operations. The proximity to Park City, desks to fi ll. As we continue to develop the underlying mesh Snowbird and Alta didn’t hurt, and neither did the short that connects the 500,000+ employees, investors and 90-minute fl ight to San Francisco. founders of the Carta network, we’re looking forward to The business and logistical arguments were too Utah’s impact on our growing company. compelling. Salt Lake City was the clear choice for Carta’s We’re also looking forward to becoming a valuable largest planned offi ce. contributor to the Silicon Slopes community and Utah-based We moved into our new space across from the Salt businesses. We attended Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2018 in Palace on the seventh fl oor of 175 S. West Temple in late January—this was the fi rst step in deepening the relationships February. More importantly, Carta has committed to adding with our fellow VC-backed companies in the Beehive State. 464 jobs in Utah by 2022. Up next is creating as many owners as possible here. You can learn more about Carta’s culture and see open WHAT IS CARTA? positions at carta.com/about. Carta’s goal is to create more owners. We enable the thousands of private companies using Carta to issue, value Nothing contained in this post constitutes tax, legal, and transfer securities while mitigating the risks of error insurance or investment advice, nor does it constitute a associated with tracking, compliance and accounting. At solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security or other the end of 2017, we introduced a similar all-in-one platform ﬁ nancial instrument. Carta Securities LLC, Member FINRA for public companies that provides equity administration and SIPC. and transfer agent services. Additionally, Carta for Investors

8 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes Education that Works Creating the next generation of tech leaders By Aaron Reed, Ed.D., President, Neumont College of Computer Science

Over two decades ago, shortage. Neumont’s sole focus is to prepare students for after graduating from careers in technology. Our goal is that when graduates college with a degree leave Neumont, they are immediately ready to work on in computer science, large-scale, critical projects for their employers—perhaps I launched my career even in an office with a window (or at least without a at a local software broom). company. On day one, Neumont’s curriculum is continually refined I was escorted to my through employer feedback. Our faculty members have new office. My “office” experience working in the technology industry, not was actually a closet traditional academics. We emphasize problem solving, with some brooms, a communication and collaboration skills as students work small desk, a computer and a stack of books. Despite my on large-scale, real-world projects. eagerness to jump into some code and change the world, Our employers tell us that we’re hitting our target. I was told that now it was time for me to learn. I was Most of our graduates contribute immediately to their confused. I had already learned; I had a degree to prove companies through software development, quality it—I was wrong. The small, individual assignments from assurance or system administration. Although we’re not textbooks and outdated tech I had learned in college left perfect, and we continue to evolve, our educational me woefully unprepared to work in the real world. Luckily model appears to be working. That’s why we’re working I was a fast learner, and I found myself in full-on code with K-12 teachers and the Utah State Board of Education monkey mode in a matter of months. to identify ways to improve all levels of computer science A lot has changed since then. Al Gore brought us the instruction in the state. internet. Mark Zuckerberg brought us insight we never In 2017, approximately 104,000 high school students knew we needed by helping us see what our neighbors eat took Computer Science AP exams nationwide. By for breakfast. But far too little has changed about the way itself, that sounds like an impressive number. But when we educate students in computer science. Ask anybody compared to the 1.7 million AP exams taken in English and who’s hired a computer science graduate right out of History, or the 4.9 million exams taken overall, we have a college, and they’ll share similar stories of having to pay long way to go. people to learn on the job. It’s time to change the computer science dialogue. We are all aware of the statistics concerning the Computer science is fun, creative and artistic. From computer science worker shortage. Computing Research athletics to healthcare, computer science reaches every Association predicts that 65 percent of STEM job growth industry imaginable. Computer science is challenging, will be in computing through 2022. There are currently rewarding and results in highly lucrative careers. more than 4,860 open computing jobs in Utah and Computer science has so much going for it and one more than 500,000 in the United States. The nation’s big thing going against it: student interest. Neumont employers are desperately seeking talented tech workers, is invested in changing that interest here in the Silicon but are unable to find qualified candidates. Slopes and beyond. After a decade in the software industry, I joined I invite you to join us by learning more about Neumont and found my passion: educating tomorrow’s Neumont, our academic programs and our graduates at computer science professionals to help rectify this worker www.neumont.edu.

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 9 Photo by Jac Scott Mutual Beneficence Local companies discover the untapped potential of a flexible, at-home workforce By Meg Morley Walter

I was sitting next to Stephen Brown, cofounder of have a fulfilling career as a mostly remote employee. Mine is LedgerGurus, at a post-Tech Summit function. We were not a perfect system. I live with a 3-year-old, so sometimes talking about the themes of the Summit and how multiple my day looks like that video of the dad getting interrupted speakers had mentioned the need to include more women in by his kids on BBC on loop for 10 hours, and there’s no one the workforce. Then Stephen said, “I think sometimes we’re running in to wheel the kids away while I’m on a call. But on missing a key point. You have to give women flexibility if you those days, I make up for lost time when my kids are in bed want to include them in the workforce.” He mentioned the or early the next morning before they wake up. There’s some success his company has found by giving its employees— adapting and some creativity necessary, but the job always many of them women—flexibility. I told him we should do a gets done. magazine story. I understand that working from home on a flexible Because Utah has a lot of moms. Many of these moms schedule is not something that does or could work for are educated and hard working, but because the traditional everyone. But it does and could work for many employees. job model requires 40 hours in a workplace (and because And not just moms. Employees of all kinds can benefit from they choose to be home with their children), many feel this model, as can their employers. that there is no place for them in the professional world. For this story I spoke to three different Utah companies But we’re in a time when technology allows teams to stay in that have chosen to employ a part-time, at-home workforce, contact regardless of their location and offers employees the many of these employees women, many of those women capability to do nearly any type of work from home. moms, and have found tremendous success in doing so. I’m a Utah mom who has benefited from flexibility and I

10 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes

LedgerGurus Stephen and Brittany Brown—founders of the virtual, outsourced accounting firm LedgerGurus—employ accountants and bookkeepers who work from home. Their staff is paid hourly, but LedgerGurus does not dictate schedules or shifts. Instead, they assign each employee to a team, which is assigned customers, and ask their employees to take good care of those customers and deliver what they’ve committed. Employees work late at night, while their kids are at school or whenever they can carve out time, and use collaboration tools to stay connected to their teams and the entire company. The Browns built their business specifically to allow talented and educated bookkeepers and accountants to work from home. “Our philosophy extends from my prior experience of going through the [BYU Accounting] program as a single mom and leaving to go out and do my own thing, then realizing that in the accounting world there was a lot of opportunity for moms to be a force in the workplace but very few companies were giving them that option,” Brittany said. “And having come out of that experience as a single mom, I can really relate to somebody who really, really needed that to be an option and it wasn’t there.” Brittany and Stephen knew that if they gave moms the flexibility to both be stay-at-home moms and have a career, they would find exceptional employees who would otherwise Photo courtesy of LedgerGurus not be a part of the workforce. “What we saw were a lot of women like me who had gone and gotten a really good education, gone and gotten really great work experience, but because there weren’t jobs that aligned well with their desire to be a mom first and foremost, they were leaving the workforce entirely. It was this huge loss—there were a lot “Initially, finding people to work of women who have some really great skills that were being underutilized just because there wasn’t a company that was for us was really, really difficult willing to adapt to what they needed,” Brittany said. The Browns also knew, from Brittany’s own experience, because the right employee fit what flexibility could do for a woman’s desire to continue her career. “As a mother myself, I can say that when my job wasn’t looking for a job—they option was going into an accounting firm and sitting at a desk for 40, or even sometimes 60 hours a week, I had a very hard time with that,” Brittany said. “I literally cried everyday during didn’t know the job existed. It was tax season, quietly at my desk so nobody knew, but I was pretty miserable. It was not an experience I was enjoying very really about going onto LinkedIn much. And as soon as I was able to enjoy some flexibility, my passion for everything I was doing dramatically increased.” and finding people who have had But in the beginning of LedgerGurus, it wasn’t as though they were able to simply post a job listing and watch the great accounting experience applications roll in. “Initially, finding people to work for us was really, really difficult because the right employee fit wasn’t but were showing recent looking for a job—they didn’t know the job existed,” Brittany said. “It was really about going onto LinkedIn and finding [employment] gaps.” people who have had great accounting experience but were showing recent gaps where they didn’t appear to have any Brittany Brown, LedgerGurus work at all for the last three to seven years, but had had great education and work experience before that.”

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 11 Silicon Slopes

“Because we’re able to reach women who are really just top of the line and offer them flexibility, the caliber of people that we’re getting is really, really, really high. … We get the very cream of the crop because most people aren’t hiring the people that we’re hiring.”

Stephen Brown, LedgerGurus

So finding the right talent to grow their company meant definitely been some rust when we’ve brought a number Brittany and Stephen had to hunt down the right applicants. of women back into the workforce, but I don’t think smart It wasn’t long before those who were hunted started people stop being smart just because they have children and spreading the good news. “At this point it’s become a word- change their attention.” of-mouth thing … and now we have people applying every When asked if they worry about the distractions of single day. Finding that fit has become less difficult because working from home negatively impacting their employees’ the word-of-mouth momentum has carried us past, ‘Hey, productivity, Brittany and Stephen both said that in some nobody knows this job exists,’” Brittany said. ways working from home is less distracting than working LedgerGurus now receives anywhere from five to among coworkers. “I would argue that being interrupted by 50 applications each day, mostly moms with accounting a little one is no different than being interrupted by your expertise, who are excited to learn the position exists. “I think coworker who’s blasting the latest, cool social media video,” that moms who have education and good experience, they Stephen said. “Our people focus, even when kids are around don’t want to shut the door on that world but they really them. A lot of our people work late at night, they’ll work want to focus on their families,” Brittany said. “And so we when their kids are in school. They know how to be on the are able to attract very high-caliber employees because we’re clock, and I think you have to have trust as you hire people— offering them something that they really value. We allow they’re going to do the right thing, get the job done, and pay them to focus on the things that are most important to them, attention to the results … It’s just trusting people to know while they also find a very fulfilling path of progression inside how to manage their attention. LedgerGurus.” “I’m almost scared to share this with the world, because Stephen noted that the accounting industry is facing a it’s like this little, hidden secret,” Stephen added. “In tech, tremendous labor shortage—but LedgerGurus doesn’t have there’s this feeling like if I can’t see [employees] and be over that problem. “We have so many people applying we can’t them and have them in my same space, they’re somehow even process them all.” not as productive. And the reality is in my experience in Since LedgerGurus receives as many applications as it technology as a manager over the last decade-plus, I spent does, it is able to employ the best of the best. “Because we’re all of my day in meetings—it wasn’t like I was hovering over able to reach women who are really just top of the line and the team that worked for me anyway. I think we’re at a really offer them flexibility, the caliber of people that we’re getting is great place with communication tools, and that really enables really, really, really high. I feel like a big part of the reason our teams to stay connected in ways they haven’t been able to in organization has grown and done as well as it has … is that the past.” we’re tapping into a workforce that is underutilized right now. The Browns think many other companies could benefit We get the very cream of the crop because most people from offering flexibility. “When you hire [remote employees] aren’t hiring the people that we’re hiring.” you’re expanding your pool of potential labor,” Stephen said. Stephen believes that there’s often an unconscious bias “Not every role is going to be very conducive to a flexible toward women who have had children and stepped away part-time job, but there’s a lot of jobs that could be. It from the workforce, a worry that “they’re somehow not expands your labor pool and that’s always a good thing.” as good, that they’ve lost a step or something. And there’s

12 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes

Cortex The founder of Cortex (formerly CheckUp), Riley Adamson, developed a means by which healthcare providers are able to ensure that patients fully recover after a hospital visit. Using the Cortex platform, patient records are unified, care is coordinated, concerns are identified and outcomes are predicted. Key to the success of this platform is 130 registered nurses from 31 states who work from home and make calls to recovering patients. Collectively these nurses make hundreds of calls every day to recovering patients. They ask basic questions to identify any issues. If there are issues, the patient’s healthcare provider is immediately notified and the problem is quickly addressed. Adamson first employed his cousin, a registered nurse, to make these calls. She informed other nurses of the opportunity and soon Cortex had a waiting list of nurses anxious to put their skills to use from home. “There is a shortage of nursing staffs nationwide and that includes here in Utah, where there’s just not enough nurses to work at the hospitals,” Adamson said. “But there’s a surplus of nurses who, for whatever reason, are willing to work from home, and we’re really tapping into this workforce that exists—high-quality, very well-trained, very well-educated, but can’t work full-time at a hospital or chooses not to, but they’re willing to make a couple hours of calls every few days in this system.” Photo courtesy of Cortex Adamson believes there are a few reasons why the position appeals to so many—one reason being the schedule flexibility. Cortex nurses can work as much or little as they’d like. “They can work just a couple hours a month or they can work quite a bit,” Adamson said. “We’re really tapping into this Nurses are paid per successful call and can make calls at any time, since the Cortex system only allows nurses to workforce that exists—high-quality, access calls that will reach the patient at an appropriate time. If a nurse makes a call late at night, she (or he) will be very well-trained, very well-educated, calling another time zone where it is an appropriate hour. “We don’t care at all when they can work or when they but can’t work full-time at a hospital can’t work. We have enough nurses in our system that the supply meets the demand and so on an average day, we’re or chooses not to, but they’re willing making hundreds of calls and if five nurses say ‘Oh, it’s not a day I can call,’ we have enough callers that we don’t have to to make a couple hours of calls every manage it,” Adamson said. Adamson believes another reason for the enthusiasm few days in this system.” is nurses’ desire to help people even when their schedules or family situations do not allow them to work outside the Riley Adamson, Cortex home. “These people who are nurses, they want to genuinely help people—that’s why they went to nursing school. We help them still use their experience to help people,” Adamson “Our customers genuinely appreciate the work that [our said. nurses] are doing to make sure the patients are recovering, It’s a system that benefits not only the nurse who can their concerns are being addressed. The reason why our now work flexible hours, but also the healthcare provider customers are happy about this is that they don’t have who would otherwise be short on the resources and enough time and employees and workforce to do this work. manpower necessary to follow up with every patient. Outsourcing makes a lot of sense for them,” Adamson said.

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 13 Silicon Slopes

hours to respond to their assigned customers and can work anywhere from 15 to 30 hours a week, whatever works for their schedules. “They get to choose when they work: in the very early morning when their kids are still asleep, during nap time, at night when they put their kids to bed, when their kids are having a playdate. Whatever they want to do, they can work,” said Chatbooks Director of Support Angel Brockbank. Protecting Every Element of Your The need for fl exibility is something Vanessa has experienced in her own career and life as a mother. “Life is messy, family life especially. You can never predict your days, even when you try. Even if you think your kids are going to be in school all day long and you’ve got your day free, you inevitably get a phone call from the nurse that someone’s not feeling well,” Vanessa said. Innovation “A lot of women are primary caregivers to their family, they need to do that job, and they need to have fl exibility,” she said. “I’m primarily a mom; I’ve always tried to work and family has always been number one for me. Whatever work I’ve done has been around my family life and schedule. It is something that is really important and satisfying to me to offer opportunities to women in this way.” That’s not to say that Chatbooks built a MomForce model solely for the sake of offering fl exibility. In actuality, the model made economic sense for the company and enabled management to fi nd exceptional employees. Brockbank described stay-at-home moms as an untapped resource. “I think there are so many women that value families—that’s where their number one priority Photo by Jac Scott is—but they have so much to offer companies. I feel like my team has higher skill levels and higher professionalism and abilities. Their customer service skills are better than the Chatbooks average person because these are women that are amazing at In the early day of Chatbooks, the automatic photo books multitasking. Many of them have bachelor’s degrees, we even Maschoff Brennan is a leading Intellectual Property & company, founders Vanessa and Nate Quigley kept late have some people with master’s degrees, but because they hours every night responding to customer support issues. “It want to raise their children at home, they’re not able to work was not sustainable for the company or for our marriage,” in a normal company. So I just get to pick the cream of the Complex Litigation law firm with more than 40 attorneys Vanessa said. crop.” Prior to founding Chatbooks. Nate ran a JetBlue Vanessa explained that the MomForce is essential to the throughout Utah and California. Our team offers a range subsidiary and had witnessed the success of JetBlue’s model success of Chatbooks and wondered if these moms get the of employing primarily women who work from home. “I knew credit they deserve. “I don’t think our MomForce really sees of technical and legal expertise in a variety of fields, and some women who were mostly at home and who were smart themselves as part of the tech community. This is where we and bright and who I knew loved what we were doing. And want to do better,” she said. “We consider ourselves a tech we just kind of took that [Jet Blue] model and built it out company, but we would not be a company without them. is committed to protecting and promoting the intellectual from there,” Vanessa said. They make up a huge percentage of our workforce and we The Quigleys started receiving inbound requests from would not have any success if we didn’t have them. They’re property interests of our clients throughout customers who loved the company and wanted to be part of like the backbone of what keeps us going.” Chatbooks. Soon the Chatbooks MomForce was born. “We At the end of my call with Vanessa, I confessed to her call it MomForce because it’s primarily moms, women who that I had moved to a different room while we were talking the Silicon Slopes. want to be able to be home with their kids and have fl exibility because my daughter was singing, loudly, in the fi rst room. to care for their families but also have some time and passion Vanessa confessed that she had been talking from her car, to do something else,” Vanessa said. driving her daughter to school while apples that had tipped The MomForce currently consists of 80 employees from a grocery bag noisily rolled around in the back seat. But in 12 different states. These employees reply to emails, it didn’t matter. We adapted. We got creative. And the job www.mabr.com respond to live-chats and answer phone calls. They have 12 got done. 435.252.1360 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & COMPLEX LITIGATION 14 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Protecting Every Element of Your Innovation

Maschoff Brennan is a leading Intellectual Property & Complex Litigation law firm with more than 40 attorneys throughout Utah and California. Our team offers a range of technical and legal expertise in a variety of fields, and is committed to protecting and promoting the intellectual property interests of our clients throughout the Silicon Slopes. www.mabr.com 435.252.1360 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & COMPLEX LITIGATION Silicon Slopes Are You Ready for PR? Insuring Utah’s What every company should consider before engaging By Joshua Heath, Silicon Slopes with an agency Managing Director, Codeword

There comes a time in a single round of funding or a solo product launch and the life cycle of every needing a long-term partner to help build your brand. 81% of IPOs in Utah – 21 out of the last 26 company when it’s In my experience, a company’s audience can sniff out necessary to start telling manufactured news generated by an agency pretty quickly, 75% of Utah Unicorn Companies – 6 out of 8 its story to a broader as it comes across as inauthentic. Most successful long- audience. Whether the term partnerships require a regular news pipeline (e.g., company has a product customer success stories, partnerships, product launches 70% of Top 10 Growth Companies – (Utah Business’ 2017 Fast 50) that is ready to ship, or survey/data fi ndings). I prefer to analyze a potential software that is ready to client’s news pipeline before we work with them to 25% of Utah’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies (2017 MountainWest Capital Network) be released out of beta, recommend the type of engagement they need. or funding that needs to be announced, most 3. Do you have the time? 80% of Utah’s Most Active Private Equity & Venture Capital Firms (PitchBook – 2017 Rankings) companies will at some While you may have a few vendors that allow you to “set point fi nd themselves seeking a public relations fi rm to it and forget it,” a strong agency partnership will require help build their brand. some of your time. Any experienced team will do its best Having spent more than a decade helping brands of to make sure it uses your time judiciously. However, it’s various shapes and sizes build and execute PR plans, I’ve important that someone from your team be available for learned that not every company is ready for PR. Not being regular updates and strategy sessions. In order for your ready doesn’t mean that you can’t or won’t be—it merely team to become great brand stewards, they need access means you need to honestly consider a few things before to those who helped build it. If you don’t have the time signing an expensive contract with an agency. to dedicate to working with an agency, you may want to Here are a few things to consider before you begin consider hiring a director of communications who can selecting an agency: become that intermediary. Whether you’re bootstrapped or fully funded, PR 1. Do you have clear, measurable objectives in place? professionals know how precious your marketing dollars Before you can successfully choose a PR partner, it’s are. We sincerely want to help you get the most out of vital that you fi rst understand what you want them to your budget by helping you reach your goals, ensuring you accomplish. For instance, if lead generation is more get the most out of your news pipeline and being judicious important than general brand awareness, everything with your time. If you aren’t sure what your needs are, from the types of stories you need to tell to your target going from no communications to a robust program may audience to the media outlets you should be working with not be the right approach for you. Consider bringing on an will change. If you’re not sure what their objectives should agency that can do a channel-and-communications audit be, feel free to ask. It’s not uncommon for me to workshop of your business and help you lay a strong foundation from objectives with a client before building out their PR plan. which to launch your PR program.

2. Do you have a robust news pipeline? There’s a big difference between needing to announce

16 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Insuring Utah’s Silicon Slopes

81% of IPOs in Utah – 21 out of the last 26 75% of Utah Unicorn Companies – 6 out of 8 70% of Top 10 Growth Companies – (Utah Business’ 2017 Fast 50) 25% of Utah’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies (2017 MountainWest Capital Network) 80% of Utah’s Most Active Private Equity & Venture Capital Firms (PitchBook – 2017 Rankings) Silicon Slopes Social Impact Done Better Salesforce and United Way team up to By Jerilyn Stowe, Chief Marketing and change corporate giving Engagement Officer, United Way of Salt Lake

United Way of Salt Lake INTRODUCING SALESFORCE PHILANTHROPY CLOUD – has been collaborating POWERED BY UNITED WAY with organizations, small In response to this changing landscape, and building businesses and large upon more than 70 years of experience serving as corporations to help philanthropic advisors, United Ways in 34 communities facilitate easy ways for across the country, including United Way of Salt Lake, employees to give back have teamed up with Salesforce.org to launch the to the community since Philanthropy Cloud. United Way is the world’s leader the 1940s. Companies in workplace philanthropy, serving more than 115,000 have generously workplace campaigns that reach more than 47.5 million allowed employees to employees across the country. Salesforce Philanthropy give donations of both Cloud will let companies tap into the combined power time and money by partnering with United Way to host of both Salesforce and United Way to connect with “workplace campaigns.” local giving opportunities, volunteer options, campaigns These workplace campaigns have fostered and bigger movements such as the UN Sustainable organizational team building while educating tens Development Goals in order to drive personalized social of thousands of Utahns about the needs in our impact. communities and the impact individuals can make through their giving. Thousands of hours of volunteer BEYOND CHARITABLE GIVING service and millions of dollars have been donated With Philanthropy Cloud, you can find, learn about through these campaigns, helping to build a culture of and support causes in a way that is simple and compassion and giving back along the Wasatch Front. impactful. Philanthropy Cloud uses Salesforce Einstein artificial intelligence to connect you with causes and THE NEW PHILANTHROPIC MARKETPLACE opportunities to engage in your community that are Over the last decade, there has been a dramatic shift in personally meaningful. It also links you with your how employees connect, interact and give back. Digital colleagues on the most important initiatives happening platforms, social media and global issues and needs right now. Philanthropy Cloud powered by United Way: have become an important part of the philanthropic landscape. Employees want options and flexibility • Engages employees: it offers companies a in choosing how they give their time and money to beautiful, intelligent and intuitive employee help important causes they care about. In response, giving app, campaign management and real-time corporations are successfully aligning their business and dashboards to assess personal, corporate and philanthropic missions to create a corporate culture that community impact. encourages giving back. These savvy organizations understand such a • Puts donors at the center: it provides thousands shift increases employee retention and engagement. of giving options to choose from. Using the power It’s imperative that the business sector engage in of artificial intelligence as a personal trail guide, the philanthropic endeavors, which build more cohesive and tool leads donors to deeper, more meaningful ways inclusive communities where all people have the same to engage with the community and drive impact for opportunities to live their best lives. the causes the donor is passionate about.

18 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes

• Builds a movement: Salesforce Philanthropy CREATING CHANGE AND CHARITY Cloud provides the platform to easily spearhead United Way of Salt Lake has evolved to become a results- community fundraisers, mobilize volunteers, driven organization that builds powerful partnerships read inspiring content and engage likeminded to solve some of our most complex community changemakers. issues—poverty, poor health and lagging educational achievement, among others. United Way of Salt Lake’s • Tells the story of social impact: Inspires people to partnerships are made up of community, business, act by sharing impactful stories about campaigns, religious and nonprofi t leaders coordinating with schools, nonprofi ts, causes and impact funds. community centers, teachers, parents and students in neighborhoods and communities with high needs. Our GETTING STARTED place-based collaborative approach is yielding results and Philanthropy Cloud will be implemented in the Philanthropy Cloud has the capacity to build upon those community through United Way of Salt Lake. An outcomes. employer will work with United Way to further develop By bringing together United Way of Salt Lake’s their corporate social responsibility goals and activities innovative community change work and Salesforce. and implement the technology. United Way will populate org’s innovative technology, thousands of new donors, the tool with all the content for giving and volunteer potential donors and volunteers will get connected to options and will co-create impact funds and stories with work that is impacting people’s lives, building stronger a company to make it simple. Together, United Way and communities and developing pathways out of poverty. its corporate partners will help develop and track CSR In this new environment, when a company or an metrics and create communications plans to report back individual aligns their missions and goals with United to employers and donors about how their gifts to the Way of Salt Lake and uses Philanthropy Cloud, they community are making a huge impact. are committing to becoming more than a charitable You can sign up now at uw.org organization or person. They are changing our community and changing the world with one click.

clearAMBITION Spaces bring people together. To grow. To live. To thrive. Working with you to bring out the best in your people and your business.

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 19 Silicon Slopes YOUR LEADING ELECTRICAL, Why Utah Won’t Birth TECHNOLOGY the Next Twitter & SERVICE CONTRACTOR By Andrew Joiner, And why we shouldn’t want to CEO, InMoment

For years, Silicon Valley that allows them to invest in companies at different has served as the stages of growth. These “invested investors” mean that standard for the tech entrepreneurs spend much less effort trying to fi t into industry. Its innovations someone else’s boxes and more time building products have fundamentally and organizations that work. TECHNOLOGY and forever changed DIVISION the ways we store data, 2. Everybody wins connect with peers, The local business ecosystem possesses an ideal track our customers, balance of humility and ambition, and a general call a cab and receive willingness to help others. A climate of collaborative news. And while success competition, where motivation and support are both in breeds success, it also play, is a much more productive environment to grow a invites exorbitant costs of living, traffi c congestion and successful business. A naturally occurring, recognizable ballooning salaries. entrepreneurial culture like this simply can’t be For this reason, many startups, venture capitalists manufactured. and top talent have found homes in non-coastal locales where the lifestyle is inviting and cities put 3. Homogenous Diversity out big welcome mats in the form of tax breaks and Part of the reason we’re such a collaborative bunch eager workers. For up-and-coming technology hubs, is that we get each other. Our business leaders have “becoming the next Silicon Valley” is not a misguided shared experiences that breed both connection and goal, but I’m not certain it’s an ideal aspiration either. openness to new people and ideas. And while we’ve Our local tech boom along the I-15 corridor gotten a lot of mileage of out of it so far, this sameness has been seismic. Well-known drivers of our up-to- can also limit us. The next big opportunity for Utah’s now success include exceptional quality of life in the entrepreneur and tech community is to harness that STRUCTURED DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA mountains, a supportive business community, and a openness to seek out people who are different than CABLING AUDIO VIDEO SYSTEMS local pool of technical talent from the surrounding us—to create environments that attract the unfamiliar & INTEGRATION universities; all of these things create an extremely and unexpected. This type of outside-in diversity is fertile ecosystem for Utah-bred startups. what fuels that creative spark and leads to next-level There are three more factors that don’t get as much innovation. air time, but in my outsider’s opinion, are just as critical. Utah shouldn’t want to birth the next Twitter. There was a time and a place for that kind of leap, and it’s Providing powerful solutions for + years! 1. Invested investors already been done. This next phase of business-building 30 We still hear a lot of chatter from both insiders and will be a time where all new companies are technology outsiders about the lack of large VC fi rms hindering ventures. And with a rich heritage of foundational tech, our growth. As someone who’s played that game, I paired with our unique strengths and opportunities, have a different perspective. I think Utah companies we’re more than ready to take the next step that’s all actually have a unique advantage in a rare breed of our own. Yes, Silicon Valley will always have wisdom to local funders who have both the structure and mindset teach, but its path isn’t ours. And that’s a good thing. 1863 W Alexander Street Salt Lake City, UT 84119 P: 801.975.8844 20 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com YOUR LEADING ELECTRICAL, TECHNOLOGY & SERVICE CONTRACTOR

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Photo byPhoto Christopher by Ferguson 22 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes Peek The travel adventures platform starts a new journey in Silicon Slopes By Chris Rawle

Nearly 10 years ago, Ruzwana Bashir prepared to embark on a trip. She circled in on a destination— Istanbul, Turkey—and began searching for fun, local activities. For 20 hours she searched. 20 HOURS. This is incredible planning discipline. I would have given up after 25 minutes, scrapped the whole trip and laid in bed for a month with a warm towel on my forehead. Bashir did not, instead sifting through the “Big picture, the problems cultural hotspots of Istanbul to find what she desired: experiences. “I was planning what I hoped would be a really that we’re solving are for awesome trip,” said Bashir. “When it came down to it, what I cared about were the things we were able to the $110 billion tours and do there: what cool activities were available? I found myself researching the best things to do and then activities market. We came in calling the businesses to try and arrange these tours. And I thought, this is a really tough thing to do.” and essentially said, ‘it’s really Out of this planning process, Bashir concluded two things: one, experiences form the beating heart hard to book these businesses of every trip; and two, there wasn’t a great service for curating those experiences and presenting them to because nobody knows what’s prospective vacationers in a timely manner. She filed these tidbits away for later and, following her Istanbul available—let’s help create an vacation, enrolled in Harvard Business School. It was during this time that Bashir built the opportunity to do that.” foundation of her professional career. She gained a sharper understanding of finance and venture capital Ruzwana Bashir, PEEK through her employment with Goldman Sachs and The Blackstone Group. She gained a love for startup life through her employment with two early-stage businesses, Gilt Groupe and Art.sy. After graduating from Harvard Business School, she arrived at a familiar post-graduation crossroad. What next? “I always knew that I wanted to build my own business one day,” said Bashir. “Having worked at an environment like Blackstone, I realized I wanted to create and build value. From the private equity side,

Photo by @siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 23 Silicon Slopes WE HAVE THE SPACE YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS it was intellectually challenging and I learned a lot, but I these businesses because nobody knows what’s available— didn’t feel like I was building something—it was more like let’s help create an opportunity to do that.’” From live/work to professional office buildings, storefront to standalone retail, www.wincre.com I was moving things around. When I began working at In the world, there are countless businesses that manufacturing, storage and industrial land, contact one of our commercial specialists startups, I was really excited to help build software or a provide tours, activities and experiences—think wine to findyour business space. website that had the ability to access millions of people.” tours, zip lines, river rafting, cooking classes, etc. The problem arises when somebody tries to sort through everything, fi nd a reputable business and book their service. This takes a large amount of time (some would OFFICES Silicon Valley say 20 hours) and in the end, you aren’t even guaranteed From single-tenant to professional Ruzwana Bashir came to Silicon Valley to create a startup. a great experience. office buildings After moving to San Francisco, Bashir was introduced to Peek.com is a marketplace where people could fi nd/ Oskar Bruening, a MIT grad with technical experience book these activities and experiences. Users looking in the enterprise software space (at VMware, Symantec, to plan an ideal vacation can use Peek to quickly sort Vontu and Pipewise). They began working on a business through available options, fi nd reputable establishments, idea based off Bashir’s Istanbul trip—a software platform book them and be on their way. that curates activities and experiences across the globe, From the building of this platform came another idea. and minimizes the time needed to arrange these affairs. Many of the small/medium-sized businesses operating In 2012, Bashir and Bruening started Peek. these tours lacked the necessary software tools to grow “Big picture, the problems that we’re solving are for and highlight their business, pen and paper used in the $110 billion tours and activities market,” said Bashir. place of online booking accommodations. Peek debuted “We came in and essentially said, ‘it’s really hard to book Peekpro.com to solve this need, back-end software tools SALT LAKE CITY SANDY SALT LAKE CITY 1059 E 900 S 770 E 9000 S 1234 S 1100 E

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“Our vision is to connect the world through experiences. Our job is to help people spend their time doing things that fulfill them.” Ruzwana Bashir, PEEK

specifically built for tour and activity operators to grow or customer-facing organizations. We decided we wanted their business. Between Peek.com and Peekpro.com, to find a place where they were experts at that.” both sides of the vacation equation were now being Here is a list of things Utahns are experts at: serviced. business, sales, outdoor activity, chocolate milk, dirty “Our vision is to connect the world through sodas, ice cream scooping techniques, things built with experiences,” said Bashir. “Our job is to help people jello, minivan repair, food storage, white tennis shoes, spend their time doing things that fulfill them. There’s The Holy War—and I’m pretty sure most of these were a lot of data around how activities and purchasing motivating factors in Peek’s decision to open a Sandy- experiences makes you happier than buying products. based office. And yet when it comes to buying products, you can go “It’s very clear that there’s an amazing, well-educated online and buy products from hundreds of thousands of workforce in Utah that is becoming much more websites. When it comes to activities and experiences, interested in tech,” said Bashir. “So there is a burgeoning there weren’t great sources.” tech center that we could see and there were other Since inception, Peek has raised nearly $25 million companies we knew that were beginning to move here. from a variety of investors including Eric Schmidt (former For us as company, we wanted somewhere that had a lot Google CEO), Jack Dorsey (Twitter co-founder), David of activities, where people were passionate about that. Bonderman (TPG Capital founding partner) and Peter What I love about this area is how many people flock here Flint (Trulia founder). Its software has gained critical because they are into outdoor activities and adventure.” acclaim from Time, The New York Times and USA Today, Company-wide, Peek currently has 90 employees with Bashir recognized as a tech up-and-comer by Forbes, (with about 40 stationed in Silicon Slopes) and it’s Fast Company, Vanity Fair, Fortune and EY. And as a continuing to hire. Bashir envisions a future with Peek as company, they’re growing. a global company—built in Silicon Valley, refined in Silicon Slopes, expanded to the world stage. For a company that aims to connect the world through experiences, global scaling seems like a reasonable goal. Silicon Slopes “Now we have a really incredible executive team Ruzwana Bashir came to Silicon Slopes to grow a startup. that’s been built over time, who are experienced and have In 2016, Peek had experienced enough success that amazing backgrounds building platforms similar to Peek,” another location was warranted. They began examining said Bashir. “It’s been exciting to build out a team where options for a second office and after sifting through I’m able to replace myself doing marketing or operations available areas, arrived at a destination. with people who are better than I would be, but just as “We got really excited about Utah and felt like it was passionate. … We’ve grown about 20 times in the last a huge opportunity for us to come to a market which two to three years. We have tens of millions of dollars has a really talented core of people,” said Bashir. “San in bookings going through our platform every month. In Francisco is an amazing place for building technology, but order to allow that to continue to happen, we need to it’s not necessarily an amazing place for building out sales grow the talent we have.”

26 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes Spreading the Love Salt Lake County is Creating Opportunities By Garrett Clark, Director for all Businesses of Operations, Silicon Slopes

“Utah is the best state for doing business.” We’ve all heard it said before. But is this same data suggests a bigger opportunity phrase true for all of businesses across the state? According to the Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneur still exists to help “Main Street” Index, Utah is No. 1 in high-growth company density, No. 2 in startup density and No. 3 in startup growth small businesses overcome the among small states. For startup businesses, Utah is indeed “the place.” barriers that exist in accessing However, the same Kauffman Index ranks Utah No. 24 (out of 25) for “Main Street Entrepreneurship,” or growth capital to become bankable. a measure of small business activity across the state regardless of industry or geography. The measurement looks at the annual percentage of adults owning performance tax credit that is almost exclusively used to businesses, the five-year survival rate of those firms, entice large businesses to relocate to Utah. Unlike many and the established small business density (or the ratio incentives, EDTIF cannot be claimed unless certain of small businesses to the number of total firms in the job creation metrics are reached. McAdams saw the economy). While Utah boasts a robust ecosystem of alignment EDTIF had with the loan fund’s purpose and high-growth startups and the angel, seed and venture sought to use it to empower local businesses to create capital funds to help them grow, this data suggests a jobs and grow their companies, helping establish roots bigger opportunity still exists to help “Main Street” long-term. small businesses overcome the barriers that exist in The drafted legislation, HB 480, would allow loan accessing growth capital to become bankable. funds that stimulate and support job growth to take Salt Lake County is working to fix this. For the past advantage of the EDTIF credit, in a similar vein to the 25 years, the county has operated a revolving loan larger companies that currently use it. Credits earned fund targeting small and medium business job growth. based on jobs created would then be returned to the But the loan fund has some real limitations: When first loan fund, growing the fund’s subordinate capital pool established, it needed subordinate capital to incentivize and increasing the number of loans that could be made, larger banks to join as investors, and turned to federal further helping local small and medium businesses Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) expand their footprint. funds—money that comes with significant geographical While the bill did not pass this legislative session, it limitations. is being considered as a priority in the interim session Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams has worked and will be reconsidered in 2019. Further, Salt Lake to change this by investing an additional $150,000 in County continues to use innovative thinking like this county funds to underwrite $1.3 million in new loans to disrupt the public sector, incentivize private sector without geographical restrictions across the county. But investment and drive positive impact across the life- Mayor McAdams knew this was only a first step. cycle of small businesses in the region. Along with the During this legislative session, a bill was drafted revolving loan fund, the county is interviewing 500 small in partnership with the Utah Association of Counties and medium businesses to learn from them and develop that would allow the county’s loan program to take programming and resources to better meet their needs. advantage of existing state programs targeted at The county is working to create a more economically job creation—including the Economic Development vibrant landscape that benefits local businesses to make Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) program, a post- it “the place” for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 27 Silicon Slopes Growth Hacking Humans By Jason Herndon, Director of Technology Innovation, RAIN

Here at RAIN, we work deadlines! Take a look at each member of your team and on some cutting-edge spend a few minutes thinking about what makes them technology. We are tick. What projects do they love? When are they most helping to define what excited? When are they most likely to rip their hair out? voice interactions look And if you don’t know those answers, grab a bite to eat like on platforms like with them and find out. Ask questions and dig deep until Alexa, Google Assistant you understand yourself and your team. There’s zero and Cortana. We are substitute for knowing how you and those around you pioneering new frontiers will operate under both normal and stressful conditions. in UX. We build some of the coolest stacks for the HANDLE CONFLICT WELL largest companies in the When it comes to conflict or trouble within a company, world, and for fun, we dabble in AR, VR and robotics. it’s not “if,” but “when.” The best thing you can do when We’re restless for a living. And yet—as emerging tech- a conflict or problem arises on a project is to meet it, focused as we are, some of the problems we face aren’t head on. Even for conflict that goes beyond things like technical. “design was late” to something more specific like “John From the outside looking in, giant companies like is being unreasonable,” then the best thing to do is have Amazon, Apple or Facebook sometimes appear to be a conversation with John. well-oiled machines, working in perfect synchronization. Ignoring issues never makes them go away. Never. But the best companies haven’t growth hacked their Of course, neither does being a bully and confronting company—they’ve growth hacked their people. Human people with aggression or treating them as wholly other problems can’t be solved by understanding your market, just because they don’t think or act like you. your technology or your organization any better. To solve There’s a now-famous meditation exercise taught them, you have to learn to “hack humans.” UNDERSTAND YOUR TEAM, AND YOURSELF “Take a look at each member of When we think about how a project or company might fail, we’re likely to blame tight deadlines, limited resources and misunderstood objectives. And while your team and spend a few minutes those are all real, so are the expectations and mindsets of the people who operate in those deadlines, resources thinking about what makes them tick. and objectives. We generally don’t stop and ask ourselves: “In what What projects do they love? When ways is this project or product likely to cause us stress, and how can I mitigate that now?” But we absolutely are they most excited? When are they should. We’re real human beings. We have hopes and fears, and are allowed to be overwhelmed, frustrated or most likely to rip their hair out? And stressed. And guess what? So is everyone else on your team. if you don’t know those answers, grab If you’re a team leader, ask yourself, do you know what makes everyone on your team stressed? Don’t just a bite to eat with them and find out.” say something like “deadlines” … some people thrive in

28 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes

within Google by employee number 107, Chade-Meng its absolute full potential, failure is always an option. This Tan, called “Just Like Me.” It essentially says that when implies that everyone in the company is entitled to take faced with a particularly tough conversation or confl ict, risks. This does a lot of things organizationally: it brings you stop and pause to take a moment to visualize the people to the table in a way that it wouldn’t if nothing person you’re about to meet as a person just like you. was on the line, and fosters a culture where new ideas One with their own desires to be happy and free from and markets are discoverable. But on a human level, one stress, just like you. It doesn’t change the situation, but it of the biggest things that it does is create a safety net. can relieve a bit of your stress or anger and allow you to A culture of risk-taking allows everyone to know that manage the conversation better. they don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, Tell your partner that you care about the relationship and they don’t have to have all the answers. One of the and you won’t let anything jeopardize it and watch reasons people don’t fully commit to a company isn’t them blush. Tell your employee that, and show them always that they lack motivation or opportunity. Often, that through your actions, and watch them commit. It’s the problem is they don’t trust you keep them safe. And human nature. when it comes to a new projects or products, everyone having their guard up because they’re not securely REMEMBER, FAILURE IS ALWAYS AN OPTION attached to your team doesn’t make for good outcomes. Ask Amazon how its Fire Phone is doing, Facebook how If you want 2018 to be the year that your company its AI project is moving along, or Uber how any of 2017 reaches new levels, invest in understanding your team, went … not just your industry. Don’t hack growth—learn to hack When it comes to allowing your company to reach humans.

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@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 29 Silicon Slopes Using Unity to Defeat Prejudice How to build a culture of transparency and commonality By Amy Osmond Cook, Vice President of Marketing, Simplus; Founder, Osmond Marketing

The U.S. Equal Warm, competent Not warm, competent Employment Opportunity Middle class The very rich Commission (EEOC) received 91,503 Warm, not competent Not warm, not competent charges of workplace Working poor Homeless people discrimination in 2016. That’s troubling, especially when we consider The quadrant works for class, race and sex. And it’s easy that a lot of workplace to see how one’s placement of certain groups in certain discrimination goes quadrants could affect the workplace. For example, let’s unreported. say a hiring manager stereotypes Asian applicants as not What can we do warm, but competent. This stereotype causes her to not about that? We can start by understanding stereotyping, to hire Asian applicants for positions that involve human which may lead to discrimination. With that foundation, we interaction, like HR positions, even if they’re the best can build cultures of transparency, encourage employee candidate. Instead, she hires Asian applicants for positions interaction and find commonality through our differences. that don’t involve human interaction, like data entry. How can you prevent problems like this in your UNDERSTAND STEREOTYPING workplace? Whether the problem is favoritism, a lack of Stereotyping is pervasive everywhere, and certainly in the mentorship or resentment, you’re not likely to change workplace. In fact, even though we may not be blatantly years of unconscious stereotyping habits. That’s for each racist, sexist or classist, we stereotype without even individual to work on. But you can make sure your work realizing we’re doing it! And we do it all the time. discrimination policies are up to snuff and understood by Susan Fiske, a psychologist at Princeton University, your employees. found that people judge others on two fundamental You can also create an environment that fosters characteristics: warmth (how positive or negative the unity—where your employees are more likely to focus on person’s intentions are) and competence (how capable the individuals and their strengths rather than on stereotypes person is of achieving those intentions). Assessments based and weaknesses. You can do this by being transparent, on these two factors, she said, “determine our sometimes giving employees opportunities to interact with each other unconscious emotional responses and ultimately our and creating commonality through differences. discriminatory behavior toward members of a group.” Fiske’s An excellent example of common-ground culture in the factors form a quadrant of “four different kinds of prejudice workplace can be found at Utah-based tech startup Simplus, that can be destructive to workplace inclusiveness.” where the team of close to 200 individuals around the world Here’s an example of how that quadrant could work all pride themselves in being “underdogs.” The company with an individual’s perception of class: holds three core values in the spirit of encouraging the best

30 | Spring 2018 siliconslopes.com Silicon Slopes

from each individual regardless of their ethnicity, gender or GIVE EMPLOYEES OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITH EACH other labels prone to stereotype. These three values are: OTHER critical thinking (solutions-based problem solving for efficient Your employees need to get to know each other as human outcomes); accountability (starting with leadership’s role beings, not just as stereotyped coworkers. Provide these in providing employees a great work life, and employees’ opportunities by forming affinity or diversity groups within accountability to each other, stakeholders and customers); your company. Mix up work teams and collaborations and stewardship (forward-thinking guidance and support for so employees can meet new people with different fellow teammates). backgrounds and perspectives. You can also organize “Culture is the No. 1 metric here at Simplus,” said CEO socials or activities apart from work to create bonding Ryan Westwood. Simplus welcomes employee feedback through fun. (Bonus: happy workers are 12 percent more and encourages engagement from team members across productive.) all positions to improve upon best practices and the When you facilitate friendships through groups that company’s overall performance. Weekly meetings open to have common goals, you help break down the barriers all staffers provide opportunities for collaboration, open of prejudice and stereotype. “Cross-group friendship feedback and collective progress. is powerful,” said Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, PhD. “So As a result, Simplus’s company culture has received powerful, in fact, that it has even been shown to reduce national acclaim, ranking No. 2 on Entrepreneur’s 2017 Best animosity among Catholics and Protestants in Ireland who Midsize Company Cultures list, making Comparably’s Top have lost loved ones as a result of conflict.” 50 Best small-to-midsize companies list, and recently taking No. 12 best regional workplace in USA Today’s 2017 ranking. CREATE COMMONALITY THROUGH DIFFERENCES It sounds cheesy, but celebrating differences reduces our BE TRANSPARENT tendency to stereotype. At SumAll, every employee knows what every other “Research shows that in highlighting everyone’s employee gets paid. Sound crazy? It turns out it’s actually a differences you can create a kind of commonality,” said great defense against inequality. Michael I. Norton, an associate professor at Harvard “Secrecy might be the easiest response to inequality, Business School. “We are all different, and my difference is but it’s definitely not the right one,” said David Burkus, no more or less valued than yours. Most organizations do author of Under New Management. “It just takes the issue not manage diversity in this way, however.” underneath where no one can see it.” How can you manage diversity in this way and create The federal government is one example of the success this commonality? of this. In the workforce, women get paid on average 23 Consider having a diversity day that takes an all- percent less than their male counterparts; in the federal inclusive approach, celebrating the heritage of both government, where everyone knows everyone else’s pay, minority employees and white employees. “Think of having that gap shrinks to 11 percent. not only black people talking about being African American, Some research, Burkus said, has suggested that but also white people talking about their Irish or Italian “women and minority groups are actually drawn to heritage, for instance,” Norton suggested. companies or organizations that have a transparent And this idea works for factors other than race. condition because [they’re not] always wondering if they’re We should value differences and find strengths in many being paid unfairly.” different parts of life: the frugality of an employee who So transparency about pay actually encourages women grew up in a low-income family; the multitasking skills of and minorities to come to your company! You should also a woman who’s rejoining the workforce after raising her be transparent about the issue of stereotyping itself. children; the intelligence of an introverted employee who’s To do so, encourage frank discussions and training been at the company forever. Even if you simply start by about employee diversity and stereotypes. Employees celebrating these differences personally, your attitude and may roll their eyes, but a 2001 study found that students fresh perspective will spill over into your actions and the who enrolled in a prejudice and conflict seminar “showed attitudes of your employees. significant reductions in their levels of prejudice (both By being transparent, giving employees opportunities to conscious and unconscious).” The study concluded that interact with each other and creating commonality through “our biases are malleable: Learning about them can give differences, we can create an environment where unity and you the self-insight and motivation you need to undertake inclusivity flourish. the journey of change.”

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 31 Silicon Slopes

Tech Ridge The Building of a Community By Chris Rawle

On January 20 of this year, I departed Utah County And a t-shirt. Hitting iron shots high in the air, swallowed and headed south. Silicon Slopes Tech Summit had by a bright sun. The next day I was at Green Springs Golf just wrapped up, punctuated by one of those dreaded Course under a cloudless blue sky. Wearing shorts. And a snowstorms that turns I-15 into a slippery mess. As I drove t-shirt. Rolling putts on a perfectly mown surface, feeling from Salt Lake City to my home in Spanish Fork, I was like I had left Utah and gone to another part of the world. struck by two things: The day after, Sun Mountain Golf Course. Then St. George Golf Club. Dixie Red Hills. Southgate. Red Ledges. Coral 1. Nobody knows how to drive in snow and it’s terrifying to Canyon. All played under cloudless skies and warm sun. In slowly drift past a different wreck every half mile. shorts. And a t-shirt. Now, the original intent of this article was to rate and 2. Even more terrifying, my favorite golf course—beautiful review every single St. George-area golf course in 5,000 Eastbay, easily seen from the freeway—was covered in a words. This was quickly shot down by everyone on earth fresh coat of snow, signifying a halt to golf season. besides myself. In its place is a more interesting story, one with a much larger narrative about how St. George is So I packed a box of clothes and left for St. George, seeking to position itself as a unique, self-sustaining tech watching as the landscape dissolved from snow-covered market through the creation of a community that mixes pines to red rock, cold white brilliance replaced by gentle residential, retail, hotels and offi ce space. warmth. Within one hour of arrival, I was at Sunbrook Construction has already begun at the site of the old Golf Course under a cloudless blue sky. Wearing shorts. St. George airport, on a tabletop mesa that overlooks the

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entire city and surrounding area. The name? Tech Ridge. “If I could build a building on the Starting a Business in St. George rim of that airport, have a glass Five years ago, Ryan Wedig moved his family to St. George and joined a tech startup. Alongside Jarrett Taylor, Wedig wall that looks on the city, Zion, founded PrinterLogic and embarked upon a mission to rid the world of print servers. Kolob, and be able to describe “I was thinking PrinterLogic would grow to 10 employees and then Jarrett would understand we would need to move,” said Wedig. “I had lived in San the lifestyle we’re offering, I Jose, Raleigh and Washington DC—three of the fi ve top technology hotbeds in the country. As an individual could bring any executive and contributor in those places, I knew that I could pick up a phone and fi nd a job anytime. And St. George wasn’t sell them on that all day long.” going to have that.” Despite his early misgivings, Wedig began realizing Ryan Wedig, PrinterLogic the lifestyle value of St. George to a startup. Inside the city: golf, mountain biking, hiking trails, rock climbing and permanently sunny weather. Outside the city: Vegas in one direction, Zion National Park in another. For a certain type of person, St. George was outdoor heaven. As PrinterLogic grew, Wedig was able to lure outside executives—selling them on a healthy dose of work- life balance—and pair them with underutilized talent that already existed in St. George. This created a good combination of executives/employees and, perhaps more importantly, meant that any locals interested in tech now had a learning experience close to home. “How do you get employees to come to St. George?” said Wedig. “That’s the biggest question. Within this community, there is so much to offer—if you package it right and get someone to buy into the lifestyle, you can attract some awesome people.” Five years later, PrinterLogic has 160 employees with executives from places like Alcatel, Landesk, Insidesales, RizePoint and Sysco. It recently announced a $15 million funding round led by Mercato Partners to continue fueling this expansion. Wedig swears his passion for building a company in St. George is wildly fulfi lling and at the center of this desire is the question: How does he get employees to come to St. George? “Our people are our inventory,” said Wedig. “The smarter and more creative our people are going to be, the better PrinterLogic is going to be. If we create an environment that is fun and exciting, make them feel like they are part of something interesting, not only can we attract talent but it makes the people who are already here that much more excited. This is important if you’re going to build a solid technology company.”

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 33 Silicon Slopes Parsons Behle & Latimer

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. THE GRAND AMERICA HOTEL | SALT LAKE CITY

2018 Speakers 2018 Speakers Erik A. Christiansen Erik A. Christiansen W. Mark Gavre Expansion by building a new offi ce that housed not only its own W. Mark Gavre With PrinterLogic expanding, Wedig began a search for expanding employee base, but any small startups as well. Maria O. Hart Maria O. Hart more offi ce space. During one visit in particular, Wedig “If I could build a building on the rim of that airport, Christina M. Jepson explored the housing capacity of a strip mall and came to a have a glass wall that looks on the city, Zion, Kolob, and be Christina M. Jepson Topics

stark realization. able to describe the lifestyle we’re offering, I could bring Derek Langton Topics Derek Langton “This is a strip mall—we’re trying to build a world-class any executive and sell them on that all day long,” said Liz M. Mellem organization and this is an extension of our recruiting Wedig. “Instead of $2 million for 1,200 square feet, how Liz M. Mellem Sean A. Monson problem,” said Wedig. “We can’t get top-tier talent, bring about $500,000 for 4,000 square feet? Who can’t sell Sean A. Monson them down here, and then shove them in a strip mall in the that?” Susan Baird Motschiedler middle of nowhere.” Susan Baird Motschiedler Indeed, strip mall offi cing is not ideal. Selling J. Kevin West 2018 J. Kevin West 2018 prospective employees on the pros of St. George (outdoor lifestyle, cost of living) is great, until they’re packed inside Tech Ridge a strip mall cubicle muttering, “I’ve made a huge mistake.” Standing on top of Tech Ridge, I can see what Wedig Unfortunately for Wedig, there weren’t many options describes. St. George lays spread in every direction, available. affordable housing and trees giving way to red cliffs, 3.5 CLE credits and 3.75 HRCI recertification credits pending. “We started realizing there wasn’t a building in St. dwarfed in the distance by great mountainous peaks. On a 3.5 CLE credits and 3.75 HRCI recertification credits pending. George that would be able to accommodate us a year from 65 degree February day, I breathe it in and ponder Wedig’s now,” said Wedig. words: Who can’t sell this? REGISTER TODAY at www.parsonsbehle.com/emp-seminar From their current offi ce, Wedig could look out his The initial building phase of Tech Ridge has begun. REGISTER TODAY at www.parsonsbehle.com/emp-seminar window and see the old St. George airport atop a mesa PrinterLogic recently broke ground for a new three-story overlooking the city. He began working on an idea with offi ce and hopes to have a fi nished product by March 2019, Mayor Jon Pike and St. George City, a plan to turn that with extra space available for early-stage startups. Another NATIONAL EXPERTISE. REGIONAL LAW FIRM. existing land into a sort of business oasis stocked with pillar of St. George’s tech community, busybusy, will be NATIONAL EXPERTISE. REGIONAL LAW FIRM. offi ce space, retail stores and residential areas. Ideally, moving into a new building at Tech Ridge shortly afterward. 201 South Main Street, Suite 1800 | Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 | 801.532.1234 PrinterLogic could act as a cornerstone of the project Dixie Applied Technology College is already there with 201 South Main Street, Suite 1800 | Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 | 801.532.1234

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2018 Speakers 2018 Speakers Erik A. Christiansen Erik A. Christiansen W. Mark Gavre W. Mark Gavre Maria O. Hart Maria O. Hart Christina M. Jepson

Christina M. Jepson Topics

Derek Langton Topics Derek Langton Liz M. Mellem Liz M. Mellem Sean A. Monson Sean A. Monson Susan Baird Motschiedler Susan Baird Motschiedler J. Kevin West 2018 J. Kevin West 2018

3.5 CLE credits and 3.75 HRCI recertification credits pending. 3.5 CLE credits and 3.75 HRCI recertification credits pending. REGISTER TODAY at www.parsonsbehle.com/emp-seminar REGISTER TODAY at www.parsonsbehle.com/emp-seminar

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a brand-new $45 million campus, an anchor point and passion of St. George City to help build this community, pipeline for tech talent that companies like PrinterLogic the plans for Tech Ridge are immense. The live-work-play and busbusy can use to build upon. distinction is important—the purpose of Tech Ridge isn’t to “We are here to prove you can plant a flower in the create a snobby mesa of business elites, but to provide a desert and make it grow,” said Wedig. “What would make place where anyone in the community can live or work or this a viable community? A mix of residential, retail, hotel play with a variety of options. Like walking a 3.5-mile trail and office space. What’s exciting is it isn’t just Tech Ridge— that circles the ridge, complete with breathtaking views it’s 150 acres of a live-work-play environment.” of the city. Or shooting hoops at PrinterLogic’s indoor It’s easy to envision the atmosphere Tech Ridge wants basketball court. Or taking your children to one of the to create, a cross somewhere between beachfront property available parks and letting them go crazy on the monkey and a Silicon Valley tech campus. Wedig has met with bars. executives from other St. George tech companies—like Tech Ridge is a community—Wedig, Pike, St. George busybusy CEO Issac Barlow and Zonos (formerly iGlobal City and everyone involved believes in this vision. As St. Stores) CEO Clint Reid—to discuss what St. George needs George continues to develop, the recent success of tech to sustain this tech-focused community, and the creation of companies like PrinterLogic has boosted the economy Tech Ridge is just one step. through the creation of higher-paying jobs. Tech Ridge “We’ve had really frank conversations knowing we have can amplify this boom: more tech companies and more to pay like they’re paying up there (in Utah/SLC counties), growth, fueled by a live-work-play environment that attracts we have to respond to the concerns and the personal top talent. Like Wedig said, it’s time to plant a flower in the development of these people if we want a reputation that desert and watch it grow. it’s safe to come work in St. George,” said Wedig. “We “The push that you get from taking the community to have to act like the tech scenes that are successful—with another place—and to have the mayor and people at the openness, with excitement for new opportunities, and the city really understand this needs to be an important part willingness to write a bigger check every year for somebody of our economy—it’s incredible,” said Wedig. “It makes me that is valuable to the company.” keep going.” With businesses already committed to the area and the

Future Forward By Blake McClary, Product Manager, What will Silicon Slopes look like in 10 years? Instructure

Today, it can almost WHERE WE’VE BEEN be taken for granted WordPerfect has absolutely laid the foundation for that Utah is successful where we are today. The word processing giant helped and countless business build the talent pool our state needed and put Utah opportunities abound. tech on the map. The sale of WordPerfect to Novell With a handful of created wealth and opportunities for entrepreneurs unicorns and dozens to continue building great companies. That sale also of highly successful allowed the Ashton family to build Thanksgiving Point, ventures, it can feel like where many of the state’s tech companies reside today. this is how it’s always One of the next great chapters in Utah tech is been—at least for those that of Omniture. Josh James was able to build on of us who haven’t been the foundation that Alan Ashton laid and bring more around too long. But that’s not the case. I’d like to look acclaim and capital to the state than ever before. Not at where we’ve been and what I think the future holds only did he successfully take Omniture public, he then for Silicon Slopes. sold to Adobe for $1.8 billion, and with that wealth and

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notoriety became one of the biggest evangelists this 2030 Olympic games. Silicon Slopes needs to pull all of state has ever had. Without his work, Silicon Slopes its collective weight to make that happen. would not be what it is today—the very namesake is In 10 years, the fruit of our efforts to infuse K-12 his doing. education with STEM will start to bear. The Pluralsight One initiative is of the upmost importance for us WHERE WE’RE GOING – FOURTH GENERATION long term. If we want this wave to continue to surge, Each tech wave has built on the previous and then we need a talent pool to sustain the kind of growth strengthened. What do you think will happen when that is inevitable. We all need to step up in creative product managers at Instructure, engineers at ways like BrainStorm did by adopting a school. Silicon Pluralsight and sales people at Domo get together? Slopes needs to be the leader in rallying us together There is an incredible pool of talented people who know to participate in these activities. The public-private how to build and scale companies and find product- partnership with the IT Pathways program is a great market fit. As they come together to work on ideas of example of how we should all work together to try and their own, they carry with them a wealth of experience, fix the talent pipeline problem. In order to support our having already scaled billion-dollar companies. And current and future growth we need to be intentional because of the easy access to capital in our state, the now. starting of new companies is going to be exponential. Welcome to the fourth generation of Utah tech. A FEW CAUTIONS Think of some of the up-and-comers, companies In order to set ourselves up for success in the future, like Podium, Canopy, Lucid, MX, BambooHR and there are a few things we need to be aware of now, Homie. These are the next round of potential unicorns and actively try to fix before the problems become in the state. They will continue to propel us forward by exacerbated. employing thousands and raising hundreds of millions of First, diversity. We will not be able to draw the dollars. Hopefully in the next 10 years a few of these will companies we want from outside the state if we have a have gone public, again creating even more wealth and homogeneous workforce. There’s so much that can be opportunity. said about this one topic, but in short, being tenacious Companies from the Bay Area and elsewhere will about hiring women and people of color is one thing choose to set up shop in Utah. Adobe, Snap, Mavenlink, that will help us successfully scale Silicon Slopes. Salesforce, Oracle and Microsoft have already made Another is infrastructure. Anyone reading this that choice. Even though HQ2 didn’t work out for the story knows how much of a mess it is to get around state, there will be others—the Utah brand is spreading Lehi during lunch time or how bad traffic on I-15 is too widely for this not to happen. The positive impacts during rush hour, both ways. We need to work with our of events like Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, Qualtrics X4 legislative body to fund the right projects that will take and Domopalooza draw people from all over the world care of our future infrastructure needs. My personal to Salt Lake City. You don’t think these people will belief is that Silicon Slopes can and should work much start to notice how amazing this place is? I sat in the more closely with UTA to find the right routes for their audience while Ryan Smith unabashedly pitched Utah to employees and incentivize using public transportation. I all of his customers and gave them all ski passes to Park applaud companies like Lucid and Pluralsight who have City. We need more of this type of evangelism! decided to office next to Frontrunner stations. On top of all the momentum I’ve discussed, we My last thought is that much of where we are today have the Governor’s Office of Economic Development stems from an attitude of us having something to prove. actively going out in the world and pitching the The entrepreneurs of Utah have always been hungry, Utah brand. If we are willing to be partners with humble and willing to pay it forward. Let’s continue to these organizations and be evangelists ourselves, invest in each other and this community. If you are in a the acceleration will be even greater. You’ll see so position of leadership or domain expertise, continue to many articles in national publications about Silicon be helpful to those a few years behind you. The more Slopes that it will no longer be a novelty when people we are willing to help lift the whole, the more successful #takenote. Imagine what we, the innovators of our we will collectively be in the future. state, could collectively do to enhance our brand with a

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 37 Silicon Slopes Utah’s Tech Brand Needs “Dope Flow” By Brad Plothow, Head of Communications, Womply

My brother teaches Time’s ticking, folks. Our tech brand needs dope middle school history flow, stat. in southeastern Idaho, where my dad has been OWNING OUR STORY a regional newspaper Let’s start with where we are now, and then look at whVere publisher for two we need to go. Currently, Utah has a unique asset in Silicon decades. Recently, my Slopes, which doubles as a moniker and a channel for dad spoke to my brother’s sharing news within our tech community. This gives us a class on the topic of sense of community and a megaphone locally. media literacy. Imagine On the national stage, Utah generates publicity mainly trying to convince on the basis of two strengths: our perpetually high ranking teenagers to think on various “best states for business” lists, and story after critically about the information they consume on Facebook story in national publications about why the state is fertile and Instagram. Might as well be asking them to eat spinach. ground for producing high-value private tech companies. Despite this uphill battle, something interesting These are important sources of relevance for Utah, and happened during the presentation. The kids didn’t roll their they’ve vaulted us into the national consciousness, at least eyes and tune out. They leaned in, listened and engaged. temporarily. But these are storylines—they are not our story. Afterward, they wrote letters of appreciation. One of the They’re means to an end, not the end itself. To establish students said my dad had “dope flow.” staying power, Utah’s tech brand needs to be about more Now, I may not be “hip and with it,” but I can than our utter ownage of all the business rankings and the understand what this student meant in context. For most fact that our lovely Deseret is truly a land of unicorns. We teens, media literacy is probably about as relevant and need a rallying cry that doesn’t have a shelf life. We need a interesting as monetary policy. On this day, however, my brand message that gets that dope flow reaction. dad found a way to turn a captive audience into converts We can look at the evolution of any great brand as to his message. Years from now, those kids will remember a model. In Utah, we have a few relevant ones. Over what was communicated that day. the years, I’ve been privileged to work on publicity and There’s a formula here. To get the dope flow reaction, communications strategies for many of the state’s amazing you need to: tech companies, including Pluralsight, which is a great example of building a brand message with dope flow. 1. Ahem! Capture an audience’s attention. Pluralsight understands that its core relevance—now 2. Preach without being preachy. and in the future—comes from closing the tech skills gap. 3. Use simplicity to make it memorable. This message checks all the boxes:

There’s also a lesson here for Utah’s burgeoning tech 1. It has a captive audience in the millions of global tech sector. Increasingly, we have our own captive audience as workers and corporations that have a vested interest more and more people pay attention to national publicity in acquiring and measuring tech skills. about our fair state, but we have a limited window to 2. The inevitability of the skills gap message gets heads use the spotlight to create lasting value. Brands abhor a nodding without heavy-handed-preaching. vacuum—we can either fill that vacuum on our terms, or 3. The message is simple and easy to unpack. the public at large will do it for us.

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With the skills gap framework in place, stories about resonated broadly and bridged the institution’s rich past to ongoing efforts to support K-12 computer science and its promising future. eye-popping wealth Pluralsight has created for its content Over the years, UVU has been one of the great authors take on new meaning. They reinforce the core stories in Utah, nearly doubling its headcount in the last message instead of distracting from it. They make the skills 10 years to become the largest public university in Utah gap more relatable and understandable. with a whopping 37,000 students. There are a multitude of factors involved in UVU’s rise, but the engaged learning SEIZING THE MOMENT message shouldn’t be minimized. People follow a message I saw this same formula in action nearly a decade ago, that clicks. when I worked on the rebrand of Utah Valley University. The word is getting out about Utah. We see this in The institution had, at once, a huge problem and huge the state’s press clippings and in the growing wave of opportunity. Due to its unique history and evolution, companies—like Snapchat and my current employer, seemingly everyone in Utah County and beyond thought of Womply—that are expanding here from California and UVU differently. Some remembered it as vocational school, elsewhere to take advantage of the state’s favorable others as a community college and some just considered it business environment and underrated talent pool. Brigham Young University’s little brother. Still, just because we’re attracting attention doesn’t The institution’s transition to university status provided mean we’ve arrived. If we don’t take some strategic steps to a small window to frame the brand of the future while we own our tech brand, entropy will take over and we’ll miss a had everyone’s attention. Rather than simply shouting, golden opportunity. In 10 years, I want to be able to refl ect “We’re a university!” we made the deliberate decision to on this moment in time as the start of our sizzle, not a fl ash articulate what kind of university UVU would become. in the pan. We rolled out a multi-year campaign to defi ne and To make things actionable, I propose that we gather a own the term “engaged learning.” At UVU, this meant group of passionate people and fi gure out ways to promote the combination of academic curriculum and real-world Utah’s tech brand in a concerted manner. If you feel the practicum—graduating with a diploma and a resume, as same way, hit me up on LinkedIn, and let’s brainstorm. one of our advertisements put it. The message was simple,

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@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 39 Silicon Slopes Teaching Hub How can we make Utah a world-class By Ari Bruening, education destination? COO, Envision Utah

Ask any one of the 42 We brought together the brightest minds in the state percent of Utah teachers on education, ensuring we had representation from a who quit within their first diversity of groups and policymakers, and agreed on a five years why they left, set of strategies that will really improve outcomes. Those and you’ll hear a variety strategies start as early as birth and continue until more of reasons: “I didn’t have Utahns graduate with a postsecondary education: enough support and mentorship.” “I couldn’t 1. Talk to your baby. Education starts with our own make enough to provide children. Parents have a huge responsibility to teach their for my family.” “I didn’t children, and that begins on day one. By the time your have the resources I child turns four, nearly 80 percent of her brain will be needed to succeed.” “I left to raise my own family.” developed. The amount of language she hears and the While the reasons may vary, the story remains the same: interactions she has with you in those first years will shape Too many Utahns feel that teaching is not a justifiable her ability to learn later in life. The more talking, the career path. better. Parents and caregivers can use everyday moments More and more, education is the key to escaping to build their kids’ brains and give them a foundation of poverty, successfully attacking life’s challenges and making learning they can use for the rest of their lives! positive contributions to society. Utah has great, well- educated workers—we’re also rapidly increasing graduates 2. Begin with preschool. Every year, thousands of kids in STEM fields and improving our outcomes across a start school without the foundational skills to learn and variety of metrics—but we’re small and need to punch succeed. Kids from tough circumstances—including well above our weight in order to keep up. Many rapidly children growing up in poverty or children whose families growing tech companies are forced to expand elsewhere don’t speak English—are especially likely to be unprepared because they can’t find a workforce at home. for kindergarten and first grade. Once kids start behind, That means now, more than ever, we need graduates it can be very difficult to catch up. High-quality preschool who have the skills to excel in the knowledge economy. can help every child have the right foundation to gain the We need Utah to become a world-class education knowledge and skills they’ll need. Even though preschool destination. That’s hard to do when we face challenges is for young children, the effects of good preschool can like a teacher shortage that exceeds a thousand teachers last throughout a child’s education and throughout a each year. child’s life—helping them become productive, contributing Education is not a simple issue—and there may not be members of society. a “silver bullet” solution that will change things overnight— but with a little collaboration and teamwork, there are 3. Support great teachers. Within a school, teachers things we can do to improve education in our state. have a greater impact on a child’s education than anything That’s why Envision Utah is bringing people together to else. But we aren’t getting enough good teachers in identify and implement strategies that will really move the classroom, and too many teachers are leaving the the needle on educational outcomes, so we’ll have more profession. Many districts can’t even find enough teachers graduates—and more diverse graduates—who are ready for to fill all their needs. We’re hiring more and more teachers the economy of tomorrow. who aren’t fully trained. Not only do we need to keep

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great teachers in the classroom, we need to recruit the more likely to volunteer, live longer, participate in civic state’s best and brightest into the profession. Then we activities, contribute to the economy and have greater need to give them the support, mentorship and resources family stability. If we want to remain a prosperous state in they need to succeed. the future, we will need more people to obtain education beyond high school. 4. Help every child succeed. Every child deserves the chance to receive a quality education, but challenges The bottom line is that each of us needs to prioritize like poverty or being an English-language learner can education and learning. It will take all of us working make it especially hard for some students to succeed together. Whether it’s in the home with our own children in school. Latinos in Action is a prime example of this or in the community encouraging students to take school strategy in operation. It’s a middle and high school seriously, we can each do our part. We can ensure that course, specifically for Latino students, that focuses on kids enter school ready to learn from great teachers who building Latino leaders in Utah. Nationally, 77.8 percent love their profession and feel valued. We can ensure that of Latino students graduate high school—Latinos in kids who need help succeed, so that everyone has the Action participants graduate at a rate of 98 percent, and opportunity to further their education beyond high school 85 percent go on to college. and enter the workforce educated and skilled. It’s Envision Utah’s goal to let every Utahn know that 5. Look beyond high school. The economy is rapidly we can do this. We can make Utah a world-class education changing, and more and more people need to further destination. Let’s talk together, plan together and work their education beyond high school to succeed in that together to make it happen. economy. People with only a high school diploma are You can learn more about Envision Utah’s efforts at more than twice as likely to be unemployed as people with envisionutah.org a bachelor’s degree. And people with more education are

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 41 Silicon Slopes Put Gratitude to Work How to keep Utah’s tech talent happy in 2018 By Crystalee Beck, Founder/President of Professional Communication Consulting, Co-Founder of The Mama Ladder International

Business leaders have highest. Being thanked matters to employees—a lot! a lot to be grateful for I also had employees rank six gratitude mediums in Silicon Slopes. With according to their preference, which yielded surprising Entrepreneur recently results. These included verbal (one-on-one), verbal (in a ranking Salt Lake City as group setting), handwritten note, tangible items like gift the nation’s hottest tech cards or swag, electronic note such as social media or startup city, and Forbes’ email or monetary bonuses. echoing declaration You know what beat out money? of the Beehive State’s Employees ranked verbal one-on-one gratitude capital as “next tech from their manager as their most preferred form of mecca,” tech talent is appreciation. So yes, that sincere “thank you” means a buzzing here. lot to employees. Once they’ve attracted talent, however, how do As far as frequency, when survey respondents were Silicon Slopes leaders retain their people? Consider two asked, “Do you wish your current manager expressed simple (and free) words: “thank you.” gratitude more often?” half of survey respondents In my published study on managerial gratitude, I (50.6 percent) answered they were currently satisfied. learned unexpected truths about how employees prefer This indicates for every two managers out there, one is to be thanked in the workplace. This insight matters perceived to be great in thanking their employees. (And because getting gratitude right—or wrong—directly who better to determine the success of a gift than the impacts an organization’s bottom line. receiver?) There is room for improvement: 43.4 percent Gratitude in the workplace is the most accurate of subordinates would like gratitude more often. (Six predictor of job satisfaction. When employees receive percent said they didn’t care.) gratitude, their motivation and sense of value within the organization increase, in turn increasing employees’ SEVEN APPRECIATION “DARK SIDES” TO AVOID willingness cooperate with other employees. Feeling It seems counterintuitive that something as nice as appreciated even cuts down worker sick days. appreciation can be done wrong, but my research shed To help your employees feel more appreciated in light on seven “dark sides” of managerial appreciation. 2018, here are my research outcomes, including how These types of gratitude communications do more harm employees prefer to be thanked, seven appreciation than good: “dark sides” managers need to avoid, and tips from three Utah business leaders who get gratitude right. Over-communication. Some managers express gratitude to such excess it causes irritation with their WHAT EMPLOYEES WISH THEIR LEADERS KNEW ABOUT team. One focus group participant summed up over- GRATITUDE communication of gratitude: “If you’re thanked all the In my survey of nearly 900 full-time workers and three time, then it’s a failure on the manager’s part; either focus groups with Utah-based employees, respondents they are lying or clueless.” rated the importance of receiving gratitude for job performance as 4.45 on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the Withholding. Conversely, some focus group participants

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felt their managers withheld gratitude inappropriately, encouragement signal that people are on track and demotivating employees to the point they left the improves their confidence,” Beckstrand continued. organization. “Taking time to periodically celebrate a person’s contribution over time communicates that you not only Undeserved. Several employees cited examples of times value a person’s work, but that you value them.” when they or others have received unwarranted thanks. Appreciating individual contributions also makes it One pointed out, “You have to be careful that praise less likely employees will seek greener pastures at other doesn’t tear teams apart. When you call someone out, companies. you need to have a real reason.” “The data from my research shows the number one reason women leave is directly related to feeling Unfair selection. This topic provoked strong feelings unappreciated,” said Sara Jones, CEO of Burbley and co- among survey participants. The concept of unfair founder of Women Tech Council. selection applied to tangible gifts as well as monetary Jones has spent almost 20 years leading data-driven bonuses. One woman said, “When people get team cultures. She helps leaders find and stay connected concessions that you don’t get it makes you feel your job to top talent, and has recently done research on women isn’t important.’” in the workplace. “Give workers—especially women—the opportunity Unequal opportunity. A few participants were vocal to grow,” said Jones. “Be mindful of where they want to about managers structuring incentives unfairly. One end up and help them get there. That’s appreciation in employee said he was on a team where the manager action.” either consciously or subconsciously formed two groups: Serial entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist those who got praise and those who didn’t. Alan E. Hall has led thousands of employees throughout his career in Utah-based companies like MarketStar, Lack of relationship. In order to truly thank someone Mercato Partners and Island Park Investments. sincerely, there must be a genuine relationship. For Hall recommends taking care of your employees’ example, rewarding an employee with a Starbucks gift needs first—so they can take care of your customers. card seems nice—unless you don’t know them well “Genuine praise is a powerful motivator,” said Hall. enough to know they don’t drink coffee. “When we are recognized for a job well done and in view of our peers, our job satisfaction and engagement levels Insincerity. In each focus group, experiences with increase. Both the individual and organization benefit.” insincere appreciation clearly upset some participants. One employee felt gratitude was merely a façade. THE RETURN ON “THANK YOU” IS HUGE Another employee said, “If (gratitude) is expressed … I Managers, beware of the seven “dark sides” and do feel it’s a bullet point on an agenda.” your best to be sincere. Ask your people about their appreciation preferences, keeping in mind every GETTING GRATITUDE RIGHT: TIPS FROM THREE UTAH employee is different. Where some employees crave BUSINESS LEADERS the prestige of public awards, others may prefer quieter Here are insights from three Utah business leaders with forms of appreciation. (Tip: You can find out your team’s deep experience in building cultures of appreciation. preferences with a quick conversational question or “The best way to show appreciation to others is having them fill out a simple survey.) to acknowledge and express how you feel about their When leaders take time to fill their talents’ thank work. Find ways to encourage tanks, they send a ripple effort, reward results and of benefits through their celebrate milestones,” said Gary When employees receive organization, and even the Silicon Beckstrand, vice president of the Slopes community at large. If O.C. Tanner Institute, where his gratitude, their motivation you don’t believe two little words team helps organizations attract, can have such a huge return—go engage and retain top talent by and sense of value within ahead and try them. #thankyou becoming great places to work. “Frequent words of the organization increase.

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 43 Cornerstone Technologies Laying the Foundation of Silicon Slopes Tech Summit By Chris Rawle

The largest structures in the world—the Empire State most notable falling into two categories: creating emerging Building, the Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House—all technologies like voice recognition software and serving begin with a cornerstone. After these buildings were as an internal events/communications group that created completed and marked the skyline of each city, it was easy event-driven experiences. to forget how it all began—with a solid stone that varies in “We were a collective group that were writers, size but not support, altered to meet the specific demands producers, directors, showmen, technology people,” said of each structure. A foundational piece that enables an Fraughton. “Todd and I were both engineers by trade but entire experience, causing tourists and passersby to look at always looked at return on investment, what events could some of humankind’s most intricate creations and feel they do for a company, and the metrics behind successful are a part of something special. events.” Nearly 30 years ago, Chad Fraughton and Todd After WordPerfect merged with Novell, Fraughton and Mortensen were working as engineers at WordPerfect. They his team pitched a business proposal for their department— were part of a team that was tasked with multiple duties, the they were laid off on a Friday, but re-hired on Tuesday to

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“We tout ourselves as a hybrid, we’re not a true production company, nor are we a true agency—we dabble in both. We can articulate storylines, we can roll out strategic campaigns, but we can also deliver on the core competencies that an audio and visual production company does.” Chad Fraughton, Cornerstone Technologies begin work with a subsidiary of Anheuser Busch, responsible needed. Under her direction, Novell became our first client for beer commercials and experiences within theme parks and that was the catalyst that helped launch us into the like Busch Gardens. high-tech sector.” After one year another opportunity arose, tying back Drawing on their unique experience of technology into technology. A former VP at WordPerfect approached creation and event production, Cornerstone was perfectly Fraughton about creating flight simulator technology, a positioned to take advantage of the dot-com boom. With project agreed to by both parties. Now with a relatively support from Clark and Novell, the late 1990s represented decent stream of revenue coming in, Fraughton and a rapid growth period for Cornerstone. They gained Mortensen decided it was time to start their own notoriety for putting on incredible live event experiences company. They mocked up a logo and settled on a brand: and other tech companies (like 3Com and iOmega) began Cornerstone Technologies. clamoring for their services. Fraughton, an engineer by trade, was going on sales calls where companies were basically pitching him on why they needed Cornerstone. What had began as a tiny, two person outfit was now A turning point growing into something more. “We started Cornerstone and were being encouraged to move back to St. Louis,” said Fraughton. “My business partner and I had our roots here and had started small families—I was 23, he was 33, and we didn’t want to move. Global empire So we were sitting one day in a basement at one of the Fast forward to present day. Cornerstone Technologies has WordPerfect buildings and we decided, let’s take our become a massive organization that owns multiple software business proposal to Carine Clark.” companies and has become an industry-leading event If this were a comic book, Carine Clark—a Utah tech production provider. As part of this all-encompassing event OG who has served as an executive at Novell, Altiris, production, Cornerstone handles logistics and everything Symantec, Allegiance, MaritzCX and Banyan—would be the that goes into the audio/visual experience of an event: heroine of this particular story arc. As Fraughton tells it, her lighting, video, sound and multimedia content design. support was a turning point in the creation of Cornerstone “We tout ourselves as a hybrid, we’re not a true that enabled everything to come. Clark listened to their production company, nor are we a true agency—we dabble pitch and enthusiastically agreed they were onto something. in both,” said Fraughton. “We can articulate storylines, we “When we presented, her answer was simple: ‘This can roll out strategic campaigns, but we can also deliver on absolutely makes sense, I would love for you guys to help the core competencies that an audio and visual production us out,’” said Fraughton. “That was the endorsement we company does. We’re very unique in that space.”

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 45 Silicon Slopes

Cornerstone has built its empire from within Utah, including an enormous, brand-new warehouse in American Fork. Fraughton estimates that Cornerstone operates in the top 3 percent of hybrid companies, servicing clients both foreign and domestic. “We see our involvement as “It takes a lot of vision to run a company that does lighting, sound, video, staging, rigging, scenic, content, media, writing and scripting,” said Fraughton. “And then not just being a part of Silicon breaking that down further into design groups, meaning we have people that are focused on production design, event Slopes Tech Summit, but being design, digital and content media design, and print design. For us, we’re a true one-stop shop.” part of a historical moment Using this formula, Cornerstone has partnered with some of the world’s most recognizable companies: Wendy’s, that pays homage to a state that Adobe, Monster Energy, LinkedIn, eBay. And last year, they began working with Silicon Slopes as the exclusive event can embrace and grow tech.” provider of Silicon Slopes Tech Summit. Chad Fraughton, Cornerstone Technologies The foundation of Silicon Slopes Tech Summit If you were one of the 14,000 attendees at Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2018, you’ve seen Cornerstone’s handy work. It encompassed everything: a giant main stage filtered through shimmers of sound and light; gigantic video screens that projected speakers and videos in stunning clarity; a sponsor hall filled with clean-cut, state-of-the-art booths, including a brand-new Cornerstone arrangement that can best be described as a hanging video cube; and a backstage area to accommodate a lineup of speakers that included Mitt Romney, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Facebook VP of Global Communications Caryn Marooney, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, and Code.org President Alice Steinglass. “When you’re dealing with big groups like at Tech Summit, it’s all about making sure the message is heard, felt and is submersive,” said Fraughton. “Everybody on this team strives to create magic. It can be from the general sessions to the breakouts, from the lunchroom to the hallway, from the opening of the doors at registration to signage. That’s the mark of a good event—it truly engages the mind.” It’s hard to fathom the amount of detail that goes into a major event until you’ve seen it happen. I’ve sat in Cornerstone’s conference room, drank their wine and watched them meticulously plan every tiny portion of Tech Summit. To create a layered experience—one that resonates with people and engages on multiple levels—detail is key. This sounds simple until you factor in the amount of detail required to provide audio, visual, lighting and cutting-edge technology for 14,000 people. Hint: it’s a ton. “This is something that’s in our DNA—when you plug into Cornerstone you may only see four or five faces, but you’re plugging into an army of people that deal with

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details,” said Fraughton. “Our roots are in tech. Part of this is “When you’re dealing with big giving back to the industry that helped us live out our dreams and, more specifically, my dreams. I can’t begin to tell you groups like at Tech Summit, how awesome it is to go to Tech Summit and see people I haven’t seen in years. It’s like a family experience to sit it’s all about making sure the backstage with Carine Clark or Liz Tanner or Dave Moon or Ty Allen. All these people that form the Silicon Slopes family are all the people who have made us what we are today. ... message is heard, felt and is Some of it is so personal, it’s hard to articulate.” Born from 20+ years of tech/event experience, submersive. Everybody on this Cornerstone values itself as a service-oriented company that can reach anywhere in the world. It is stationed in Utah with team strives to create magic. the logistics and transportation resources needed to provide world-class event production. Fraughton credits Utah with It can be from the general being instrumental in helping Cornerstone grow, exposing it to a long list of tech companies that would eventually sessions to the breakouts, from become clients. And now Cornerstone is motivated to give back in the form of Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, acting as the the lunchroom to the hallway, foundational piece that enables an entire experience, causing all involved to feel they are a part of something special. from the opening of the doors at “We see our involvement as not just being a part of Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, but being part of a historical registration to signage. That’s moment that pays homage to a state that can embrace and grow tech,” said Fraughton. “I see it as a page in our history the mark of a good event—it book, where I’m able to tell my grandkids that we were instrumental in starting a ripple effect that has carried on truly engages the mind.” and grown much bigger than Clint (Betts) or anyone ever suspected.” Chad Fraughton, Cornerstone Technologies

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 47 Silicon Slopes Founder Liquidity Is it the right time to take some money off the table? By Robert Shelton and Richard Seal, Co-founders, Shelton and Seal Wealth and Estate Management

As a founder, you pour your heart and soul into a provided great insights into why a founder may want to company. Your extreme clarity and hunger for success look at some liquidity. has brought your company much growth. You have “I’ve seen founders go from being single to married taken that leap of faith from having a steady job to to having three kids in my time being invested with tackle the fear of starting up your own company head- them. The demands on you financially grow with each on. On a regular basis, you have put in disproportionate year,” he said. hours to salary to help your business thrive. The Krommenhoek also talked about how successful results you have seen are directly correlated to being founders can have great clarity and extreme focus laser-focused on bringing to pass the success of your on their business. But, he added, personal financial company. concerns can worry founders and distract from focus This level of success has not come easy. Not only on the company. Some of these distractions can include have you made many sacrifices, but also your family the following: (and especially your spouse) have made sacrifices. They have been there, patiently supporting ideas and dreams • Sending your kid to the school that would be the that you have had and witnessing them becoming a best for them reality through a company. They have seen you take • Buying a home that meets the needs of your as little from the company as needed to allow the family company to grow. You haven’t taken very many raises • Living in a community that would be the best over the years, but the personal financial demands on environment to raise your kids the family continue to grow. • Living closer to where you work for an easier The big question you ask yourself is, “Would it be commute and more time efficiency OK to take some money off the table and seek out • Providing the best child care some founder liquidity?” • Anything else that keeps you from being laser- To understand the specific financial challenges focused on your business associated with founder liquidity, we conducted in- depth research with founders and their trusted advisors Founder liquidity is not just a Silicon Slopes issue, in Silicon Slopes. We selected each for his or her but an issue for founders across the nation. We recently ability to provide valuable insights into founder liquidity interviewed a colleague in Washington. He had just issues they personally faced while competing in today’s helped a founder get the liquidity needed to save the technology sector. founder’s marriage. The founder had a very supportive spouse, but due to the growing family, needed to REASONS FOUNDERS MIGHT CONSIDER TAKING SOME purchase a home that would be more functional. MONEY OFF THE TABLE Through taking some money off the table, it provided Sid Krommenhoek, one extraordinary founder and now the personal capital to purchase a home that met the managing partner at Peak Ventures, has a very unique needs of the family and freed up the ability of the perspective—he’s founded four startups, with two of founder to continue to focus on the growth of the those being very successful, and now he is on the company. investor side through venture capital. Krommenhoek

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your focus. Think of the things that made you hungry and motivated you to success. Be sure that the amount taken doesn’t become such a big meal that you lose the hunger. Think of having only a baked potato instead of a full steak dinner. Take enough to help with the concerns, but not so much that you lose the drive and desire for continued success.

3. Do I need trusted advisors to help structure the right liquidity option? Some things in business you can scale; having trusted advisors is not one of those things to scale. You want to surround yourself with trusted advisors who will sit down and collaborate with each other on a regular basis. You want to make sure you have the right strategy that will meet your needs and not create a bigger problem for you down the road. You will want to leverage the collective wisdom of the group in creating the best solution for you. This is not something that is just unique to a liquidity event, but should happen on a regular basis. Krommenhoek noted that his professionals still meet annually to ensure that he has the right strategies in place to help accomplish his family’s goals. Sid Krommenhoek, Managing Partner, Peak Ventures. Founders of Snapchat, Groupon, Four Square, Zynga This is the picture of the boat that Sid’s Dad immigrated and many other companies have taken early liquidity on. It hangs on his office wall as a motivator. from their companies. Each had different reasons for seeking liquidity. Early liquidity may offer the solution to various personal financial distractions you may have. THREE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK It is important to work in a collaborative way with your trusted advisors when seeking out an early liquidity 1. When is the right time to take some money off the option. The different options have pros and cons to each table? and your advisors would be best to help you navigate According to Krommenhoek, the best time to consider which options would be best for you. liquidity for a founder would be when the company is “less of a startup and more of a stable company.” The Robert Shelton and Richard Seal are managing business should be in a place where it has sufficient partners at Shelton and Seal Wealth and Estate capital to continue to grow. It would be a little strange Management, LLC. Registered Representatives of and and “atypical” to see a founder seeking liquidity prior securities offered through Berthel Fisher & Company to the completion of a series A funding. Over the past Financial Services, Inc. (BFCFS). Member FINRA/ few years, however, the pendulum is swinging more SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through favorably to the founder. It is best to consult with those BFC Planning, Inc. Shelton and Seal Wealth and Estate trusted advisors that you have. Management, LLC, BFCFS, and BFC Planning, Inc. are independent. The interpretations and organization of 2. What should be the motivation for seeking liquidity these ideas are the confidential thoughts of Shelton & options and how much should I take? Seal and do not represent the opinions of BFCFS. You should not be looking for liquidity just because you have “earned the right.” It would be best to take a liquidity option for things that might be distracting to

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 49 Silicon Slopes The Secret of the Internet What the world’s biggest tech companies have in common By Joseph Woodbury, CEO/Co-founder, Neighbor

In 1994, Jeff Bezos left THE AGE OF THE MARKETPLACE his position as vice So what is it that makes these tech giants different from president of a Wall the rest of the successful companies out there? What Street firm to do the do the tech giants have in common with each other? unthinkable: connect The answer: each of these companies is a marketplace. writers and publishers Oh, so you’ve never thought of Google as a directly to their readers. marketplace? Of course, Amazon is easy to understand. No middleman. No in- There are buyers and there are sellers, and they come house barista. No fancy together to form a relationship on Amazon.com. But displays. No one to pre- likewise, Google is simply a marketplace where creators screen likely bestsellers of websites and consumers of websites meet up for the or optimize for the best first time. Need a place to listen to music? Google your print margins. If you could publish it, Amazon would sell question, and get connected to Spotify’s music. Need a it. It instantly became “Earth’s Biggest Book Store.” place to store your car, boat or boxes? Google it, and Bezos saw something in the tea leaves that others meet Neighbor for the first time. didn’t, and something about Amazon’s model helped Netflix is also a marketplace connecting TV and it weather the dot-com bubble a few short years later, movie studios with eyeballs everywhere. Facebook while so many other successful internet companies connects friends with, well, friends. Priceline connects failed. In 2000, bankruptcy replaced IPOs, and the hotels with travelers. And of course, Uber connects future of the internet became uncertain. But not for Francine and her white Honda Accord to Ronald and Amazon and Bezos. Amazon survived, and so did the Jerry at the airport. internet. THE SECRET OF THE INTERNET THRIVING, NOT SURVIVING It’s a secret hiding in plain sight, so easy to miss that After the internet recovery, thousands of tech many internet experts look right past it. The internet companies began, once again, to leverage the internet was built for marketplaces because the internet is a for high growth and returns. But certain companies marketplace. began to rise to the top and dominate the headlines. Sure, other types of companies live and even thrive This was the age of Google and eBay, then Netflix on the internet, just like an old newspaper can be and Facebook. In fact, as of May of last year, the six repurposed as an umbrella. Barnes & Noble can start largest internet-based companies in the United States selling books online and improve its margins by cutting were Google, Amazon, Facebook, Priceline, Uber and out brick and mortar. But a newspaper is best used Netflix, respectively. Commonly referred to as the “tech for reading, not umbrella-ing, and retail ecommerce giants,” these behemoths have amassed a combined websites will never be as big or as effective on the valuation of over $2 trillion (more than the next top 20 internet as marketplaces, whether they’re selling fidget internet-based companies combined). spinners or cars. Companies selling products online Again, there is clearly something fundamentally come in waves and fads, but online marketplaces last different about these companies that pushed them to forever. the top.

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“the internet loves marketplaces so much because they provide standardization and allow people freedom to go right to the source. Marketplaces truly are the secret of the internet.”

The secret is out: the internet was built for Starbucks, Burger Kings, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wendy’s marketplaces, and marketplaces get the most out of the and Domino’s Pizza locations combined. This massive internet. industry has a market cap that exceeded $500 billion in 2017. Neighbor drastically disrupts and improves UTAH’S EMERGING ADULTHOOD self storage by providing a one-stop shop where good This is the place! For marketplaces. As Utahns, people with unused space can make $2,000 – 4,000 we’ve conquered the world of SaaS with Workfront, per year, and those in need of storage can rent that Instructure, Lucid, Domo and more. We took on space from them for 50 percent of the price of consumer retail and brand with Skullcandy and traditional storage, in a safe, accessible location right in Cotopaxi. But with the organization of conferences like their very own neighborhood. the X4 and Silicon Slopes summits and the construction of satellite offices by big tech orgs like Snap, Adobe BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER and dare-we-say Apple garnering the national spotlight, Consumers are hungry for places where they can Utah needs more marketplaces to grow into its compare products from many different sellers side- potential. by-side, with standardized reviews and listings. In fact, Overstock led the Utah charge by connecting smart the internet loves marketplaces so much because they shoppers to overstocked inventory. Pluralsight followed provide standardization and allow people freedom to go suit by connecting the brightest coders to the best right to the source. Marketplaces truly are the secret of coding courses and mentors (if you needed any more the internet. proof that marketplaces are BIGGER, just look at how But at Neighbor, we’re even more passionate about these two have dominated as Utah’s largest internet- marketplaces because they bring communities together. based companies). And of course, Homie has forever It’s a wonderful feeling of trust to know that a real changed the Utah real estate market with its clean person with a real need is able to store their valued technology solution to home buying. belongings in their neighbor’s valued space. We’ve As Silicon Slopes evangelist Brad Rencher recently watched as individuals who’ve lived right next door to told me, “Utah has got to think even bigger.” He’s each other for years without ever meeting personally absolutely right; we need marketplaces that are have connected for the first time on our platform. providing solutions to consumers in the largest of all Neighbor made the difference in strengthening their markets. friendships and drawing them off of social media and Neighbor’s team has chosen the self-storage market into their neighborhoods. Marketplaces are different for this very reason. Currently, one in 10 American because they bring people and communities together families is locked into a self-storage lease, with more like no other company can. storage facilities in the United States than McDonald’s,

@siliconslopes Spring 2018 | 51 WHO’S PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS?

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