Silicon Slopes brand and Beehive Startups to combine efforts
New branding image for the Silicon Slopes Beehive Startups merger announced on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016.
Clint Betts, executive director of the newly-formed nonprofit that combines Silicon Slopes and Beehive Startups.
Josh James, founder and CEO of Domo, and executive board member of Silicon Slopes.
Utah’s startup, entrepreneur and tech industries are booming. To tout this more efficiently, SiliconSlopes.com and Beehive Startups announced Tuesday that the two brands have formed a new nonprofit organization, joining forces to better serve Utah’s growing business community.
“The whole idea is to tell Utah’s story on a national and global level,” said Clint Betts, Beehive Startups founder. “We plan to expand the reach and influence of Utah’s startup and tech community.”
The Silicon Slopes brand was started by Josh James, founder and CEO of Domo, about 10 years ago. Betts started Beehive Startups three years ago, but has grown the brand exponentially since then. Within the newly formed nonprofit organization, Betts said, the Silicon Slopes brand will focus exclusively on Utah’s tech community, while Beehive Startups will focus on early-stage startups and entrepreneurship.
“We started Silicon Slopes over a decade ago with others in the tech community as a nonprofit branding initiative to help attract talent, capital and business to the state,” James said in a press release. “If you look at the activity that’s been going on in Utah over the past few years, it’s clear that we have a strong tech economy and that there’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur here. The traction Clint has achieved with Beehive Startups in such a short amount of time is truly impressive and a testament to the energy of Utah’s entrepreneurial spirit and success across all sectors. This new organization announced today is designed to harness that energy and the participation of tech and startup leaders in taking our community to the next level.”
Betts will now serve as the executive director of the new combined organization. James will serve on the executive board alongside a number of local business leaders, including: Adobe Senior Vice President Brad Rencher, InsideSales.com founder and CEO Dave Elkington, former Symantec CMO and MaritzCX CEO Carine Clark, Pluralsight co-founder and CEO Aaron Skonnard, Qualtrics co-founder and CEO Ryan Smith and Vivint founder and CEO Todd Pedersen.
By coming together inside this newly-formed nonprofit organization, Betts said both brands will also immediately begin working to empower Utah’s startup and tech community in three key areas: to learn, connect and serve.
“We believe education is key to a diverse, healthy and vibrant startup community. Our focus on education appears in a variety of different formats with the intent to both inform and mentor Utah startups and entrepreneurs,” Betts said.
The organization will also present a variety of avenues for the business community to connect and collaborate — especially for those within the entrepreneur realm.
“Part of our overall mission is to give every Utah entrepreneur a voice and an extensive network of support,” he said.
Betts was most excited about rallying the tech community behind worthy service projects, similar to Beehive Startup’s Startup Santa. He plans to have multiple opportunities for the business community to give back throughout the year.
“We’ve never had an organization like this, never had anything like this in Utah. It’s unprecedented,” Betts said.
In tandem with Tuesday’s announcement, James and Betts also announced the launch of the Silicon Slopes Summit, a two-day technology conference Jan. 19-20 at the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City. The event, which coincides with the Sundance Film Festival, is targeted to educate and grow the local community of developers, leaders and entrepreneurs. The goal is to make this a consistent and prominent national summit.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to build upon the Silicon Slopes brand that many community leaders have created over the past 10 years,” Betts said. “By combining that brand and its resources with the focus and community that Beehive Startups brings, we can continue to grow Utah’s startup and tech ecosystem into something truly special …. We hope to build something here that accurately represents and is fundamentally owned by every entrepreneur in Utah. I can’t wait to get started.”