It’s no secret that Colorado’s tech scene is thriving, and new companies are consistently emerging from the Rocky Mountain woodwork to bring their innovations to life. But it takes more than a fresh idea to make an organization thrive — success hinges on the ability to attract and retain high-quality talent while building a top-notch company culture, too.
We caught up with eight local companies — spanning industries from branded swag to robotic recycling — to see how they’ve impacted Colorado’s reputation as an innovation hub. Did we mention they’re all hiring?
Adtaxi provides digital solutions for e-commerce, native advertising, social media marketing and programmatic marketing.
Growing into the role: “My reasons for staying at Adtaxi have changed over the years,” Coleman said. “Originally, I just loved digital media. I wanted to learn the intricacies of the platforms and Adtaxi allowed me the ability to carve a career path doing so. I have been fortunate to learn about all sides of the business as I progressed in the company, which led me to my current role. I didn’t realize along the way I was being perfectly positioned to turn my true passion, writing, into a career. As the content manager, I’ve really had the freedom to guide our stance on best platforms and strategies in the industry.”
“Adtaxi has also been extremely flexible as I grew my family. The ability to work from home and have autonomy to prioritize what needs to be done has been a huge asset in juggling my job and my three children.”
Crucial flexibility: “There is so much growth opportunity as we continue to refine our strategy! We are hitting a point where we are able to align the messaging and package all of the great knowledge, services and people as an asset brands need more than ever. Our market presence is in a time of growth which is so fun to watch. It’s been exciting to see all the hard work and dedication come together, especially in the wake of COVID-19. Like most, we really had to pivot our plans in 2020 and be agile and I believe some of our best work came out of that challenging time.”
Printfection makes it easier for marketing managers to produce and manage branded promotional items for employees, vendors, audiences and partners of all kinds.
Employees first: “When I was searching for a new job, I was specifically looking for a company that put its employees first and focused on sustainable growth over unattainable growth,” Lanter said. “I was blown away with the interview process and level of genuine interest showcased by the director of customer success. He went above and beyond to answer my questions to ensure the role was a mutual fit and was transparent in the growth trajectory of the role and department. I was confident in signing the job offer that not only was I satisfying my desire to drive results professionally, but that I would have the mental space to still live my life outside of work.”
Endless opportunities: “Printfection is growing at an impressive rate, which is opening doors for not only new hires but for existing employees to grow into different roles. The ever-changing landscape of a scaling company is very appealing to me professionally as it allows me to stretch my abilities and to tackle new challenges. There is never a shortage of opportunities to make a direct impact on the business.”
Homebound is simplifying the journey of creating a custom-built home by leveraging technology to make homebuilding simpler and more transparent.
Innovating the industry: “The deciding factor for accepting my position at Homebound is the same reason I have stayed at the company for so long: two worlds colliding,” Daly said. “People sometimes talk about how the construction industry is slow or unwilling to adopt new technology, but that cannot be further from the truth at Homebound. I partner with construction industry experts that, while brand new to the concept and terminology, are excited to participate in our agile processes (e.g. roadmap planning, retrospectives, design sprints, etc.). They continually push the tech team to think outside the box, analyze how competitors are doing it better, and do not hesitate to suggest new and creative ways to tackle their challenges.”
“It’s not always easy, but I truly value our dynamic with the construction team and I am excited to participate in this fusion of the digital and physical world of homebuilding.”
Future endeavors: “I am most excited to take our learnings from disaster rebuilds and apply them more broadly to custom building as we expand to other markets. The product team is relentlessly focused on enabling our homeowners and construction professionals to effectively and efficiently collaborate and for our Homebound team to deliver quality homes that are perfect for each homeowner’s lifestyle and budget. What this means for tech is that we need to keep up with increasing market demands by building a software platform that is both flexible and scalable. This requires us to continuously deliver, listen to feedback from our users and iterate quickly.”
Cin7 aims to simplify inventory management by connecting its customers to an ecosystem of suppliers, sales channels, marketplaces and apps.
Multifaceted roles: “Cin7 is an exciting, diverse global organization helping our customers with cutting-edge technology,” Parker said. “With a background in multiple areas of product manufacturing, movement and the technology that powers commerce, I recognized immediately that the problems the company is focused on solving for customers today are some of the most pressing.”
“Coming from a very established enterprise background, I was struck by the magnitude of the opportunity at Cin7 — a product that solves for so many of the problems that plague supply chains regardless of scale. The team lives the company values of strive, trust, innovate, and collaborate and during the hiring process, I was impressed with the level of emphasis on cultural fit and motivation they brought to the interviews, pillars I as a leader now strive to embed in my team.”
Daily drive: “Exemplified by the recent Supply Chain Disruption Executive Taskforce, commerce fulfillment and inclusive technology that allows for competition by businesses of every size is crucial to help maintain a strong economy. Cin7 is focused on bringing together the best solutions and developing partnerships with the right organizations to help our customers thrive.
“As the leader of the product marketing organization, my job is to serve as one of the main evangelists of the product, ensuring that the needs of the customer are aligned with the capability and messaging of the solution. We truly believe we are making a difference in the way our customers grow their businesses, while developing leading SaaS products that make a difference to the people we buy products from every day. Being in such a critical and explosive area drives me every day to ensure we are putting forward the best product and processes for the people that rely on us to power their business.”
Nylas offers a hosted sync platform that enables developers to integrate their apps with email, contacts and calendars.
Continuous growth: “One of the many reasons I’ve stayed at Nylas for the past four years is due to all the support and career growth opportunities that the company offers,” Younes said. “Nylas really values promoting from within and helping every individual, regardless of level, achieve their career growth goals. I started as an account executive at Nylas, with the goal of moving into management. Nylas leadership worked with me to prepare me for that next step.”
“During my time here, I’ve also been able to hire fantastic people for our growth account executive team. It’s been so exciting for me to be able to work with them on their career goals, just as my manager once did with me.”
On the horizon: “With our latest $120 million series C raise, Nylas is at a really pivotal stage of growth. We’re going to continue to build new features for our existing product offering, which will allow us to expand the potential use cases we can sell into. I know we will get Nylas to a place where we are a common name when people think of productivity and connectivity infrastructure tools. I’m certain that the growth sales team is going to be a vital part of getting us there.
“I’m excited about this next stage of Nylas, and to strategize with the growth account executives on how to sell our new features and to find new verticals to break into. One of the greatest things about working in the growth sales segment is that you get to find companies that are just starting to build out their product, and help them solve a problem they have. As a growth team, we are going to be able to help out so many more companies (regardless of vertical) build out their products, all while helping make Nylas the go to company for productivity and connectivity infrastructure tools.”
AMP aims to make recycling more effective, with a fleet of robots that can help identify, sort and process recycled materials.
Making a difference: “I was attracted to AMP by the strong sense of purpose and mission, and AMP’s position as a solution to waste,” Hansen said. “With so many existential problems in the world, AMP offered an avenue to spend my time at work addressing a pressing issue that’s meaningful on both a personal and global scale. Also, the literal, tangible effect that our AI-guided robots have on modernizing the recycling industry makes our work, progress, and accomplishments very concrete. I was searching for that type of professional fulfillment, which I found lacking in some of my former roles.”
A customer-first mindset: “I’m excited to be coming on board at an inflection point where the concept of what it means to be a customer-centric company can really be forged from the ground up. In the past, I’ve joined teams where a lot of these processes were well-established, but not in the right ways. This is a huge opportunity to build something right, and scale for a chance to apply artificial intelligence to transform the waste industry for the better.”
StackHawk is a cybersecurity software for developers that uses dynamic application security testing to automatically scan code for vulnerabilities before it’s pushed into production.
A team effort: “StackHawk’s founders are focussed not only on creating an impactful product, but also on creating a collaborative, dynamic and inclusive work culture,” White said. “They have built a company where every team member has a voice and actively participates in the success of the company every single day.”
Industry-wide impact: “StackHawk is uniquely positioned to both disrupt a legacy market and continuously establish our brand as the market leader in enabling developers to take ownership of their application security. As I look toward the future, I am excited about my team’s ability to empathize with developers and build solutions that puts application security in the hands of the people who write the code.”
Wunder Capital helps put renewable energy in reach for many by financing solar projects around the United States. It also builds software that aims to make the clean energy industry more efficient.
Passion-fueled projects: “I’ve been with Wunder for five years, and the opportunity to align myself with mission-oriented work and solve the greatest crisis of our generation gets me out of bed every morning,” Bywater said. “We’re not building another app for teenagers or supporting another SaaS product for big corps. We’re pursuing one of the only tangible opportunities to truly save the world – we’re fighting climate change by pushing renewable energy forward. In addition to our mission, Wunder’s culture is truly incredible. In my opinion, our culture can be summed up in one word: commitment. There’s truly no place I’d rather be!”
Changing the world: “Wunder’s mission is to solve the greatest crisis of our generation — climate change — and I am most excited about doing exactly that. Wunder fights climate change by accelerating the proliferation of clean energy in the commercial and industrial (C&I) market. Sixty-two percent of all U.S. electricity consumption is from C&I users, yet 92 percent of rooftops in the C&I total addressable market don’t have solar today due to standardization challenges, which means there is a huge opportunity to address climate change right in front of us!
“Wunder has developed proprietary technologies that address each of the critical challenges currently constraining the C&I market growth, and by addressing these challenges to deploy solar into the C&I market, Wunder is making huge strides in the fight against climate change. I’m excited to be on the front lines of the change our world so desperately needs.”
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