Monday marks the beginning of PHX Startup Week. The day started with a panel focused on veterans in entrepreneurship.
Phillip Potter, the executive director of Bunker Labs, spoke on the panel.
“The narrative that’s been going on, especially in the last 10-plus years, is that veterans are … a charity case,” Potter said. “I want the narrative to be about the fact that veterans are going to be great business leaders, because we already are.”
Adam Tse attended the panel hoping to hear more about the entrepreneur veteran community.
“I think veteran entrepreneurship is so important just because the fact the veteran community, they have characteristics that make them great entrepreneurs already,” Tse said.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are more than 500,000 veterans living in Arizona. Potter believes many veterans possess the characteristics for strong entrepreneurs.
“We are happy to help, and we are happy to be involved, but I think we would rather lead. And we do have big ideas we can execute, and I think that works out for great for startups,” Potter said.
This is the second year for the event sponsored by Chase and Salt River Project.
PHX Startup Week will be hosted at locations across the Valley every day. For more information and to register for free visit, phxstartupweek.com.