Cohort completes Scale Up NM’s C-Suite Sprint for tech startups

Original Article | August 15, 2024

 The Scale Up New Mexico program, partially funded by the United States Economic Development Administration and housed at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center, recently celebrated the completion of its third 2024 cohort of the C-Suite Sprint acceleration program.

This accelerator initiative aims to equip founders of tech startups in New Mexico with the essential knowledge and skills for effective leadership in startup organizations. It achieved notable success by helping promising startups advance their understanding of the formal governance structure of a board of directors and the strategic support provided by an advisory board. This comprehensive support enabled them to enhance their leadership effectiveness and better navigate the complexities of startup management.

The C-Suite Sprint is one of several projects within Scale Up NM, an integrated collection of initiatives designed to foster the development of early-stage startups. After a thorough selection process, startups from New Mexico formed the third 2024 cohort and embarked on a rigorous journey filled with mentorship, educational opportunities, and networking.

Throughout the six-week program, the startups significantly benefited from the wisdom and support of a diverse group of mentors and successful startup executives. These experts provided practical assistance by sharing their insights and perspectives on leadership and vision as a startup CEO, building a successful team, operational excellence, team management, financial leadership, and fractional leadership.

“We are incredibly thrilled with the remarkable progress our startups have made throughout the C-Suite Sprint,” said Carlos Murguia, Scale Up NM program manager. “This cohort's ability to embrace mentorship and understand different roles and strategies for recruiting, training, and maintaining talent in their organizations is inspiring and showcases a bright future ahead.”

The startups in the cohort spanned a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, photonics, aerospace, energy, life sciences, agriculture and cloud computing. All the startups are at the early stages of development and will soon expand their teams and leadership roles.

“We look forward to seeing how these promising ventures continue to evolve and attract the most promising talent for their teams, both inside and outside New Mexico,” said Dana Catron, deputy director of Arrowhead Center. “Witnessing their journey from understanding different leadership roles, structures and strategies has been remarkable.”

The C-Suite Sprint created a vibrant environment where participants could interact with seasoned entrepreneurs, mentors and advisers, building valuable connections. This dynamic setting accelerated their path to successful leadership formation within their organizations.

“I have also been in similar accelerator and sprint programs, and have been absolutely blown away by how well this has been coordinated, planned and communicated, as well as the level of engagement of participants” said Ashley Maguire, CEO at Helen’s Foundry. “I think it speaks to the dedication of staff and New Mexico founders; we’re just a bit scrappier than some of the other programs, and that level of grit and dedication really makes this program shine.”

For more information about Scale Up NM, contact Murguia at cmurguia@nmsu.edu or visit https://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/program/scale-up-new-mexico/.