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PHX Founders
We sit down with remarkable founders who are making Phoenix a top software city. In these interviews, we dig in to the highs and lows of company building, and get a little vulnerable to find out what makes these founders keep going.
The PHX Founders Podcast is a production of PHX FWD.
PHX FWD is on a mission to prove Phoenix a top city for sustainable, high growth software companies to start, scale, and succeed. We've seen firsthand how software ventures can be a force for good for individuals, families, and communities.
We believe Phoenix is the best city to start a company, with the best talent, and without a doubt the very best company builders. Watch us prove it.
PHX Founders
Why Great Founders Obsess Over the Problem, Not the Product
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In this episode of the PHX FWD Founder Podcast, Gregg Scoresby sits down with Jeff to talk about the lessons he learned building companies, starting from a working class upbringing in Chicago.
Jeff shares how early experiences like mowing lawns, shoveling snow, and knocking on doors shaped his mindset as a founder. Those early hustles taught him persistence, independence, and the importance of creating opportunity instead of waiting for it.
The conversation also explores Jeff’s journey into technology and the founding of ORY, an identity and access management platform helping companies build modern software infrastructure.
As AI agents and automated systems increasingly interact with applications, identity infrastructure is becoming one of the most important layers of the internet. Jeff explains why founders must obsess over the problem they are solving, how trust is built in enterprise software, and why understanding your customers’ industry is critical when building a company.
What you'll learn:
• Why great founders obsess over the problem, not the product
• How Jeff’s early hustle shaped his entrepreneurial mindset
• What ORY does and why identity infrastructure matters
• Why understanding your customer’s industry is critical
• The importance of being fact-driven when building a company
Follow PHX FWD for more founder stories and insights:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/phx-fwd/
Listen to more episodes, watch video interviews, and subscribe at phxfounders.com.