Silicon Slopes is bringing the Utah Regional Competition of Startup World Cup to StartFEST. Startup World Cup is the world's largest startup pitch competition, hosted by Pegasus Tech Ventures, with more than 100 regional events across six continents. Selected founders pitch live at StartFEST in front of investors and the crowd. The winner advances to the Grand Finale in San Francisco to compete for a $1,000,000 investment prize. This is Utah's entry into a global contest.

• 🔹The world's #1 startup pitch competition, in Utah. Hosted by Pegasus Tech Ventures across 100+ regions and six continents.

• 🔹A $1,000,000 prize. The regional winner advances to the Grand Finale in San Francisco.

• 🔹A live pitch at StartFEST. Selected founders pitch before investors and the StartFEST audience.

In ninth grade, a high school counselor told Arian Lewis he shouldn't plan on going to college and that he might struggle just to graduate. Arian has ADHD and a mild form of dyslexia. He had to read everything twice just to keep up.

He got a scholarship to BYU. Then he got an MBA from Oxford. Then he led the creation of Rise, a global coworking and acceleration brand for Barclays. Then he co-founded Kiln in 2018 and built it into one of the premier flex office brands in the country.

Kiln now serves over 5,000 members and 2,000 businesses across 16 locations.

Here's why Arian belongs at Start School. He built something real while dealing with challenges that most people would have let define them. He didn't use ADHD and dyslexia as a story. He outworked the obstacles and built a company that is reshaping how thousands of people go to work every day.

Arian is sitting down with Start School to talk about what he's learned building Kiln from a 2018 startup to a national brand. How he thinks about community as a business model. What he sees happening with return-to-office and why it matters for entrepreneurs. How he's thinking about AI and the future of how people work. What scaling a physical-location business across multiple markets actually requires. What he learned building Rise for Barclays and how that shaped Kiln. And what he'd tell someone who's been told they can't do something and is trying to prove the world wrong.

He'll take your questions. He'll give you real answers. No fluff.

If you're building something, thinking about building something, or trying to figure out what comes next, this is the room you want to be in.

June 15: David Bradford

June 16: Arian Lewis

June 30: Ryan Gardner

July 9 : Curtis Anderson

July 15: Ryan Caldwell

July 27: Joseph Woodbury

Most startup events are built for the one percent. The venture-backed. The ones chasing a 10x return for someone else's fund. The ones who measure success by how much money they raised instead of how much they built.

StartFEST is for everyone else. The solo founder. The bootstrapper. The person who wants to build a profitable business that supports their family. The company that grows slowly, treats its people well, and is still standing in twenty years. The best businesses rarely make the headlines. Start School is built for founders who know the difference.

More than 400 companies are now part of Start School. No tuition. No equity. No hidden agenda.

It's a free entrepreneurship program from Silicon Slopes, built in partnership with Mountain America Credit Union. Every dollar from StartFEST goes back into it. When you buy a ticket, you are paying for the next founder who shows up wanting to build something real.

Start School takes self-leadership seriously because the founders who last almost always do. It's the track you won't find at any other startup event, and it's the reason Start School exists in the form it does.

Utah is affordable if you already own a home. If you rent and want to buy, your options are bleak.

Housing affordability in Utah affects everyone.

Companies can't recruit people to a state they can't afford to live in. Early hires commute from two counties away. Teachers and nurses leave. Young Utahns run the numbers and wonder if they should too.

Utah's promise is opportunity. We want to keep that promise. For everyone, not just a few.

Silicon Slopes is committed to being part not only of this conversation but also of the solution.

Join us on June 18 for a virtual town hall on affordability in Utah. Some of Utah's top tech, business, and political leaders will be speaking, with more information to be announced soon. Audience questions will shape the conversation.

In this episode of the Go-To-Market Podcast, Amy Osmond Cook sits down with Matthew Holman, founder of Commerce Catalyst, to discuss how community, collaboration, and human expertise are becoming even more valuable as AI reshapes the business landscape.

Matthew shares his entrepreneurial journey from marketing director to startup operator and community builder, revealing how a small meetup for ecommerce professionals evolved into one of Utah's most active commerce communities. 

Today, Commerce Catalyst connects ecommerce leaders through events, networking groups, newsletters, Slack communities, conferences, and peer-to-peer learning experiences.

During this discussion, Matthew explains why ecommerce may be more resilient to disruption than many industries, how brands can use AI without sacrificing authenticity, and why human judgment remains the ultimate competitive advantage.

Amy and Matthew also explore emerging AI-powered networking tools, the future of professional communities, and why the best business insights still come from conversations with peers who have faced the same challenges.

The 2026 Sports Tourism Symposium will take place on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, from 9:00 am - 2:30 pm, hosted by Miller Sports + Entertainment at America First Field (9256 S State St, Sandy, UT 84070). Stick around after the Symposium for a special experience as we host an England vs. Croatia FIFA World Cup watch party to keep the energy going!

America First Field is home to Real Salt Lake (MLS) and Utah Royals FC (NWSL). The venue has become iconic, hosting major events like U.S. national team games, World Cup qualifiers, the 2009 MLS All-Star Game, the 2013 Gold Cup, and even the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup.

The Sports Tourism Symposium brings together municipalities, event organizers, and hospitality partners from across the industry to share ideas, explore trends, and collaborate on strategies that make our communities stronger through sports.

In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan sits down with Nicole Davis, founder of Inland Sea and one of Utah's most respected brand strategists, for a candid conversation about mental health, identity, work, social media, and the importance of personal agency.

Nicole talks about her first experience with therapy as a young teenager struggling through high school. Rather than viewing herself as broken, she began questioning whether the environment around her was contributing to her distress. That realization sparked a lifelong curiosity about resilience, self-awareness, and finding solutions that actually work.

This discussion explores the challenges many people face when they feel trapped by expectations, whether in school, the workplace, or society at large. Nicole and David discuss how empowerment, purpose, and meaningful contribution can have a profound impact on mental well-being.

Utah's technology community has needed this for a while. On September 11, 2026, it arrives.

STACKED Summit is Utah's premier event on AI, cybersecurity, SaaS, and data analytics. The inaugural summit takes place at Salt Lake Community College, and we built it for the people closest to the work: the builders, operators, engineers, and executives who are navigating the most consequential shifts in the industry right now.

Not networking for the sake of it. Not panels that go nowhere. Real sessions, real practitioners, and real conversations about the problems worth solving.

Six tracks. One room. Everything that matters in Utah tech right now: AI, Cybersecurity, Data, Systems, Builders, and SaaS.

Hundreds of founders, engineers, operators, and executives will be there. The first STACKED Summit is the one people will say they didn't want to miss. We'd like to make sure they don't.

Tickets are now available. Sponsorship opportunities are open. We are accepting speaker proposals.

Be part of the first one.

September 11, 2026. Salt Lake Community College.

Partner with Silicon Slopes, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and amplify your impact across Utah's most dynamic tech ecosystem. Here, tax-deductible giving meets tangible ROI, innovation meets influence, and your brand connects with the builders shaping tomorrow.

Shape the Future of Silicon Slopes!