Pittsburgh is a great place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the local resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Pittsburgh Founder Institute now open, we are excited to release the Pittsburgh Startup Ecosystem Canvas, which has been updated to v4 below! It was developed by the Pittsburgh Founder Institute and local leaders David Cerniglia, Greg Coticchia, Pitt Admin, Randy Eager 

This is just a draft, and while we spent many hours on this research, more input is needed. Please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document to help us complete the list.  

Are you looking to build a startup in Pittsburgh? Then apply to the Pittsburgh Founder Institute today!

The links are also listed below, for searchability.

Startup Stages

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There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

A. Inspire

• Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters, Startup Digest)
  
  
  1. Awesomecast
  2. Built in Pitt
  3. Launch Collective Mastermind
  4. NEXTPittsburgh
  5. Pitchwerks
  6. Pittsburgh Inno
  7. StartNow Pittsburgh
  8. Pittsburgh Startup Community

• Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
   
  1. #UnstuckPgh
  2. Black Tech Nation
  3. Carnegie STEM Girls
  4. Entrepreneur, Start up and Small Business Monthly Q and A
  5. Events at Work Hard Pittsburgh
  6. From Startup to Success
  7. Girl Develop It Pittsburgh
  8. Girls Who Code
  9. Global Entrepreneurship Week
  10. Going Deep Summit
  11. Hustle HER Way Summit
  12. Inclusive Innovation Week
  13. Invest In Her
  14. Lesbians Who Tech Pittsburgh
  15. Open Coffee Club at AlphaLab
  16. PGH Tech Meetup
  17. Pittsburgh Entrepreneurs Forum
  18. Pittsburgh VR Meetup
  19. Product Development Management Association - Pittsburgh Chapter
  20. Startup Weekend Pittsburgh
  21. Thrival Festival
  22. Young Entrepreneur's Society of Pittsburgh (YESpgh)

B. Educate

• Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, Startup Found 101, etc).
  
  
  1. Ascender Starter & Builder Series
  2. Cafe Innovation
  3. EdTech PGH
  4. General Assembly Pittsburgh
  5. Google Developer Group (GDG) Pittsburgh
  6. Keiretsu Forum
  7. ngPittsburgh
  8. Pittsburgh ProductCamp
  9. Pittsburgh Startup Founder 101
  10. Pittsburgh Technology Council
  11. Pittsburgh Technology Innovation Group
  12. Start Smart Legal Seminars and Workshop (IPI/Pitt Law School and Project Olympus)
  13. Startup Grind Pittsburgh

• Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
  
  
  1. Academy Pittsburgh
  2. Alice Bootcamp
  3. All Star Code
  4. Ascender Bootcamp
  5. Big Data (Next Gen Hadoop) Ingest & Transform
  6. Concept to Launch
  7. Connects
  8. Dale Carnegie Training (leadership, communications, presentations, sales skills)
  9. Founder Institute
  10. Lean Startup Machine Pittsburgh
  11. ONLC Training Centers
  12. Own Our Own
  13. PGH Lab
  14. Pittsburgh Agile
  15. Pittsburgh Code & Supply
  16. Pittsburgh Startup: Idea to IPO
  17. Praxis
  18. ProductTank Pittsburgh
  19. QuestionPro Survey Training
  20. Startable Pittsburgh
  21. Startup Ideation Bootcamp
  22. Startup Pitch Bootcamp: Learn How to Pitch from Top Entrepreneurs
  23. Startup Recipes

C. Validate

• Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
  
  
  1. CoFoundersLab
  2. Ellevate
  3. Entrepreneurs' Organization
  4. FounderDating
  5. LaunchPGH
  6. Network After Work Pittsburgh
  7. Pittsburgh Entrepreneurs Forum
  8. Startup Job Fair (CMU and Pitt)
  9. Tech Happy Hour - Pittsburgh

• Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
  
  
  1. Code for Good
  2. CodeDay
  3. Conservation Hackathon 2018
  4. FCHacks
  5. HackPGH
  6. Pittsburgh Hardware Startup Meetup
  7. Pittsburgh TechFest
  8. Prototype Pittsburgh
  9. She Innovates Hackathon
  10. Steel City Codefest
  11. SteelHacks 2018
  12. TartanHacks
  13. The Pitt Challenge
  14. The XFactory

2. Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

A. Start

• Establish: Law firms & banks for startups
   
  1. Babst Calland
  2. BNY Mellon
  3. Brentwood Bank
  4. Bridgeway Capital
  5. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
  6. Cherin Law Offices, P.C.
  7. Citizens Bank
  8. Cohen & Grigsby, P.C.
  9. Cozen O’Connor 
  10. Dollar Bank
  11. Elliott & Davis
  12. FHLBank Pittsburgh
  13. First Commonwealth Bank
  14. First National Bank
  15. Fox Rothschild LLP
  16. General Counsel Online
  17. KeyBank
  18. Kisner Law Firm
  19. Kraemer Manes & Associates
  20. Leech Tishman
  21. Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP
  22. Morgan Lewis 
  23. OGC Law
  24. Pepper Hamilton LLP
  25. PGH Startup Law
  26. PNC Bank
  27. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP
  28. Reed Smith LLP
  29. S&T Bank
  30. Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
  31. SSB Bank
  32. Standard Bank
  33. Stonecipher Law Firm
  34. The Lynch Law Group, LLC
  35. Wells Fargo Bank

• Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
   
  1. Alloy 26
  2. Ascender
  3. Avenu
  4. Beauty Shoppe
  5. Bruno Works
  6. CatapultPGH Coworking
  7. Club Level CoWorking
  8. Cube
  9. Factory Unlocked
  10. Industrious
  11. Innovate28
  12. Level
  13. Looking for Group Pittsburgh
  14. Novel Coworking Golden Triangle
  15. One Valley
  16. Spaces Bakery Square
  17. Stack
  18. The Global Switchboard Space
  19. Whetstone Workgroup
  20. Work Hard Pittsburgh

B. Develop

• Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.
  
  
  1. 2440 Media
  2. ANTLR Interactive
  3. Blue Archer
  4. C-leveled
  5. Cintacs
  6. CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)
  7. Clark and Chamberlin
  8. Cohen & Company
  9. Collins & Ganley, P.C.
  10. CrawfordEllenbogen, LLC
  11. Davis, Davis & Associates
  12. Dennis Piper & Associates, CPA
  13. Drift2
  14. DS Financial Advisors
  15. EchoHR Consulting
  16. FiveStar Development
  17. H2R CPA
  18. Holsinger PC Certified Public Accountant
  19. Hyperfluid Solutions
  20. Imperial
  21. Infoshape
  22. IQInc
  23. Joyce, Inc.
  24. Kathy L. Hess & Associates
  25. Kuzneski Insurance Group
  26. OpenArc
  27. Paxton
  28. Posti & Associates
  29. PrimePay
  30. Rivers Agile
  31. ROKET
  32. Siegel and Company
  33. Sisterson
  34. Sparkbox
  35. Treetop Interactive
  36. Truefit
  37. W. Cotton Mather CPA
  38. Wilke
  39. ZAP Solutions

• Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS)
  
  
  1. Ascender Incubation
  2. BHiveLab Incubator
  3. eCenter@Lindenpointe
  4. IncubateHER
  5. Indiana County Small Business Incubator
  6. LifeX Labs
  7. New Sun Rising
  8. NSF I-Corps Mid-Atlantic
  9. One Valley
  10. PantherlabWorks
  11. Project Olympus Incubator Program
  12. Riverside Center for Innovation
  13. VentureBridge
  14. Work Hard Pittsburgh Cooperative Business Incubator

C. Launch

• Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
  
  
  1. AlphaLab
  2. AlphaLab Gear
  3. Alpha Lab Health
  4. Idea Foundry
  5. Numo
  6. SteelBridge Labs
  7. LifeX Labs

• Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
  
  
  1. AlphaLab & AlphaLab Gear Demo Day
  2. AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup
  3. Launch Pad Pitch competition
  4. LaunchCMU
  5. LeechTishman LaunchPad
  6. McGinnis Venture Competition
  7. PGH Tech Council — Tech 50
  8. Pitt Innovation Challenge 
  9. Project Olympus Show & Tell
  10. Randall Family Big Idea Competition
  11. Startup Blitz
  12. UpPrize Challenge

3. Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

A. Recognition 

• Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)
  
  
  1. 3 Rivers Venture Fair
  2. 412 Venture Fund
  3. Angel Investment Network
  4. Black Tech Nation Ventures
  5. BlueTree Allied Angels
  6. Forty x 80
  7. Moss Generation
  8. Next Act Fund
  9. PA Angel Network
  10. Pipeline Angels Angel Investing Bootcamp
  11. TiE Pittsburgh

• Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)
  
  
  1. ABC Pittsburgh
  2. CBS Pittsburgh
  3. Crain's Pittsburgh
  4. FOX Pittsburgh
  5. NBC Pittsburgh
  6. Pittsburgh Business Spotlight
  7. Pittsburgh Business Times
  8. Pittsburgh Current
  9. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  10. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
  11. Smart Business Magazine

B. Funding

• Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors
  
  
  1. Andrew Rabin
  2. Andrew Williams
  3. Arjun Hattiangadi
  4. Benjamin J. Garber
  5. Brian Jeffrey Gross
  6. Catherine Mott
  7. Drew Volpe
  8. Edward Engler
  9. Evan Tahler
  10. Ezz-Eldin Moukamal
  11. Guillaume Binet
  12. Innovation Works
  13. Jim Ruiz
  14. Joey Rahimi
  15. John Hammer
  16. John Petote
  17. LifeX Seed Fund
  18. Matt Newton
  19. Mountain State Capital
  20. Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse
  21. Raffi Krikorian
  22. Ryan Walsh
  23. Ryusuke Kubo
  24. Severin Hacker
  25. Taylor Davidson
  26. Tim Marman
  27. Troy Polamalu
  28. Victoria Kulli
  29. William Guttman
  30. Zach Malone
  31. Zachary Marburger

• Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
  
  
  1. 20/20 Capital Group
  2. 3 Rivers Capital
  3. Adams Capital Management
  4. BCI Technology Investments
  5. Birchmere Ventures
  6. BlueTree Venture Fund
  7. Cathain Ventures
  8. Chrysalis Ventures
  9. Coal Hill Ventures
  10. Draper Triangle
  11. Eagle Ventures 
  12. Edison Partners
  13. FFC Capital
  14. Grouse Ridge Capital
  15. Incline Equity Partners
  16. Magarac Venture Partners 
  17. PGH VC Association
  18. Pi Capital Group
  19. Pittsburgh Equity Partners
  20. PNC Riverarch Capital
  21. Riverfront Ventures
  22. Rosetta Capital
  23. Scottie Ventures
  24. Stone Pier Capital
  25. Stonewood Capital
  26. Tecum Capital
  27. Topanga Partners

C. Growth

• Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
   
  1. 42Floors
  2. Acuity HR
  3. Boyden Executive Search
  4. Compass Business Solutions, Inc.
  5. Hurley Insurance Brokers
  6. Instant Offices
  7. JLL Pittsburgh
  8. Kennon Insurance Consultants
  9. LoopNet
  10. McIlrath Insurance Agency
  11. Offices
  12. OfficeSpace
  13. Regus
  14. Rofo
  15. Rupp-Fiore Insurance
  16. Simpson & McCrady
  17. The Bradley Partnerships, Inc.
  18. Wagner Agency, Inc.

• Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
  
  
  1. Accenture
  2. ARC Advisory Group
  3. Aspirant
  4. Cayenne Consulting
  5. CEO Boot Camp
  6. CGI
  7. Chief Outsiders
  8. Conduent
  9. Confirmed
  10. Deloitte
  11. Ernst & Young
  12. FTI Consulting
  13. Full Circle
  14. JLL
  15. KORYAK Consulting
  16. KPMG
  17. KRNLS
  18. LifeX Labs
  19. Manufacturing 360 Consulting
  20. McKinsey & Company
  21. MMasters Corp
  22. Plus Consulting
  23. Protiviti
  24. PwC
  25. Rivers Agile Workshop
  26. SCORE 
  27. SDLC Partners
  28. Synergen
  29. Towers Watson

D. Success Stories

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

1. 4moms
2. Activaided
3. Argo AI
4. ATRP Solutions
5. Aurora Innovation
6. Avere Systems
7. Bellefield Systems 
8. Bizowie
9. Black Locus
10. DesignAdvance
11. DiamondKinetics
12. Duolingo
13. Dynamics Inc.
14. ebillinghub
15. EquityNet
16. Expii
17. Forest Devices
18. FOREVER
19. Gridwise
20. Helomics
21. Hibersense
22. Hyliion
23. Interphase Materials
24. Industry Weapon 
25. JazzHR
26. Jetpack Workflow
27. LearnBop
28. LegalSifter
29. LendingHome
30. M*Modal
31. Malcovery Security
32. Matrix Solutions
33. Module Housing
34. Net Health Systems, Inc.
35. Nowait
36. Panopto
37. ProofPoint - previously Wombat Security
38. ReCaptcha
39. Rijuven
40. Seegrid
41. Shoefitr
42. ShowClix
43. Skyword
44. Wombat Security

Supporters

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To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. Evangelists

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.  (i.e. Local leaders who have taken a leadership position, speak at a lot of startup events, mentor all the programs, etc. )

1. Adam Paulisick
2. Andy Chan
3. Andy Hannah
4. Annia Aleman
5. Babs Carryer
6. Barry Rabkin
7. Ben Utter
8. Ben Wilson
9. Bobby Zappala
10. Brad Frost
11. Brian Finamore
12. Catherine Mott
13. Craig Markovitz
14. Dave Nelsen
15. David Cristello
16. Don Charlton
17. Don Morrison
18. Dr. Rasu Shrestha
19. Greg Coticchia
20. Henry Thorne
21. Ilana Diamond
22. Jeff Dereume
23. Jennifer Wilhelm
24. Jim Jen
25. John Dick
26. John Quayle 
27. Josh Lucas 
28. Justin Reese  
29. Kannu Sahni
30. Kelauni Cook
31. Kevin Dowling
32. Kit Mueller
33. Kit Needham
34. Linda Handley
35. Lynn Banaszak
36. Mark DeSantis
37. Marta Dalton
38. Mary Del Brady
39. Melanie Querry
40. Mike Capsambelis
41. Olga Pogoda
42. Prashant Ambe 
43. Randy Eager
44. Ray Milhem
45. Rich Lunak
46. Robb Myer
47. Ryan Gayman
48. Sean Ammirati
49. Suzy Teele
50. Zachary Swetz 
51. Glenn Watson

2. Government/Non-profits

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development

1. Allegheny Conference
2. Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute
3. City of Pittsburgh Department of Innovation & Performance
4. Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce
5. Inclusive Innovation PGH
6. Innovation PGH
7. P4 Pittsburgh
8. PGH Lab
9. Southwestern PA Veteran's Chamber of Commerce
10. Sustainable PittsburghThe Pittsburgh EcoInnovation District: Uptown and Oakland
11. Urban Innovation21

3. Talent

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

• Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
  
  
  1. PennWest California
  2. Carlow University
  3. Carnegie Mellon University
  4. Chatham University
  5. Duquesne University
  6. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
  7. Penn State in Pittsburgh
  8. Point Park University
  9. Robert Morris University
  10. Seton Hill University
  11. University of Pittsburgh
  12. Washington & Jefferson College

• Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices)
  
  
  1. Aethon
  2. Alcoa
  3. ATI Inc
  4. Amazon
  5. ANSYS
  6. Apple
  7. Aptiv
  8. Argo AI
  9. Ariba
  10. Astrobotic
  11. Aurora Innovation
  12. BlackBox
  13. Bossa Nova Robotics
  14. Carnegie Robotics
  15. Cisco
  16. Comcast
  17. Deeplocal
  18. Facebook
  19. Ford
  20. GE
  21. Google
  22. IBM
  23. Identified Technologies
  24. Industrial Scientific
  25. Intel
  26. Lumos Fiber Internet
  27. Microsoft
  28. Modcloth
  29. Near Earth Autonomy
  30. Nokia
  31. Oculus
  32. Oracle
  33. Petuum
  34. PPG Industries
  35. Re2
  36. Redzone Robotics
  37. SAP
  38. Seegrid
  39. Siemens
  40. TeleTracking
  41. Thermo Fisher Scientific
  42. Uber
  43. Westinghouse Nuclear

 

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Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Pittsburgh Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)

Are you looking to build a startup in Pittsburgh? Then apply to the Pittsburgh Founder Institute today!