ZocDoc
This post is sponsored by the Arizona Commerce Authority.
When healthcare startup ZocDoc, as part of its expansion plans, decided to open an office out West - potentially creating up to 650 new jobs - one state ended up topping the company's list: Arizona. "We did an assessment of all the various markets that we could expand into that were Mountain and Pacific time zones," says ZocDoc CEO Cyrus Massoumi, "and the Phoenix-Scottsdale area came out head-over-heels above everything else."
Nearly seven years ago, Massoumi and two colleagues founded ZocDoc as an easier way to help people find doctors who accepted their insurance. Patients could book appointments online or on their mobile phones. The three-person operation, initially run out of an apartment in lower Manhattan, now has over 500 employees in New York, India, and, most recently, Scottsdale. "We've grown from being in just one city to now being in 2,000 cities and towns across the United States," says Massoumi. "There are over 5 million patients a month who come to find in-network doctors, read verified reviews and health content, and instantly book appointments online."
By simplifying the process of scheduling medical appointments, ZocDoc was filling a basic healthcare need. The concept quickly caught on with the public. Faced with a growing staff and an increasingly crowded New York office, Massoumi felt it was time to look for more space. He knew ZocDoc needed a West Coast location so it could operate at different hours from its New York headquarters. Massoumi had visited Arizona for work prior to founding ZocDoc, so the state stood out to him as having a vibrant and high-tech talent pool.
"Arizona has a lot of great universities, it's got great weather, and a lot of people want to be there," Massoumi explains. "The people were happy and I could see that it was a growing community."
Given Arizona's supportive entrepreneurial climate, it's no surprise that startups and tech businesses alike have expanded into the state. Every year, the Arizona Innovation Challenge awards $3 million to promising technology ventures; and programs such as Venture Ready - a mentorship program that partners entrepreneurs with CEOs - have helped establish the state as a leader in fostering new talent.
ZocDoc opened its Scottsdale offices in March 2013. It wasn't the only fast-growing company to have taken advantage of the state's emerging tech community: Yelp, CareerBuilder, and GoDaddy had also planted flags in the Grand Canyon state. Compared to cities like San Francisco and New York, Arizona's budding tech industry provides many businesses with a competitive edge. "There are some advantages to not being in a place where everyone else is doing the exact same thing," says Massoumi. "You can differentiate yourself and really stand out."
That's not to say that Arizona's tech scene isn't already thriving and robust. Arizona was recently ranked No. 1 in the country for entrepreneurial activity, and in 2012, TechAmerica Foundation reported that tech companies employed 55 out of every 1,000 private-sector employees in Arizona. For Massoumi, the state reminds him in a lot of ways of New York City's rise to tech fame. "When we started in New York back in 2007, people weren't talking about New York being a tech hub," he says. "Now everyone sees New York as the second hub of technology innovation right after Silicon Valley. We expect Arizona to follow suit."
Learn more about business development in Arizona from the Arizona Commerce Authority.
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